Gold Apple Watch Edition Costs Between $10,000 to $17,000, Available in Limited Quantities

[Avatar74]

With the greatest of respect, I paid five figures for my timepiece and I would certainly never consider spending the same on the Apple Watch.

I understand 350-1,000 but 10,000 is ludicrous.

In corporate finance, pricing is not an exact science. I'm sure that Apple's pricing analysts expect a certain degree of customer breakage/churn to occur, and have planned to lower prices on the Editions at some point after the immediate fervor has died down.

Any watchmaker can say they're going to produce x units and then produce more of them. This is why as a collector I warn against "limited editions"... they're marketing nonsense for gullible people.

Speaking as someone with a five figure watch, reasoning has already gone out the window the moment you use anything to rationalize the purchase of a five figure wristwatch. The materials, craftsmanship, etc. do not approve in proportion to the rise in price once you get to a certain level of diminishing marginal return... So without trying to predict how well the Edition will do, I'll say that the people who buy it will rationalize it just as you and I rationalized our ludicrous purchases....

 

[beanbaguk]

In corporate finance, pricing is not an exact science. I'm sure that Apple's pricing analysts expect a certain degree of customer breakage/churn to occur, and have planned to lower prices on the Editions at some point after the immediate fervor has died down.

Any watchmaker can say they're going to produce x units and then produce more of them. This is why as a collector I warn against "limited editions"... they're marketing nonsense for gullible people.

Speaking as someone with a five figure watch, reasoning has already gone out the window the moment you use anything to rationalize the purchase of a five figure wristwatch. The materials, craftsmanship, etc. do not approve in proportion to the rise in price once you get to a certain level of diminishing marginal return... So without trying to predict how well the Edition will do, I'll say that the people who buy it will rationalize it just as you and I rationalized our ludicrous purchases....

You're completely and utterly wrong with your statement.

You claim to be a watch collector and show off your Rolex to the world yet weirdly, you believe I've lost all reason spending five figures (USD), on a mechanical timepiece. It's at this point you've fallen of your train.

The rationalisation behind the purchase of a $10k Apple Watch and a $10k timepiece have no bearing on one another. One is a pretentious item and the other is a work of art.

A mechanical watch demands many individual man-hours putting it together, and then you have the immense amount of research and development building a movement that is not only incredibly advanced from a technology point of view, but utterly beautiful to look at and admire.

Comparatively, the Apple Watch is.....ugly at best. From a sports perspective, it's functional and looks ok, but from a jewellery aspect, it's far from beautiful. Then you open it up and it's just a piece of silicon and lithium with a life-span of no more than a couple of years.

However, my 5 figure handmade Swiss timepiece will continue to function for decades. And moreover, it'll continue to hold significant value too, and also gain admiring glances from people who know. In other words, my 5 figure ludicrous purchase is timeless.

I'm not trying to berate the Apple Watch. Far from it. However you have to be mentally insane to spend $10k on an item that will be defunct in just a couple of years. In real terms, you are spending $13.69 per day at that price, whereas if my watch were to realistically last 40 years, I would be paying just $0.68 per day for my insane purchase.

 

[orthorim]

I've said it before: Collectors will snap these up in a hurry.

The face of the watch collector industry is going to change as well. The price and value of something is related to supply and demand. If Apple gets the "limited" right - and I don't think they'll screw it up, the 1st edition will likely be made in numbers too small, because Apple is always conservative - then these will go up in price the minute they go on sale.

As for "losing their value and/or function" - why would they lose their value or function at all? Maybe you'll have to put in a new battery every few years. Other than that they'll last.

The value doesn't lie in the technology - and by the way as tech is concerned, this watch can do about 1000 times more than your mechanical time piece so if it's outdated in 2 years because the new one can do even more, it can still do 1000 times more than that Swiss mechanical time piece you're wearing...

Those watch collectors who plan to snap these up are not going to post their plans on the internet. They'll buy it, and put it on a shelf, and see it go up in value.

There is only ever going to be ONE first edition Apple watch. No matter what.

PS: It's my opinion that Swiss watch manufacturers are going to enter an era of struggle. They'll try and fail to compete with smart watches like this. They simply do not have the technology or expertise to pull something like an Apple watch off. The argument that mechanical mechanisms are better is akin to arguments one would make for horse drawn carriages when the automobile was introduced. Look how beautiful these are, they're hand-made, there's an actual horse in front of it, not a soul-less engine... right. Let's see how that pans out.

 

[kdarling]

A very interesting article predicting the effect of smartwatches on traditional watches, via interviews with several modern watchmakers:

Tradition, timepieces, and the scourge of the smartwatch

 

[PracticalMac]

<snip>
... which will be out of date this time next year.

Thats funny, I thought the purpose of a watch is be current at all times.




(runs)

 

[PracticalMac]

I've said it before: Collectors will snap these up in a hurry.

The face of the watch collector industry is going to change as well. The price and value of something is related to supply and demand. If Apple gets the "limited" right - and I don't think they'll screw it up, the 1st edition will likely be made in numbers too small, because Apple is always conservative - then these will go up in price the minute they go on sale.

As for "losing their value and/or function" - why would they lose their value or function at all? Maybe you'll have to put in a new battery every few years. Other than that they'll last.

The value doesn't lie in the technology - and by the way as tech is concerned, this watch can do about 1000 times more than your mechanical time piece so if it's outdated in 2 years because the new one can do even more, it can still do 1000 times more than that Swiss mechanical time piece you're wearing...

Those watch collectors who plan to snap these up are not going to post their plans on the internet. They'll buy it, and put it on a shelf, and see it go up in value.

There is only ever going to be ONE first edition Apple watch. No matter what.

PS: It's my opinion that Swiss watch manufacturers are going to enter an era of struggle. They'll try and fail to compete with smart watches like this. They simply do not have the technology or expertise to pull something like an Apple watch off. The argument that mechanical mechanisms are better is akin to arguments one would make for horse drawn carriages when the automobile was introduced. Look how beautiful these are, they're hand-made, there's an actual horse in front of it, not a soul-less engine... right. Let's see how that pans out.

Good points.

Plus the traditional watch industry wants to add "smart" elements to its watches, so in the long run a very few watches will be mechanical.

I also fully expect there are huge numbers of wealthy people who will wait in line to plunk down $17K for one. As long as Apple keeps it a unique line and offer premium service to boot (10 years of battery replacements for instance), the demand will be there.

As much as people scoff as the price, Apples recent track record for mobile devices have been very good. $329 for the iPad Mini was panned, yet sold like hot cakes. iPad at $499 also sent shockwaves when a netbook could be had for $299. iPhone was not, but even at initial high price it sold quite a few.

 

[smorrissey]

If I buy this for 10k. Jony Ive or Tim Cook better come and re charge it for me.

Definitely not but they can send you an Apple genius at your home for free no extra charge.

 

[ChrisA]

We can do better than that...
Right now, www.apmex.com shows an "ask" price for gold of $1,167.50 per troy oz.

SO I read your estimate of the melt value of the gold watch. We came to within a few hundred dollars. Something around $2K.

But I don't believe the labor cost is more for gold. The stainless steel case likely requires more effort to make. Gold is easier to work

Me? I'll wait for the 2.0 or 2.1 version to come out in maybe three years and for the price to go below $200.

 

[MeFromHere]

But I don't believe the labor cost is more for gold. The stainless steel case likely requires more effort to make. Gold is easier to work

Me? I'll wait for the 2.0 or 2.1 version to come out in maybe three years and for the price to go below $200.

Check this commentary out if you haven't seen it yet:
http://atomicdelights.com/blog/a-glimpse-at-how-the-apple-watch-is-made

It's likely the manufacturing for the steel case is highly automated. In particular, it's probably NOT hand-polished. The gold is hand-polished and inspected. On an expensive luxury item like this, any imperfection probably results in rejection of the part.

 

[kdarling]

It's likely the manufacturing for the steel case is highly automated. In particular, it's probably NOT hand-polished. The gold is hand-polished and inspected. On an expensive luxury item like this, any imperfection probably results in rejection of the part.

I'm actually a bit surprised that the stainless steel watches seem to be polished at least partly by automation in that Chinese factory.

After all, even $30 Chinese made watches are usually polished by hand, simply because labor is so cheap and automation so rare. (Note that "by hand" means manually holding the case up to a polishing wheel in both cases, not rubbing it by hand.)

Would be interesting to see a picture of the "trained artisans" that Apple says do the polishing. Did they hire experienced gold or jewelry workers? Or is it a marketing phrase describing Foxconn / Quanta employees who have been given on-the-job training.

Or is the gold version made somewhere else?

 

[MeFromHere]

I'm actually a bit surprised that the stainless steel watches seem to be polished at least partly by automation in that Chinese factory.

After all, even $30 Chinese made watches are usually polished by hand, simply because labor is so cheap and automation so rare. (Note that "by hand" means manually holding the case up to a polishing wheel in both cases, not rubbing it by hand.)

Would be interesting to see a picture of the "trained artisans" that Apple says do the polishing. Did they hire experienced gold or jewelry workers? Or is it a marketing phrase describing Foxconn / Quanta employees who have been given on-the-job training.

Or is the gold version made somewhere else?

I don't think it is just a question of manual work vs. machine work. The other issues are quality, consistency, volume, and yield.

If you want lots of parts cheap, you don't care too much about average quality, and you don't mind a certain percentage of the output being terrible, then you can find a company in China (for example) that specializes in that kind of work.

On the other hand, if you want much better quality and fewer rejects, you can also get that done in China (and in many other places). But you need to pay extra for a better workforce -- both in training and attitude -- compared to the lowest-cost shops. But if you need lots of high-quality parts in a short time, you have to start adding automation, because you can't get the workforce you need as soon as you need it. The things automation does best -- speed and consistency -- are the things that are hardest in a manual process. You can get quality either way, if you are able to pay for it.

For the very best quality, a machine is probably as slow as a person, or needs constant attention from a person -- if a machine can even do it. Million-dollar hand-made watches have better quality than $10,000 machine-made (with human help) ones. But the $10,000 ones are still pretty darn good.

In the case of the gold Apple Watch Edition, I suspect a handful of really good people can do the final polishing and inspection, and produce the volume Apple needs. It might not matter whether they are in China or somewhere more expensive. This handful of people will be paid very well, no matter where they are.

On the other hand, for the stainless steel Apple Watch, they probably need to make so many that there aren't enough really good polishers available. It would take too long to find them and train them to do the work well. The only practical solution is to invest in insanely expensive machinery that can produce good (but not quite perfect) stuff really quickly.