Watch and luxury goods maker Montblanc just announced its entry to the wearables market in 2015, but this is not exactly your typical smartwatch. The actual timepiece in Montblanc’s Timewalker Urban Speed collection will remain true to the company’s proud, mechanical, watch-making roots, but will feature an optional smart strap attachment for users who want a connected device. The attachment will be available for around $300, in addition to the hefty price tag of the watch itself, and goes by the remarkably un-sexy moniker of “e-strap.”
Montblanc e-strap
The e-strapped Timewalker is something akin to “business in the front, party in the back,” but for luxury Swiss wristwatches, as the electronic module sits below your wrist, opposite the stately analog timepiece. The module itself is a 0.9-inch monochromatic touchscreen OLED with a 128 x 36 pixel display, making this something a little more than a notification device, but not exactly earth-shattering either. The e-strap includes an accelerometer and pedometer and pushes data to an included app for iOS and Android. Montblanc’s device will also include the basics like calling, texting, and notifications, as well as a couple of minor, but interesting, features, such as using the watch as a remote camera trigger.
Why hasn’t Montblanc simply created a luxury smartwatch instead of this half-measure you ask? Well, according to aBlogtoWatch, a fully integrated device could rub the company’s more traditionally-minded clientele the wrong way. This puts Montblanc in the delicate situation of having to please more conservative watch aficionados while adapting to an industry changing trend.
H/T aBlogtoWatch | Photo via aBlogtoWatch.com | Remix by Jason Reed
