New luxury watch includes crypto wallet

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Cryptocurrency is coming to the watchmaking industry. A line of luxury timepieces has been crafted by a Swiss watchmaker that has been around for more than 300 years, A. Favre & Fils, providing a unique method for not only keeping track of time, but keeping track of crypto assets as well. The watches contain a crypto cold-storage wallet.

The luxury timepieces were announced last week by the company through its website. In addition to the cold storage, they will offer a “state of the art proprietary security solution” that is based on blockchain technology. The company’s CEO, Laurent Favre, explains, “I am very excited about this new piece and the vision it creates for the Swiss watchmaking industry. I am particularly proud of the great board of advisors we can count on for this very innovative project we are working on. Our team is composed by luxury watchmaking experts and a world-class board of advisors including Stephen Urquhart, Ex-President and CEO of Omega for 17 years and Oliver Bussmann, former Group CIO of UBS and SAP and one of the most influential blockchain expert. have developed this first timepiece with the idea of offering something useful for the crypto-community, not simply something to spend their money on.”

Favre expects to introduce the first prototype of the watches sometime during the second quarter of the year, adding that they will “guarantee ultimate in-data security and privacy protection.”

In speaking with swissinfo.ch, a Swiss Broadcasting Corporation-owned news channel, the CEO talked about why the company is turning to crypto. He said, “You have to keep adding relevant features that advance the design. It’s a bit like figuring out the future of steam engines in the age of electric trains.”

The watches aren’t for everyone, though – the term “luxury” isn’t used just to try and grab consumers’ attention. The timepieces will reportedly cost anywhere from about $102,000 to $153,000, depending on the material used in their construction. Needless to say, they will be available for purchase with fiat, as well as digital currencies.

A. Favre & Fils isn’t just looking to introduce a crypto watch, either. It has reportedly begun to explore incorporating blockchain technology into its operations, including the possibility of adding digital ledgers to record transactions or tokenizing shares in the company.