When Louis Vuitton develops a new product, the luxury industry pays special attention, because they know that something great is about to happen. This was the case with the French brand’s first smart watch, the Tambour Horizon, which surprised the market with its spectacular design, excellent features and…its price! About US$2,900.

Smart watches have their own operating system, wireless connectivity and are able to connect to the internet or interact with cell phones. The first companies to offer them were tech-device makers like Apple, Sony and Samsung, among others. But with time, traditional watch companies began adapting this alternative, and now we can find extremely high-end pieces such as the Montblanc Summit.

At any rate, fine-watch aficionados have been reticent to adopt this type of technology, which they consider a passing fad that will never improve upon the features and charm of a sophisticated mechanical watch, be it wind-up or automatic.

When it comes to the Tambour Horizon, its main features have been designed by Louis Vuitton to cater to so-called jetsetters: executives, celebrities from the entertainment world, professional sports figures and business people who travel frequently and have very demanding schedules.

But, in spite of criticism from die-hard traditionalists, smart watches are here to stay. They’re not meant to replace the fine pieces produced by high-end watchmakers, but as an alternative that stands out for its features and connectivity.

When it comes to the Tambour Horizon, its main features have been designed by Louis Vuitton to cater to so-called jetsetters: executives, celebrities from the entertainment world, professional sports figures and business people who travel frequently and have very demanding schedules. The Louis Vuitton smart watch offers two exclusive features especially designed for this consumer.

First, we have the Near Me app, which is a travel guide to seven world capitals: London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing; through its GPS, the watch recommends events, restaurants and points of interest for the place we’re visiting according to a strictly curated set of criteria established by the brand. An excellent way to experience traveling the Louis Vuitton way.

The second exclusive app is called My Flight, which allows us to upload flight itinerary information with a virtual assistant that alerts us as to how long it will take to reach the airport, which gate and terminal we should head to, how much time we have left before boarding, and other details useful to the traveler, all by means of sound and visual alerts.

These excellent functions for frequent travelers complement the classic smart watch features like message and email notifications, step counter, internet browsers and others.

[more-links]But what really stands out in the Louis Vuitton watch is its design and esthetics. Inspired by the Tambour Moon, the model offers a body that’s 42 mm (1.66 inches) wide and 12.55 mm (.5 inch) high, streamlined by concave sides with a very attractive finish. Its face is an AMOLED touch screen with a diameter of 1.2 inches, encased in a spectacular glass physical 24-hour dial that brilliantly integrates the touch screen with its frame. Available in metal or black, with satin or brushed-metal textures, the watch may be combined with over 60 watchbands of your choice.

Once the watch is activated, the user can choose from an enormous variety of faces; among the most attractive are those with the exclusive Louis Vuitton designs, which are similar to the ones found in the brand’s traditional watches.

For those interested in its technical features, the Tambour Horizon has a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, 512MB RAM memory, 4GB of storage and wireless connectivity and accelerometer, all powered by the Android Wear operating system, which has a graphic interface exclusive to Louis Vuitton.

The Tambour Horizon is, without a doubt, the most elegant smart watch on the market, and it aims for a very exclusive consumer who identifies with the lifestyle that Louis Vuitton represents, and who values the esthetics for which the brand is known above all else.  ■