Pricey smartwatches: Google teams with TAG Heuer, Intel

Edward C. Baig | USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Ready for another battle between Apple and Google? This time it could be over lavishly priced smartwatches.

You already know that the upper-crust Apple Watch Edition watches are slated to arrive April 24, at prices north of $10,000. At the Baselworld international trade show for watches and jewelry in Basel, Switzerland. on Thursday, Google, Intel and luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer announced a partnership to launch an Android Wear-based smartwatch sometime in 2015, promising an elegant alternative to the Apple Watch.

"Swiss watchmaking and Silicon Valley is a marriage of technological innovation with watchmaking credibility," said Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer, in a statement.

Android Wear director of engineering David Singleton chimed in too: "By fusing beauty with technology, the Swiss watch has inspired generations of artists and engineers alike — including us at Google. So we're thrilled to be working with TAG Heuer and Intel to bring a unique blend of emotion and innovation to the luxury market."

For his part, Intel's general manager of the new devices group, Michael Bell, says the Google-TAG Heuer-Intel collaboration "elevates the category" for wearables.

The partners aren't revealing much about what a new watch or watches will look like, beyond saying that it will fit into the TAG Heuer design ethos. The specifications of such devices are also a mystery as is the cost and the precise timing (beyond this year) of a watch's release.

Meantime, given TAG Heuer's pedigree — the Swiss watchmaker has been at it since 1860 — it's reasonable speculation to suggest that you won't see such TAG Heuer Android Wear watches sell for less than $1,000, and quite possibly a lot higher.

Apple's loftiest-priced Apple Watch Edition commands $17,000. At the low end, entry level Apple Watch Sport devices start at $349. Some Android Wear watches, by contrast, can be had for as little as $200.

Of course, the luxury smartwatch wars may just be heating up. Also out of Baselworld, comes news that will.i.am's i.am+ will be teaming with Gucci Timepieces on a standalone band that can make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages and e-mails, handle music, maps, a calendar, and fitness activities and be controlled by voice.

The companies haven't revealed pricing or launch details but Gucci's involvement is bound to help on the fashion side. Back in November, a critic from The Verge called the i.am+ Puls smart bangle, "the worst product I've touched all year."

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow @edbaig on Twitter