TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45: Yes, $1,600 Android smartwatches are still a thing

TAG Heuer is upping the premium smartwatch game with a new high-end Android Wear watch. The TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 is a versatile luxury smartwatch that is even more expensive than the original.

With a starting price of $1,600, the all-metal watch is more than four times the price of the Huawei Watch 2 , LG Watch Sport and Apple Watch Series 2 , despite having comparable features. The Connected Modular 45 adds Android Pay, GPS and swim-level water resistance compared to last year's model -- an increasingly becoming a standard feature set in higher-end smartwatches. The watch has one distinction, however: It's the only Android Wear watch that is certified as "Swiss Made," meaning that at least 60 percent of the components were manufactured in Switzerland.

The Connected Modular 45 marks the second collaboration between Intel and TAG Heuer, following the original Connected Watch that debuted in 2015 for $1,500. The big difference this year is the added modularity that allows you to swap out almost every component. The watch will be offered in 56 different versions that can be personalized with a variety of modules, horns, bracelets and buckles, with a case available in satin or polished grade 5 titanium. You can even swap out the touchscreen for a traditional TAG Heuer mechanical watch body if and when the smart technology becomes obsolete, but that will cost you extra.

The TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 arrives March 15 with a starting price of $1,600, £1,400, AU$2,300.

Specs

• Android Wear 2.0
• 1.39-inch AMOLED 400x400-pixel resolution display
• Sapphire crystal cover glass and titanium case
• Intel Atom Z34XX processor
• 30 hours of battery life
• 4GB of storage
• 1GB of RAM
• Water resistance to 5 ATM
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS