Movado Launches Three New Smartwatches

Two Swiss watch companies threw their hats into the smartwatch ring right before the holiday shopping season. One is TAG Heuer watches, which introduced its Connected Watch, developed in cooperation with Intel Corp. and Google and powered by Android Wear technology.The other company is Movado, which launched three smartwatches: two in its Swiss-made collection and one in its Bold line of less expensive, non-Swiss casual watches.

Movado is manufacturing its new smartwatches in collaboration with Fullpower Technologies, for the Movado Swiss pieces, and with HP, for the Bold smartwatches.

The Swiss-made watches are called Movado Motion, and are powered by Fullpower’s MotionX-365 platform. There are two versions: the Museum Sport, for men, and the Bellina, for women. They provide several fitness-related functions including steps tracking, sleep monitoring, sleep-cycle alarms and alerts that it is time to get out of your chair and move around. The watches are compatible with iOS 8-or-later and Android 4.4.3-or-later cellphones and tablets. The watches’ battery life is two years.

The men’s version (above), 44 mm in diameter, has a black dial with Movado’s signature dot at 12 o’clock and a subdial at 6 o’clock that show the date and provide fitness-tracking information. The watch is available with a steel case and black PVD bezel, with either a perforated black rubber strap ($995) or a steel bracelet ($1,195), or an all-PVD bracelet model ($1,495).

The Bellina (above) is 39 mm in diameter and comes with an all-steel case with either a plain steel bezel ($1,495) or a diamond-set one ($2,495), or a two-tone case and bracelet ($1,695). All versions have mother- of-pearl and silver-colored dials and diamond markers at 3 and 9 o’clock.

The Movado Bold Motion watches ($695, below) are also compatible with iOS and Android phones and tablets (iOS 8 and later and Android 4.4 and later). The watch is a unisex style, 43.5 mm in diameter. It has Bluetooth connectivity and, using vibrations or visible cues, alerts its wearer to upcoming appointments, e-mails, text messages, phone calls and social media updates. The watch also tracks steps. The case is made of black ion-plated steel and the strap is black silicone. 

Movado and TAG join a bevy of Swiss smartwatch makers that includes Frédérique Constant, Alpina, Breitling, Gucci and Mondaine.