After months of anticipation for a luxury smartwatch alternative to the Apple Watch, the TAG Heuer Connected arrived in all its glory in 20 of the company’s stores in the U.S. this week.

Earlier this year, TAG Heuer S.A. announced that it was partnering with Intel Corp. in developing a smartwatch. Last month, a teaser was released and it was revealed that device will be called Connected. Here’s what you need to know about the latest smartwatch to hit the market, and what happens if you’re just not that into it.

Design

If TAG Heuer Connected looks strangely familiar, it’s because the smartwatch was designed after the watchmaker’s Carrera model, a line of sport watches inspired by motor racing that dates back to 1963. The outside of the watch was designed and manufactured by TAG’s team in Switzerland, but the internal components were brought on by Intel.

Connected measures 46.2mm across and 12.8mm thick, cased in Titanium Grade 2 with horizontal and vertical fine-brushed titanium lugs; 3D-raised and fine-brushed numerals; a titanium bezel coated with black, sandblasted, carbide coating as well as anti-fingerprint coating and a vulcanized rubber strap that comes in seven colors (green, blue, orange, red, white, black, yellow), and has an aluminum buckle. The device is also IP67 splash-proof water resistant.

It looks like a TAG Heuer mechanical watch but it’s watch face is actually a touch screen, much like any of the smartwatches available in the market today.

Specifications

Connected features a 1.5-inch fully circular transreflective LTPS LCD display; scratch-resistant sapphire crystal screen; its Touch on Display supports multiple finger recognition; and has a resolution of 360×360, 240ppi. The smartwatch also has a 410mAh battery with a minimum life of 25 hours with typical usage; 1.6GHz dual core processor; 1GB main memory and 4GB storage memory.

TAG Heuer’s newest smartwatch also comes with sensors: a gyroscope, tilt detection, haptic engine, and a microphone. It’s compatible with Android 4.3 or higher and iOS 8.2 and higher, and comes with support for Bluetooth BLE 4.1 – WLAN 2.4 GHz 802.11 B/G/N. Connected comes with a conductive charging cradle, including a USB cable and wall plug.

What you need to know

TAG Heuer Connected is an Android Wear device but it can also pair with an iPhone, provided that that iPhone is running iOS 8.2 or higher and is running the Android Wear app for iOS.

Connected has access to apps that are not available in other Android Wear smartwatches. These custom microapps include TAG Heuer watch faces, special timing apps, restaurant recommendations, a golf game tracker and will soon include watch faces featuring brand ambassadors such as Tom Brady, Cara Delevingne, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

It is priced at $1,500 and only the black bracelet is available when you purchase it online. The other bracelets are only available in its physical stores.

Change your mind?

TAG Heuer Connected has a two-year warranty but it also has a “connected to eternity” gimmick. If after a few months you are no longer interested in using the device, all you need to do is keep the device and wait two years so you can trade it in for a new TAG Heuer Carrera watch, but you need to add another $1,500. While $3,000 is a steep price, considering some Carrera watches sell for more than that, it’s not a bad deal. This also means that you can keep the watch for years and be able to hand it down to coming generations.

Image source: TAG Heuer Connected