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I wonder what's up with the Modern Buckle band?

bunnicula

bunnicula

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
3,816
817
First off, they didn't have any watches available without longish wait times as soon as the store opened for pre-orders.

Now, they don't have ANY bands for sale. No "ships in July" or whatever.

It's the only band that's completely unavailable. I wonder why?
 
Last edited:
technosix said:
I just checked and mine also shows unavailable.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I think Jay was seeing the entire watch with modern buckle shipping in July, maybe?

I do see those shipping in June-July.

I had a suspicion that the modern buckle was both more of a challenge to make and less of a priority at launch.

I'll have to try one on to see if it's worth 249 dollars.

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JayLenochiniMac said:
Strange. The App is showing available in June for midnight blue and brown and in July for pink.
Click to expand...

Yeah. For the whole watch I see the same.

For the band by itself, I see no option to purchase. It's completely unavailable.
 
bunnicula said:
Yeah. I think Jay was seeing the entire watch with modern buckle shipping in July, maybe?

I do see those shipping in July.

I had a suspicion that the modern buckle was both more of a challenge to make and less of a priority at launch.

I'll have to try one on to see if it's worth 249 dollars.
Click to expand...

Oh I see you're talking about buying the band separately. Usually when we say modern buckle or link bracelet we're talking about the model. You might want to edit your title to say "Modern Buckle band."
 
My theory is based on the production. According to Apple, the leather for the band is produced by "A small French tannery established in 1803 produces the supple Granada leather for this elegant band." If it's true that the leather comes from a small tannery, I can see them not being able to keep up with supply.
 
That would be a huge fail on Apple's part if they chose a company that cannot supply a product in line with demand.

I ordered a 42mm SS with black sport band for me yesterday morning along with a 38mm SS with dark blue modern buckle for my wife on the same order. After she thought about it some more and afraid that the date might slip even farther back, we cancelled the one for her that I ordered and she ordered a 38mm SS with white sport band instead.

Reason we were afraid that her ship date might slip even more past June is because there's obviously a supply issue with the modern buckle bands since none of the watches are showing anything sooner than June and buying the bands by themselves isn't even available right now.

We're hoping that somewhat soon we will see the blue modern buckle band available, and when that does happen we'll just get her a band for her watch. In the meantime, she'll just wear the watch with the white sport band (which will show up sometime next month instead of June at the earliest like she was looking at with the original order).
 
AJT-au said:
My theory is based on the production. According to Apple, the leather for the band is produced by "A small French tannery established in 1803 produces the supple Granada leather for this elegant band." If it's true that the leather comes from a small tannery, I can see them not being able to keep up with supply.
Click to expand...

That's nothing more than marketing speak though. That tannery is said to be Tanneries Roux (owned by the same company that owns TAG Heuer and Hublot) and it supplies major watch manufacturers with straps.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
That's nothing more than marketing speak though. That tannery is said to be Tanneries Roux (owned by the same company that owns TAG Heuer and Hublot) and it supplies major watch manufacturers with straps.
Click to expand...

My theory is only based on the shipping time compared to the classic buckle. ECCO makes the leather for the classic buckle and here in Australia, you can still get the 38mm classic buckle deliveries in the 24/4 - 8/5 period (29 hours after pre-orders opened).

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largefarrva said:
That would be a huge fail on Apple's part if they chose a company that cannot supply a product in line with demand.

I ordered a 42mm SS with black sport band for me yesterday morning along with a 38mm SS with dark blue modern buckle for my wife on the same order. After she thought about it some more and afraid that the date might slip even farther back, we cancelled the one for her that I ordered and she ordered a 38mm SS with white sport band instead.
Click to expand...

I did a similar thing. I ordered the 42mm SS with black sport as well but a 38mm SS with soft pink modern buckle as well. After discussion, she decided to cancel the modern buckle and order a 38mm with classic buckle and buy the modern buckle separately because at that point (and now) the classic buckle was delivering in the 24/4 - 8/5 period.
 
largefarrva said:
That would be a huge fail on Apple's part if they chose a company that cannot supply a product in line with demand.

I ordered a 42mm SS with black sport band for me yesterday morning along with a 38mm SS with dark blue modern buckle for my wife on the same order. After she thought about it some more and afraid that the date might slip even farther back, we cancelled the one for her that I ordered and she ordered a 38mm SS with white sport band instead.

Reason we were afraid that her ship date might slip even more past June is because there's obviously a supply issue with the modern buckle bands since none of the watches are showing anything sooner than June and buying the bands by themselves isn't even available right now.

We're hoping that somewhat soon we will see the blue modern buckle band available, and when that does happen we'll just get her a band for her watch. In the meantime, she'll just wear the watch with the white sport band (which will show up sometime next month instead of June at the earliest like she was looking at with the original order).
Click to expand...

I agree. I bought the 38mm SS Milanese because the ones with Modern buckle had such terrible delivery times. Ah well. We'll see when they finally arrive. I just think it's weird that they advertised them all over the place and you can't even order the band.
 
AJT-au said:
My theory is based on the production. According to Apple, the leather for the band is produced by "A small French tannery established in 1803 produces the supple Granada leather for this elegant band." If it's true that the leather comes from a small tannery, I can see them not being able to keep up with supply.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding they make large quantities per month, as many as 12.

Apple sure knows who to do business with... ha... ha... ha...

OK now that we've got the humor out, let's be serious.

Just read Apple's warm and fuzzy story about the "small French tannery"... to think they believe customers are gullible enough to believe that tall tale. To think that millions of Apple's mass produced watches are waiting for this small shop to create millions of bands is so absurd, such an insult to the customer it's laughable.

It's also condescending, narcissistic, and Jobsian... But Hey! It's nothing new, that's why Apple and some of their _followers_ get so righteous and indignant when anyone dares question Apple.
 
I order exactly dead on 8:01am here in the UK and managed to get confirmed date for my 38mm Steel with Brown modern buckle for 12th May :)
 
somewhat related: I actually ordered the SS w/ classic buckle b.c it shipped right away. I ordered the SS band separately.
 
My guess is that there is some supply chain issue and that they underestimated the demand for it. IMO it is the best choice for women looking for a dressy or professional look. So for now they need every one they can get to sell with the watches themselves. Once they sort out the supply issue they'll undoubtedly sell it separately since it should sell very well.

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technosix said:
Just read Apple's warm and fuzzy story about the "small French tannery"... to think they believe customers are gullible enough to believe that tall tale. To think that millions of Apple's mass produced watches are waiting for this small shop to create millions of bands is so absurd, such an insult to the customer it's laughable.
Click to expand...

Obviously it's not a mom-and-pop operation, but a "small tannery" can indeed produce enough bands for a mass production product like a watch. It doesn't take much leather to make a watch band.
 
KPOM said:
My guess is that there is some supply chain issue and that they underestimated the demand for it. IMO it is the best choice for women looking for a dressy or professional look. So for now they need every one they can get to sell with the watches themselves. Once they sort out the supply issue they'll undoubtedly sell it separately since it should sell very well.
Click to expand...

I think you've hit the nail on the head.
 
bunnicula said:
First off, they didn't have any watches available without longish wait times as soon as the store opened for pre-orders.

Now, they don't have ANY bands for sale. No "ships in July" or whatever.

It's the only band that's completely unavailable. I wonder why?
Click to expand...

It's the most feminine band. The rest, not so much.
 
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mikezmac said:
If women only have 1 choice they will sell more of that one band to women.
For men there are far more choices.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that's the only choice for women. The Milanese Loop and Sport bands are unisex. So is the Classic band, though I did fine the actual design to be more masculine than I expected.
 
KPOM said:
Maybe a lot more women than Apple expected are opting for it.
Click to expand...

This is the first smart watch that can actually be feminine. So any lady that wants a smart watch will most likely luck this.

Women also tend to spend more than men for fashion, clothes and accessories so I'm guessing that they will also be less likely to be turned off by the Apple watch'so price.

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KPOM said:
I wouldn't say that's the only choice for women. The Milanese Loop and Sport bands are unisex. So is the Classic band, though I did fine the actual design to be more masculine than I expected.
Click to expand...

I worded this reply wrong, sorry. My initial statement was that this was the most feminine.

A lady can wear any of the bands. However Apple showed the modern band mostly on women, it also has the pink colored band.

I was looking to buy my wife one and she also made the same same observation although she was unhappy there weren't more choices that were "pretty".
 
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mikezmac said:
If women only have 1 choice they will sell more of that one band to women.
For ment there are far more choices.
Click to expand...

Except they don't only have one choice, they can go with any of the designs (even the Leather Loop in 42mm if they like to rock big ass watches) even though the Modern Buckle is the most feminine.
 
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