The first Bugatti branded smartwatch hits Kickstarter






It seems as if everyone these days is dabbling in the smartwatch game. The latest addition to this market is from a well known sports car maker. It comes in the form of the Kickstarter-funded Bugatti Ceramique Edition One.
Mind you, Bugatti is not manufacturing the watch and that’s probably a good thing considering its expertise lies elsewhere. The clever stuff comes from smartwatch maker VIITA. This is an Austrian outfit with several years experience in such things. In fact VIITA, which is no stranger to Kickstarter funded products, has built-up a number of different smartwatch collections.
А short history of Bugatti. The French car manufacturer has its origins that date back to 1909 in Germany. Ettore Bugatti was an Italian-born designer who set out to manufacture beautiful high-performance cars. To cut a long story short, the company did well for a while, then it struggled financially.
In 1987 an Italian entrepreneur bought out Bugatti, and this in turn was sold 11 years later to the Volkswagen group which successfully relaunched the brand. Since then we’ve seen a number of Bugatti vehicles including some regular-production ones.
Having one of these pricey cars is not a requrement for purchasing a Bugatti watch. But a hefty €900 is! This is around 28% down on the eventual retail price so you are saving some cash. It’s not as good as having an actual Bugatti car but it’s a start! Assuming all goes according to plan, for that price you’ll get a stylish Bugatti Ceramique Edition One delivered to your doorstep in October.
There are three variants to choose from. These have been named in tribute to some of the company’s most iconic sports cars: the Bugatti Ceramique Edition One Pur Sport, Bugatti Ceramique Edition One Le Noire and Bugatti Ceramique Edition One Divo.
Each of these comes in its own unique styles. But they do have some things in common.
All variants pack a scratch-resistant Zirconium ceramic body and bezel that measures 45.4mm in diameter. That houses a 390 x 390 AMOLED touchpanel. The backcover material is Titanium grade 2, while the display is protected with Sapphire glass. The watch is 14.7mm thick and weighs around 85 grams.
Etched around the bezels is the moniker Bugatti. Water-resistance is down to 100 metres and the watch will keep going for around 2 weeks on a single charge. This is pretty impressive considering the AMOLED display. Each timepiece comes with two straps in the box – a titanium one for special occasions and a silicone strap for everything else.
But it’s not all about style as the impressive specs continue under the hood. There you’ll find a 6-axis combined accelerometer, gyroscope, photoplethysmographfy (dual sensor), vibration motor, GPS/Galileo/Glonass and support for Bluetooth 5.2.
This combination of sensors allows for recording of steps, calories, regeneration status (how ready you are for workouts), stress, dehydration, heart rate variability (HRV) and sleep. Water-loss, in particular, is impressive and this is something that we’ve only seen on VIITA watches.
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Activity tracking supports 72 different sports, VO2Max and other performance metrics, along with HRV-based training recommendations. The GPS allows for displaying maps, and the watch spits out smartphone notifications.
These are pretty good specs and the build is absolutely beautiful. At that price-point you should expect no less.
Kickstarter projects typically carry a high degree of risk. Having said that, we wouldn’t consider this as one to worry about. VIITA has successfully funded and delivered a number of watches through the platform, and Volkswagen-backed Bugatti is not exactly struggling for cash. To put any remaining fears to rest, the company is offering a whopping 5 year international warranty on all purchases.
Price:€899 and up
Raised:€9,191 of €50,000 goal
Estimated delivery: October 2021
29 days to go
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