$10,000 Apple Watch will be a status symbol

[KenAFSPC]

Want to make a small fortune? Create some sort of kit (paint?) to make the Watch Sport look like the $17000 Watch Edition.

Few people will ever see the $17000 Watch Edition up close, so your kit won't have to produce an exact match.

 

[douglasf13]

this is true. but say you go out and buy the gold/rose gold one. 5 years from now the battery won't hold a charge, or does not charge anymore. from the design and my previous experience as working at a tech in the genius bar, it looks like the battery isn't replaceable (like iPods/ipod touches/ipads/). so say you can't replace the battery. or you go to the beach and salt water ruins it. what happens then? after your 3yr apple care is up. at least with a rolex/patek/ other high end brands, you can get it repaired for a cost. in the end its a piece of gold with some electronics inside. not a hand made mechanical watch. you just spent over 10 grand and now you have to replace it. also, over time the battery gets depleted. first gen problems. for something so small apple won't try to fix it. they'll just want to replace it. i wonder what an out of warranty replacement cost would be for the edition model would be.

I would think that the replacement cost would be the same as the other versions. The internals look pretty easy to repair. Also, I wonder what kind of insurance options are out there, since the thing is $10K plus? Most people with expensive watches insure them.

Either way, the target market for this watch probably doesn't care.

 

[lakaiordie]

I would think that the replacement cost would be the same as the other versions. The internals look pretty easy to repair. Also, I wonder what kind of insurance options are out there, since the thing is $10K plus? Most people with expensive watches insure them.

Either way, the target market for this watch probably doesn't care.

you think apple care would be the same for a $350 watch compared to the $10+grand one?

 

[douglasf13]

you think apple care would be the same for a $350 watch compared to the $10+grand one?

Apple Care comes free with the Edition Watch. Either way, the only reason the Edition is more expensive is because of the case materials. Repairing it shouldn't cost any differently, right?

 

[lakaiordie]

Apple Care comes free with the Edition Watch. Either way, the only reason the Edition is more expensive is because of the case materials. Repairing it shouldn't cost any differently, right?

who knows how repairable it is, apple doesn't bother to repair iPods/ iPod touches or iPads . next month when someone gets around to ripping it apart we'll see. but i have a feeling the battery is not replaceable. even by apple at the genius bar.

but i'd doubt they'd want to swap out something that costs that much. also, i bet that would be a special order case and if you had an edition watch and needed a replacement you'd have to come back. it just depends but it looks pretty sealed to me. and working on something that small would need a loupe like working on a real watch. but we'll see. every launch product has stock that is defective. but i'd be really pissed if i spent that much and i got a defective 10grand plus device and they didn't have one to replace it immediately

 

[douglasf13]

who knows how repairable it is, apple doesn't bother to repair iPods/ iPod touches or iPads . next month when someone gets around to ripping it apart we'll see. but i have a feeling the battery is not replaceable. even by apple at the genius bar.

but i'd doubt they'd want to swap out something that costs that much. also, i bet that would be a special order case and if you had an edition watch and needed a replacement you'd have to come back. it just depends but it looks pretty sealed to me. and working on something that small would need a loupe like working on a real watch. but we'll see. every launch product has stock that is defective. but i'd be really pissed if i spent that much and i got a defective 10grand plus device and they didn't have one to replace it immediately

Surely Apple will have some kind of concierge service for Edition owners to facilitate all of that. They're apparently making a lot of changes to deal with these watches.

FWIW, sometimes even Rolex or Omega owners buy a new watch that has an issue early on, and you have to send the thing in for a repair that takes several weeks, unless maybe it's less than 30 days old, where the dealer will just replace it, if they even have one in stock.

 

[lakaiordie]

Surely Apple will have some kind of concierge service for Edition owners to facilitate all of that. They're apparently making a lot of changes to deal with these watches.

FWIW, sometimes even Rolex or Omega owners buy a new watch that has an issue early on, and you have to send the thing in for a repair that takes several weeks, unless maybe it's less than 30 days old, where the dealer will just replace it, if they even have one in stock.

for business apple has JointVenture. where if you have an issue with a product you can walk in and skip everyone else basically. I bet they'll have something similar to that.