Apple Watch Bands Range in Price from $49 for the Sport Band to $449 for the Link Bracelet

[kennyt72]

The buckle is 18 carat gold too.

Not £5500 worth of gold

 

[dugbug]

Not me. I honestly don't "get" watches & why people spend so much on them. If I wore one, I'd get a cheap one that doesn't look tacky and keeps the correct time.

Its the luxury axiom: folks that buy Lamborghinis don't worry about the price of gas.

 

[mobidutch]

I'm guessing many people would want to by the silver Watch Sport with a black band. Conveniently, that is not an offered combination, forcing you to pony up an extra $49 for a black sport band. I'm sure that's all very deliberate. Sneaky.

 

[RoccoFan]

I'm still mad that the $50 camera connector I bought for my iPod didn't work with my iPad. I can't imagine the amount of rage I would feel to buy a watch band for $500 just to have Apple change the design and make my band useless.

 

[rwilliams]

There are many reasons, one of which is perception... You don't have to agree with this, but it's true...In Corporate America, you are evaluated based on the way you look and how you present yourself. Wearing a nice suit & watch, shows that you pay attention to detail, and have interests outside the norm.

I can dig it. Fortunately for me, I work in IT and avoid having to wear a suit and fine accessories every day. I do what I love, make good money, and avoid the perception game.

 

[Poochi]

idk about you guys but i got my eye on that $17,000 option...gonna sell both my cars and take out a loan, gotta have that sorta gold looking case to show off to my friends.

How about next year when Apple Watch Edition 2 comes out, what are you selling then?

 

[raymondkerr]

has it been confirmed anywhere that the better more expensive straps will be compatible with the alloy sport watch ? I can't afford and wouldn't want to pay the price for the Stainless Steel watch, but maybe through time, I could be persured to buy and upgrade to a leather strap for the sport. Surely apple won't make the sport watch "rubber strap" only ?

 

[marty11]

This is what you get when a saleswoman from the ultra high markup purse business helps direct product decisions for a tech company.

I may be wrong, but this could be an epic failure. Apple is not comprised of idiots, so I am curious what they see. But from my vantage this is a vanity product that has more flaws than benefits. Just like the new MacBook.

Strange day for Apple.

 

[mackinmike]

What does a $50,000 watch do that a normal (<$500) watch can't?

get you laid? just saying.

and it'll probably attract the wrong type of females... the ones that drains your wallet. but hey, have fun with it!! better than attracting no one!

 

[kdarling]

One thing for sure...

This should make those proposed aftermarket watchband adapters popular !

(One of the nice things about many other smartwatches, is that you can use any 22mm band. With an adapter, so could Apple Watch owners.)

 

[MrCrowbar]

I think Apple just figured out how many watches they could produce in the given time and adjusted the prices in a way they would not be sold out within a day or release.

I can totally see them removing the big clock on the lock screen of the iPhone eventually so you actually can't just pull out your iPhone to glance at the time. Android fans will be laughing and soon after disabling their lock screen clock just to be cool.

 

[Andrei90]

$10k +++ for an iWatch... What a joke. I'll stick to Panerai/Audemars Piguet/Rolex/Omega if i want a real timepiece in that price range.

There's a $349 option for you.

 

[merlingfx]

These are the prices for high end bracelets.
My Omega Seamaster bracelet made of titanium needs to be replaced and to get a new one is $450 at the Omega Boutique.

My issue with the Watch is more about being obsolete in 12 to 24 months while the Omega can last generations. Sure I understand one watch does way more than tell time, but I would not pay top dollar to get it.
I wonder if Apple will announce a trade program for the very high end watches.

You realize titanium is far more costly then stainless steel right? And lets not pretend these are hand-fabricated in some European country by masters of their craft, but mass produced in China by factory-workers. Apple is making a ridiculous profit margins on these overpriced bands.

 

[marty11]

There are many reasons, one of which is perception... You don't have to agree with this, but it's true...In Corporate America, you are evaluated based on the way you look and how you present yourself. Wearing a nice suit & watch, shows that you pay attention to detail, and have interests outside the norm.

I think this watch is going to say a lot about people's baseline intelligence more than anything. "What band did you choose on your cookie cutter fad watch" is hardly a complementary thought a client or associate would have about you. It may be a conversation starter the first year, but unless there's something more exclusive in the pipeline, the watch comes off as something owned by a dutiful slave to gadget fads.

 

[TallManNY]

Every single Rolex, Omega, Hublot and Patek Philip comes with in-house built movements. This means the low end 3K Rolex and Omega watches too. Actually more and more Swiss watches are coming up with their own in-house movements. If you've ever seen skeleton watch with few complications you will truly appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into making automatic high quality watch. Regarding high complication watches, it's totally different matter and price range.

I'm wearing an automatic watch and it has a saphire back so I can see the complications. I totally agree that automatic watches are one of the greatest mechanical devices ever made by man. But I believe many brands, including those you mentioned above, are all owned by the Swatch Group or furnished by the them.

I quote from Wikipedia:

Swatch subsidiary ETA Manufacture Horlogere, which is based in Grenchen, Switzerland, furnishes many OEM brands, such as LVMH, which markets TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith watch lines, and Richemont, which markets amongst others, Baume & Mercier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget SA and Vacheron Constantin.[5]

And I believe Omega is part of the Swatch Group.

It is incredible, to me, that the watch winds itself and tells time by just capturing my movement throughout the day. But the cost here is not just complexity. You are also paying for the brand and for the prestige. The expense is part of the product, not just the craftsmanship.

 

[Trhodezy]

Wow, I'd rate that as probably the most boring keynote ever, had it not been for the MacBook, it would have been a disaster.

Never in a keynote have I heard the presenter almost mumble the pricing, and the room be dead silent, and that included Apple employees

I meant great keynote for the MacBook, I didn't think I'd need to extrapolate. The rest of the keynote was a bore.

 

[Andrei90]

I'm usually one to defend apple's pricing because I can find value in their products but I think they are overvaluing the differences in materials. It's one thing to offer additional features but it is another thing to just offer a difference in materials. I think the sports model will sell like hotcakes and they will eventually lower the price of the stainless model and some of the bands. I guess only time will tell though!

This is new territory for Apple. We all have heard how Apple products are expensive because of the brand and not the value, well... today that's finally true. Apple has become a luxury brand, whoever buys this watches aren't buying them because of the features the product offers, they're buying them only because of the Apple brand. I don't get why they went this way at all, why do they want to become a luxury brand? With this product Apple has actually put money first. Next thing you know they'll be offering iPhone 6S made of solid gold.

 

[MH01]

I meant great keynote for the MacBook, I didn't think I'd need to extrapolate. The rest of the keynote was a bore.

My bad. And I agree with you.

 

[lazard]

What does a $50,000 watch do that a normal (<$500) watch can't?

retain it's value. I can wear the watch for a couple of years and sell it for close, if not more than what I paid.

 

[mackinmike]

Every single Rolex, Omega, Hublot and Patek Philip comes with in-house built movements. This means the low end 3K Rolex and Omega watches too. Actually more and more Swiss watches are coming up with their own in-house movements. If you've ever seen skeleton watch with few complications you will truly appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into making automatic high quality watch. Regarding high complication watches, it's totally different matter and price range.

actually, rolex used zenith movements before switching out to their own. hublot used an ETA but modified it a bit in their popular big bang series but have recently migrated some of their movements to in-house. even cartier, uses an ETA in their earlier roadsters.... let's just say that most common brands had movements based on ETA until recently. the more expensive watches from Patek had their own from the beginning.

 

[MH01]

I'm wearing an automatic watch and it has a saphire back so I can see the complications. I totally agree that automatic watches are one of the greatest mechanical devices ever made by man. But I believe many brands, including those you mentioned above, are all owned by the Swatch Group or furnished by the them.

I quote from Wikipedia:

Swatch subsidiary ETA Manufacture Horlogere, which is based in Grenchen, Switzerland, furnishes many OEM brands, such as LVMH, which markets TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith watch lines, and Richemont, which markets amongst others, Baume & Mercier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget SA and Vacheron Constantin.[5]

And I believe Omega is part of the Swatch Group.

It is incredible, to me, that the watch winds itself and tells time by just capturing my movement throughout the day. But the cost here is not just complexity. You are also paying for the brand and for the prestige. The expense is part of the product, not just the craftsmanship.

Very true.

I have a Rolex deep sea , I consider it a marvel of craftsmanship in relation to the movement and also engineering feat that allows it to go 12800ft under water. For Something like this, I consider it worth the asking price, not to mention it holds its value quite well.

Sadly I don't see craftsmanship in the apple watch, due to it being a computer, and it's not even advised to be worn in the shower for me it's an over glorified calculator compared to my daily driver

 

[foodog]

I'm usually one to defend apple's pricing because I can find value in their products but I think they are overvaluing the differences in materials. It's one thing to offer additional features but it is another thing to just offer a difference in materials. I think the sports model will sell like hotcakes and they will eventually lower the price of the stainless model and some of the bands. I guess only time will tell though!

Compare high end stainless watches / band on Amazon and I think you will fine they have it about right. Stainless steel can be very expensive or very cheap and you get what you pay for.

 

[iamthedudeman]

I actually think Apple get the price just right. I hope the watches won't flood the market. It doesn't matter if it's too expensive for some and too cheap for others. The people who buy and wear it, will do with care. It's not like buying junkies from 5 dollars shop.

No. But it will be obsolete in short order. What do you do with it then? trade it in on a updated model I would assume. That is assuming in two to five years time the newer apple watch you just upgraded to is comparable with the bands or band you already purchased since owning the first gen watch.

This is too much to pay for a throw away product or one you have to keep throwing money at.

A good entry level swiss automatic will cost as much as the bands. That watch will have minimum up keep every five years, and as such last a lifetime.

Compare a mid level swiss such as a Tag, Tissot, Mido, Oris, watch around 700 to a thousand plus to a apple watch of the same price and the same problems will exist.

Same goes or a high level swiss such as a Omega, Rolex, Bret-ling etc.

Apple should have had the option of upgrading the core watch either with a trade in program or a upgrade option such as the insides of the watch being swappable as on some Samsung TV's. Now that would add value to the product and allow the same level or timelessness to the product as a good swiss automatic watch has.

Huge fail on Apple's part.

 

[Trhodezy]

My bad. And I agree with you.

In retrospect, I could have been clearer.

I think you and I should do the next keynote, we know how it should go dooooown.

 

[iamthedudeman]

Very true.

I have a Rolex deep sea , I consider it a marvel of craftsmanship in relation to the movement and also engineering feat that allows it to go 12800ft under water. For Something like this, I consider it worth the asking price, not to mention it holds its value quite well.

Sadly I don't see craftsmanship in the apple watch, due to it being a computer, and it's not even advised to be worn in the shower for me it's an over glorified calculator compared to my daily driver

This is spot on. Ditto.