Apple Begins Shipping Gold Edition Watches to Early Pre-Order Customers

cbrand493 said:

This. If there was a big difference (e.g. higher resolution screen, larger storage, larger memory, faster processor etc.) you would thing fair enough at least you're getting something more for your money. But as it stands, you're paying 15x the price for some gold. Gold isn't that expensive.

For example. Rose Gold 38mm watch. The case weighs 54 grams which is approx. 1.905 ounces. Gold price is US$1203.70 per ounce. 1203.70*1.905 = $2294. So even assuming that the entire watch without the strap was solid gold (24k), it would only be worth less than $2300. Yet this watch costs US$10,000!!!!!!!!!

Lets look at the yellow gold 42mm version. Again excluding strap.

69g = 2.4339oz. Solid 24k gold is US$1203.70 /oz. Total price = $2930!!!! Yet this watch costs $12,000!!!!!

The profit margin must be massive on these! Now the price is definitely not in anything else because the Edition is identical in every way to the SS version, bar the case material.

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Imagine the outcry from people here if the gold watch was better in terms of features/technology. People here would be livid. In some ways you could argue Apple Watch is the most egalitarian product Apple has ever released. No matter what you spend the technology inside and the software features are the same.

cbrand493 said:

Thing is a house doesn't become obsolete in 5 years. It doesn't stop functioning after 5 years because it's no longer compatible and won't be getting updated.

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Plus, its not like you have the option of paying $8,000 for a house that is exactly the same as a $250,000 house except the bricks aren't made with 20% unicorn dung.

That's the thing - I can get someone deciding to buy a Bentley rather than a Skoda - but the Apple Watch Edition isn't a Bentley, it's a Skoda with a metallic paint job.

Maybe I'll buy a Pebble and super-glue a Krugerrand to the back...

CFreymarc said:

The fact they are originals and first edition is the value. His argument is "So you can't upgrade the Apple One too. Those are worth a half million a piece." That auction market will answer and not some corporate type.

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Except we can be realistic here - the 'originals' that end up fetching a fortune at auction are the ones that nobody foresaw as being significant or worth keeping.

Only about 200 Apple 1's were made. It never occurred to anybody that they were special and should be preserved. Since the buyers were hobbyists, and the Apple 1 was constructed from mostly standard components, I guess a lot got stripped for parts. So, by the time Apple turned into the Nth biggest brand in the world, or whatever, they were really, really rare.

The Apple Watch "editions" are being made in relatively large quantities (I'm sure Apple aren't releasing the details) and lots of people with more money than they can usefully spend will doubtless be buying them and squirrelling them away mint in-the-box. Sorry guys, but the only Watch Editions that are likely to be selling for silly bucks at auction in ten years' time are the ones sported by Tim Cook, Beyonce et. al. (which were probably spirited off their wrists and into the vault along with the witnessed certificates of provenance seconds after the photo shoot finished) - not your slightly worn one with the scratched display and fried battery.

pendragon1984 said:

If you waste huge sums of money showing utter excess, you're a horrible person. Buying a rolex is an excess. Buying an Edition is even more of an excess. A rolex will last forever if taken care of. You could pass it on to your kids. The Edition will be obsolete in a few years. There are degrees of excess.

Yes, you can spend your money on what you want but only to a degree. At a certain point the excess becomes morally wrong. I'm not sure where that point is, but the Edition seems to certainly be over the line.

If you have so much money that you feel totally comfortable blowing it on an Edition, you need to give more to charity. Because if you have this much money, you have way way way too much freaking money!

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Who are you to judge anyone and what they do with the money they earn?

Black sport band? Cheapskate.

cbrand493 said:

1: An Apple watch won't last 5-10 years because a) battery will be dead (okay you can replace that, but apple will eventually stop making the batteries for it) and b) in 5-10 years time it will be unsupported on whatever iOS is current at that time. iPhone 4 is not even 5 years old yet didn't get iOS 8. So in 5 years time, Apple Watch probably won't be supported due to software.

At least with a rolex, the $600 every 5-10 years is a hell of a lot cheaper than $15k every 5-10 years for a new Apple Watch.

2: You can get a gold rolex for under $15k. The models that are >$30K have the gold bracelet as well, which the Apple watch does not have.

3: Do you honestly believe that's what Apple pays that much for the gold? They'll have a contract with a supplier to provide x amount, and the ounce price will be cheaper than that.

4: A made in china, factory produced computer with a strap is not a luxury item. A hand assembled Swiss watch, assembled by one single person is a luxury item.

A gold apple watch will cost a hell of a lot less to manufacture than a Rolex. Labour cost alone will be a fraction because it's made in a factory in china by people earning $1 a day.

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I'm with you here! Give me American made ( one company ) or European for this amount on cash.

laurim said:

Sorry, but isn't it a little racist to say something assembled by hand in limited quantities in China is crap but one made in Switzerland by caucasians is high luxury? I've heard via several media sources that one of the reasons companies don't manufacture electronics here is because there's so few Americans with the skill to do it.

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If you did you research you'll find that most modern electronics were invented in the USA. They shipped the jobs overseas and that puts the nation at risk, but you didn't know that.

ITT: people arguing over buying a watch and being a jealous judge mental prick over those that do. Smh

It absolutely cracks me up that people think the 'wealthy' blow $20,000 on a whim, just because they can. If they did so regularly, they wouldn't be the wealthy - they likely never would have become wealthy in the first place.

I'm sure a few were bought by those blowing money they didn't personally earn.

Those who earned the money are not often the types to buy a luxury item like this particular one, but those who do thought long and hard about using their earned money that way, and made a personal decision that we don't really have a right to judge.

Michaelgtrusa said:

If you did you research you'll find that most modern electronics were invented in the USA. They shipped the jobs overseas and that puts the nation at risk, but you didn't know that.

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Lol. OK. Most modern electronics are invented in the USA? I think Japan, Korea and Europe would quibble with that.

America is at risk because of politics and politicians who refuse to fund the projects that will insure our future, like fixing our crumbling infrastructure, making higher education and vocational training more affordable, investing in renewable energy and funding research into fighting diseases, amongst other things that always take second place to starting new wars or giving money to big businesses that don't need it but have skilled lobbyists and deep pockets for political campaigns.

If Americans all had more education and higher skills, we wouldn't care if other countries do the tedious, manual labor jobs. We would still get all our cheaper electronics and the people in the other countries with less opportunity would be able to feed their families.

Michaelgtrusa said:

If you did you research you'll find that most modern electronics were invented in the USA. They shipped the jobs overseas and that puts the nation at risk, but you didn't know that.

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Much of today's cell phone technology comes from European companies such as Nokia and Ericsson.

Car technology? German companies such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Audio, video? Philips (Dutch), Sony (Japanese).

I don't know how you're going to define "most", "electronics", or "invented".

It's arguably true for computer technology, but that wasn't your claim.

troyholl99 said:

No dumber than what a homeless person would think about you or I spending $750 for a SS Apple Watch. Its all relative. If I made $50M a year, spending $16K for a watch is actually a WHOLE LOT less than me spending $750 with my income....

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I think the three price bands to me say a lot about inequality in the US and the west.
The prices are reflective of income / wealth bands, there is an obscenely wealthy minority and then everyone else.

~£300 (majority of sales)
~£500 (pricier end of majority)
~£8500 (the 0.1% - CEOs and bankers)


P.S.
That's why I support means-tested fines. A fine is not a deterrent if it doesn't hurt to pay it.

danox574 said:

It absolutely cracks me up that people think the 'wealthy' blow $20,000 on a whim, just because they can.

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This does happen.

danox574 said:

If they did so regularly, they wouldn't be the wealthy - they likely never would have become wealthy in the first place.

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This presupposes the fairy tale that people become wealthy all out of their own brilliance. It also seems to suggest that someone with a hundred times the wealth is a hundred times as diligent about managing their money.

danox574 said:

Those who earned the money are not often the types to buy a luxury item like this particular one, but those who do thought long and hard about using their earned money that way, and made a personal decision that we don't really have a right to judge.

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Except there is no rational reason whatsoever to pick the Edition over the regular collection. It's purely about fashion, style, preference. There's no extensive thought process that leads one to pick one over the other; there are only the questions of "can I afford it?" and "is it worth the price difference for me?". Whether we have a right to judge it is more of a philosophical question, but your insinuation that they somehow came to the astute conclusion "this is the superior product for me because X" makes little sense; the only reason to prefer it is exactly the one Apple's marketing already suggests.

Congrats to the people who ordered them, enjoy!!!

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Michaelgtrusa said:

If you did you research you'll find that most modern electronics were invented in the USA. They shipped the jobs overseas and that puts the nation at risk, but you didn't know that.

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Like the computer ?? The reason we are on this fansite.

Such an ignorant comment. Unless you want to put on a flame suit, I hope you broaden the scope of your comment.

Your comment actually refers to your anti Chinese sentiments on this site. Modern electronics is not when manafacturing moved to China......

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chucker23n1 said:

Much of today's cell phone technology comes from European companies such as Nokia and Ericsson.

Car technology? German companies such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Audio, video? Philips (Dutch), Sony (Japanese).

I don't know how you're going to define "most", "electronics", or "invented".

It's arguably true for computer technology, but that wasn't your claim.

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If you followed his posts, he is very anti Chinese manafacturing. Modern electronics refers to outsourcing manafacturing to China.

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Michaelgtrusa said:

I'm with you here! Give me American made ( one company ) or European for this amount on cash.

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Americans and Europeans also make a lot of crap. Talking electronics I would take something made in Japan to be honest.

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Rogifan said:

Imagine the outcry from people here if the gold watch was better in terms of features/technology. People here would be livid. In some ways you could argue Apple Watch is the most egalitarian product Apple has ever released. No matter what you spend the technology inside and the software features are the same.

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Like the outcries in the Mac Pro forums that the base units do not have the same hardware as the top spec models????? Have not heard them....

With Apple, playing more always got you higher specs and features.

Ummmmm apple does this in every product they sell. Tell me your not serious.

If the edition watch had better hardware there would be no outcry!!! It should for the price.

CFreymarc said:

I have a associate that ordered TWO Apple Watch Editions and is expecting them next week. Both are immediately headed to a safety deposit box and going into cold storage with very little unboxing. He is convinced they will increase in value like many of the early Rolex Oysters.

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I doubt your associate will realize the expected appreciation for several reasons:

1. Apple will make as many as they can sell. No announcement on the number where they will cease to produce them (e.g. limited to 150 pieces, etc)

2. As far as luxury items go, the fact remains that it is made in China. Unlike a Vertu, another electronic device, it is made in a market that isn't renowned for its craftsmanship.

3. Early Rolexes, double reds and Comex, are unique variants of a common models. Your friend's purchases are available to everyone...

k1121j said:

will these be arriving via Fedex/UPS or some special currier

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With that price, i'd expect it to be flown in a private jet with Tim Cook in it and hand given to me by him.

farewelwilliams said:

ok KYLE

don't have to show off.

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Without the media advertising this he would not have been able to show off. it's not his fault for trying to show off. it's the rumour sites fault for allowing him to show off by writing stuff like this up in articles.

re

mj1108 said:

What a waste for something that will be outdated in a year.

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Exactly what i think dude...I would rather invest my money on something productive then this.

Murgatroyd said:

The time–keeping mechanism and electronics inside the $399 model is exactly the same as the $16,000 model. The only difference is the golden watchband. Apple's Cook knows this, too. Why would Cook OK an idea to sell the exact same watch body, pricing higher only for a gold watchband? I'll wait for some media smart aleck to present the question for Cook to answer some day.

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And Cook's answer would be:
"Because people keep wanting to pay for it"

Economics 101, if the people want to pay a premium for something, you make for them and enjoy the profits.

AppleScruff1 said:

Who are you to judge anyone and what they do with the money they earn?

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I think the original point should have been that folks can spend their money on whatever they want, it don't bother most people.

However it's when they get on here and laud it up that they spent 17k on something with no other actual additional value than a gold bezel that opens them up to ridicule and criticism.

It's one thing to be able to afford something of extraordinary mechanical or artist value, but 17k for the basic product in a better suit was always going to look like a pointless purchase. As someone brilliantly said on here, it's still a skoda underneath.

If you wanna buy the watch, just do it, enjoy, it but know that it is not a special item in anyway. Only the gold in the case gives it any extra value... and you can even buy that cheaper from a gold dealer...

AppleScruff1 said:

Who are you to judge anyone and what they do with the money they earn?

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Agreed, it is no one else's business what others do with their money. I personally think it is dumb as hell(the 10k watch) but it is of no concern of mine what people choose to spend their money on

theloon said:

If you wanna buy the watch, just do it, enjoy, it but know that it is not a special item in anyway. Only the gold in the case gives it any extra value... and you can even buy that cheaper from a gold dealer...

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Perhaps it is a special item to those who buy it? Just like the Sport watch is a special item to those who buy it.

Some of these comments are unbelievable. Pure envy.

AppleScruff1 said:

Perhaps it is a special item to those who buy it? Just like the Sport watch is a special item to those who buy it.

Some of these comments are unbelievable. Pure envy.

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No envy. Just pure dumb. $16,350 for a frickin' apple watch, lol. There's two types of rich: born rich or you've earned your keep. People who buys these are of the former. Anyone with intelligence will see this thing updated in a year and what do you do with an outdated apple device? Good luck pawning it off for $16k.

If you bought some rolex, you'd actually make money after a few years. Apple watch, not so much!

AliMacs said:

No envy. Just pure dumb. $16,350 for a frickin' apple watch, lol. There's two types of rich: born rich or you've earned your keep. People who buys these are of the former. Anyone with intelligence will see this thing updated in a year and what do you do with an outdated apple device? Good luck pawning it off for $16k.

If you bought some rolex, you'd actually make money after a few years. Apple watch, not so much!

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You have no clue what types of people buy the Edition or how they got their money. And I'm sure they'll be thankful for your concern about the depreciation factor. Anyone with intelligence can decide if they want to buy the watch or not. Obviously those buying it can afford it, those criticizing how someone spends their money cannot.

AliMacs said:

Anyone with intelligence will see this thing updated in a year and what do you do with an outdated apple device? Good luck pawning it off for $16k.

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Right? Every single year without fail, by the snap of Jony Ive's (ever notice how his last name backwards is almost "Evil"? Can't be a coincidence) fingers, all my expensive Apple gear fails. Just like that. Then I have to bug the garbageman to please pick up my electronics, and call up my driver to take me to the Exclusive™ Apple Store for a set of new hardware. Man, those guys keep wanting my money, which takes away time I could instead spend on the yacht!