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Apple Watch Hermès Collection Debuts in Select Apple & Hermès Retail Stores

Enraginangel said:
This is the problem when you marry geeks (predominantly male) with fashion. They don't understand the utility of the fashion world so they don't get why people would pay exorbitant prices for such a useless piece of leather when a piece of string would do just fine to tie their watch to their wrist.
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Wow! And you tell this to people staring at $1000 - $2000 Macs? :cool:
 
840quadra said:
I still don't know why anyone would want a watch band that wraps around their wrist twice. For me, the quicker I can put on, or remove my watch the better, and the lighter / less impactful the overall device is, even better!
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im waiting for the band that wraps around from elbow down
 
KPOM said:
Apple has a long way to go before it is a jewelry boutique. The coffee and water while waiting in line at the vault are nice. But there's nothing else that would create such a line at a Hermes store or jeweler. They are trying to strike a balance. I think they can improve on things, actually taking some cues from the jewelry industry (they should have taken reservations in store and guaranteed those who waited for a try-on that they would hold the watches for them). I was about 10th in line and got one of the last ones from their initial stock. They thought they were getting more in later today, but weren't sure, and I don't think the buyers were the type who'd wait in another line.

Fashion is a fickle business, but if wearables are to take off, Apple needs to delve into this territory. They will have the Sport and basic collections for volume.
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Interesting. Rene Ritchie said on Twitter that several Watch Hermés models sold out quickly in Miami. This might be more popular than many expected. And if it is I wouldn't be surprised to see other partnerships. Louis Vuitton is probably out of the question but I'm sure there's other fashion powerhouses Apple could team up with.
 
Jakexb said:
Curious if this might be the first example of the band accessory port actually doing something? Something that tells the watch to enable the Hermes face? Or did they actually add something in the firmware of the watch itself that is going to enable the Hermes watch faces?
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Good question. I'm guessing it's the watch itself or we'd know by now.
 
Rogifan said:
Interesting. Rene Ritchie said on Twitter that several Watch Hermés models sold out quickly in Miami. This might be more popular than many expected. And if it is I wouldn't be surprised to see other partnerships. Louis Vuitton is probably out of the question but I'm sure there's other fashion powerhouses Apple could team up with.
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I showed up at UES at 9:10. I got the second to last watch that they had in stock. Granted there were only about 20 of us in line as a whole. The line at the Hermès store was around the block at 10:10 when I walked past (probably 30-40 people). I think this is pretty popular.

It's attracting the right crowd for Apple. Hopefully they aren't turned off by the lack of inventory or the first come first served system. The woman who was treating herself and tried on several Editions along with the Double Tour is happy to part with $1250 or more but doesn't want to wait in any more lines unless she is guaranteed a product. The UES crowd has lots of money but is also demanding. They don't mind waiting for delivery but don't want to stand in lines.

I straddle the two groups. I'm as techie as anyone here and have a Midwest sensibility but consider myself fashion conscious nonetheless. I'd have been angry had I burned through the airline points and NYC restaurant and hotel costs to walk away empty handed, but I was here to meet with some colleagues anyway. In the end I got exactly what I wanted (38mm Single Tour Fauve).

Meet me in the Marketplace if you are looking for a cheap launch day Apple Watch (but you'll get a Milanese Loop instead of a Classic Band. I'm keeping that one.)
 
Does anybody else remember when Apple made computers for professionals? Rather than trinkets for hipster yuppies? Because I for one, am getting a little over this "form over function at a premium price" crap. Surely Apple can do both at a reasonable price......like they did 10 years ago.
 
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TheFluffyDuck said:
Does anybody else remember when Apple made computers for professionals? Rather than trinkets for hipster yuppies? Because I for one, am getting a little over this "form over function at a premium price" crap. Surely Apple can do both at a reasonable price......like they did 10 years ago.
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So go buy a Mac Pro. No one says you have to buy an Apple Watch.
 
KPOM said:
I showed up at UES at 9:10. I got the second to last watch that they had in stock. Granted there were only about 20 of us in line as a whole. The line at the Hermès store was around the block at 10:10 when I walked past (probably 30-40 people). I think this is pretty popular. It's attracting the right crowd for Apple.
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Were these Hermes customers just learning about the Watch, or were these just Apple customers who have been hearing about the Hermes co-brand? And how many scalpers?

When the Watch launched, there were a few exclusive boutiques worldwide who actually had inventory on hand, the one in LA, Maxfield had lines around the store everyday, and store was getting new stock every day or two in the beginning. They basically sold out of everything they had in the first day which was probably 40 or so watches. That's not really a lot. I'm curious if Hermes has more coming every day, like Maxfield did, and if so, how quickly before such demand falls off. The customers who bought from Maxfield of course, probably had never been to the store before in their lives, and I'd bet a larger percentage will never go back. It was a source of frustration for the Maxfield employees, their regular customers who stayed away, as well as the Apple early adopters who were not used to being treated so arrogantly. And what made it worse, was that Maxfield employees clearly had relationships with blatant scalpers in the lines, who despite the one-watch per customer policy, managed to return and buy several without waiting their turn in line, all under the nose of a watchful Apple representative.
 
Mac 128 said:
Were these Hermes customers just learning about the Watch, or were these just Apple customers who have been hearing about the Hermes co-brand? And how many scalpers?

When the Watch launched, there were a few exclusive boutiques worldwide who actually had inventory on hand, the one in LA, Maxfield had lines around the store everyday, and store was getting new stock every day or two in the beginning. They basically sold out of everything they had in the first day which was probably 40 or so watches. That's not really a lot. I'm curious if Hermes has more coming every day, like Maxfield did, and if so, how quickly before such demand falls off. The customers who bought from Maxfield of course, probably had never been to the store before in their lives, and I'd bet a larger percentage will never go back. It was a source of frustration for the Maxfield employees, their regular customers who stayed away, as well as the Apple early adopters who were not used to being treated so arrogantly. And what made it worse, was that Maxfield employees clearly had relationships with blatant scalpers in the lines, who despite the one-watch per customer policy, managed to return and buy several without waiting their turn in line, all under the nose of a watchful Apple representative.
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They didn't look like scalpers at either store. Certainly the 50ish woman trying on the Rose Gold Edition and the Double Tour wasn't a scalper. The people who can afford to live near 74th and Madison in Manhattan won't blink at $1100-$1500. They probably pay $10,000 or more per month for a 2-3 bedroom apartment. There was a late 20-something or early 30-something woman with her dog in front of me. Behind me was an annoying New Yorker with an accent to match. I'd be happy if I bought the last watch she was looking for. But the rest of the crowd seemed genuinely interested in it. The line at UES was short. Hopefully they get what they want soon (or even got it later today when another shipment came in).
 
TheFluffyDuck said:
Does anybody else remember when Apple made computers for professionals? Rather than trinkets for hipster yuppies? Because I for one, am getting a little over this "form over function at a premium price" crap. Surely Apple can do both at a reasonable price......like they did 10 years ago.
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Apple put a desktop class CPU and SSD controller into a phone. Let us have our fashionable watches.
 
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Mac 128 said:
This is no reason to prevent users from having the option of a customizable watch face. As it is they limit the custom digital watch face to time and date, and the same could easily be true for the custom analogue watch face. Hermes gets the only square watch face Apple is offering, which was likely planned to make it exclusive, since the Hermes has been in the works for over a year, just like the gold Sport was withheld until now to enhance the Edition's exclusivity. The fact that an average customer can't select the native orientation watch layout on a square watch speaks volumes about Apple's arbitrary limitations, here. Moreover, its incomprehensible to me that after launching no less than 18 custom watch faces for the iPod nano, and then launching a digital watch project the same year, that the watch face wasn't at least one of the most well thought out aspects of what became the Watch.



Exactly. Copyright is not an issue at all here. No more than a band who uploads a song to iTunes which infringes on another song. Should Apple have a system in place to screen for copyright infringement? Absolutely, so why isn't it? That's the simplest thing they could have done. They've had four years to figure it out, it's not like they didn't know it was coming ... So now, people will pirate copyrighted images off the internet they didn't likely ever pay for and load them behind their custom photos watch face, when Apple could have had a store in place that allowed copyright and trademark owners a means to make money with a well co-ordinated system, much like with ringtones. Most people would do that to get a custom image that looked good without going to the effort of trial and error cropping and shading.
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I think the issue is that Apple wants to completely control what watch faces is available on the Watch. I don't think they will offer a custom watch face market soon as shown by their (lame) reaction to the request of more watch faces: the photo watch face (No complications there? Seriously?).

My previous point of patent/copyright/trademark issues will be a headache to Apple since watch faces that people will infringe on are most likely valuable brands like Rolex etc. Anyone remember the debacle of Apple's clock app of iOS 6 which costed the company $21 million? I see your point for the legal responsibility being on the infringer itself, but Apple, if they do not police the store enough and remove those counterfeit watch faces in time, they maybe in trouble too.

I think Apple just doesn't want to step into this muddy water and dilute the Apple Watch brand like the Moto 360.


p.s. I think the only acceptable watch faces are the Simple and the Utility.
 
looking good. of course anything that has something with fashion will be looked down upon by some people on this forum. lucky Apple is not run by them. otherwise they'd be like HP or Dell.
 
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agsystems said:
Who is buying this? Sounds like Apple might be keeping the same size for the 2nd gen – otherwise this sounds like a waste of money. Where the heck are the refurbs? I was hoping to pick up one for $199/$249 - otherwise, I am not a buyer at current prices - maybe 2nd gen.
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I assume you are a straight male over 25 years old. Oh, correct me if I am wrong, but majority of those people under that category will not understand Hermes. I am being stereotype here, there are always exception. I love Hermes, and would love to get the red-tinted Capucine Leather band, but at the moment my financial does not permit me :(
 
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