Louis Vuitton has unveiled another luxury smartwatch with its new Tambour Horizon Light Up smartwatch set to land in 2022 and unlike previous watches it looks like Google's Wear OS won't be on board.
Following on from two iterations of its travel-themed Tambour Horizon it launched in 2017 and 2019, the Light Up according to LV on its press site, represents its most personalised and customised watch yet, but will be packing a new operating system the fashion brand says has Apple Made for iPhone certification.
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We've reached out to find out more details about what that new operating system is based on, but it looks like one of Google's previous Wear hardware partners has decided to go it alone.
Smartwatch features will include notification support, music playback controls, the ability to remotely control your smartphone camera, contactless payment support now via Alipay and there's a find my phone feature here too. There's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and compatibility with iPhones, Android phones and Huawei's HarmonyOS.
The customisation and personalisation Louis Vuitton talks about comes courtesy of eight built-in dial configurations including animated options. There'll also be further watch face designs added throughout the year to mark seasons, fashion shows and when Christmas and Valentine's Day comes around. There's also a Louis Vuitton Connect app, which works with other LV connected devices including the Light Up Speaker it announced earlier this year.
It's also retaining the My Travel features from previous Tambour Horizon watches offering travel and boarding information and access to Louis Vuitton's City Guides. A My Day mode gives you a dedicated screen to view heart rate, calendar, step counts ,weather and air quality index information.
Despite the lack of Wear, it is powered by the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 4100 processor with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage configuration that is powering newer Wear OS smartwatches on the scene.
It's available in three different looks with polished steel, matte black and matte brown versions on offer that all measure in with 44mm cases and come in at 13.2mm thick with all supporting interchangeable straps.
The polished steel model features a polished stainless steel case while the matte options offer sandblasted steel cases with PVD coatings. That added PVD finish does come at an extra expense. All offer a combination of new mechanical push buttons and a crown to navigate the new onboard software.
The Light Up in the name comes courtesy of an LED ring made up of 24 lights that sit behind the monogram ring on each watch that illuminate in a kaleidoscope of colors when a notification lands on your watch.
There's the same 1.2-inch, fully round AMOLED, 390 x 390 touchscreen displays with sapphire glass to add some protection. That's the same size and resolution screen we saw on the last Tambour Horizon, though you're now getting the ability to use the display in always-on mode. You're also getting designs that are waterproof up to 30 metres, which do make them safe for the shower or a swim.
In terms of sensors placed into that luxury smartwatch shell, you're now getting a heart rate monitor on a Louis Vuitton smartwatch for the first time, along with a microphone and accelerometer and gyroscope motion sensors.
Battery life is quoted as being 'all-day'. which means it should match the performance of previous watches on the battery front.
The Tambour Horizon Light Up will apparently launch on 7 January, but we don't have details on pricing just yet. It's safe to assume like previous watches, it won't be cheap. We'll keep you updated once we hear more.
We were big fans of the original Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon and the second generation offered a modest upgrade on one of our faves. Will be curious to see how the Light Up matches up with Wear now seemingly out of the picture.
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By Michael Sawh
Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.
He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.
Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech.
Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.