Jean-Claude Biver CEO of LVMH. (Photo Credit: Reuters).

French luxury groupTag Heuer, said it will launch a smartwatch later this year in partnership with Intel and Google using their Android operating system competing directly with the new Apple Watch.

TAG is the first traditional watchmaker to pair with Google, providing the venture is successful and the smart watch market grows it wouldn’t be surprising to see other high-end brands owned by LVMH, including Hublot and Zenith to later use such technology.

Intel has already partenered with other companies last year in a bid to produce smart wearable products with other brands like Oakley, Fossil and Opening Ceremony.

Jean-Claude Biver has been an outspoken critic of smartwatches as recently as 2014 with his view that smartwatches will lose value quickly as their technology becomes outdated and a newer model is released. The upside to traditional watches is that consumers are able to wear them for years and quite often they increase in value which he could not see happening with smartwatches.

Michael Bell, Vice President of Intel’s New Devices unit said:

“We believe wearable technology will take off as it represents who you are and how you want to be seen”.

The Apple Watch is due to go on sale on April 24 with prices ranging from $350 to $17,000 for it’s high end 18-karat gold model. Jean-Claude Biver declined to comment on the price range of Tags new luxury Android watch however said it will be released in the fourth quarter.

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer is creating a smartwatch in partnership with American technology companies Google and Intel. The watch is an attempt to compete with devices by consumer-electronics makers, particularly the much-hyped watch by Apple.. One of the questions raised by Apple’s $10,000 gold smartwatch is whether users will consider it a luxury item and wear it for status as well as convenience.

The global market for smartwatches could reach 28.1 million units this year, up from 4.6 million in 2014, with Apple holding 55 percent of the market. This appears to be a growth area the Swiss watch industry has decided they cannot afford to miss.