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OG Yellow for today
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The 18kt was obviously a massive flop

PR-wise, it was a massive success, I‘d argue. So many articles about Apple Watch that may have never been written without these crazy 18K models/prices. Would be super interesting to know if those were always intended as a one-off launch-edition attention grabber or if Sir Jony was at that point really so delusional as to think that rich folks would regularly buy (relatively) short-lived tech gadgets at these price points.

I remember hearing about them being dumped for ~75% off retail towards the end of their lives.

I‘ve never heard that. To whom? Certainly not to the general public.

Ceramic has had a rocky history of missing generations entirely, and of course, we all know how long it's been since the last one.

Too complicated to make, not really mass-producable, questionable demand = not worth the hassle (for Apple). I would love to be wrong but I doubt Ceramic will ever come back. Only if another industrial design guru would become as influential internally as Ive was, which is very hard to imagine.

Now even the titanium finish has gone, with the reintroduction as the Ultra I guess?

Yeah, would be too confusing to have two different Ti Watches, apparently. Less sure than with Ceramic, but still quite sure the “regular“ Ti models won‘t return.

So we're left without a luxury tier in the Watch world, which is something that's existed since the beginning.

Uh, Hermès? The luxury part is only in the bands, though. But still. The disappearance of Ceramic and Ti probably strengthened the staying power of the Hermès collaboration as the only remaining luxury tier offering. Which is nothing to sneeze at, especially after the Nike Watch was so suddenly gone.
 
PR-wise, it was a massive success, I‘d argue. So many articles about Apple Watch that may have never been written without these crazy 18K models/prices. Would be super interesting to know if those were always intended as a one-off launch-edition attention grabber or if Sir Jony was at that point really so delusional as to think that rich folks would regularly buy (relatively) short-lived tech gadgets at these price points.
Oh definitely, yeah the 18k was certainly worth it for Apple from a PR perspective. Everyone knew about them, but what I meant was that nobody actually bought them. My guess is a one time launch just to make a statement in the watch industry, as that was the whole point, right? catch attention and use super premium materials to say "We're as good a watch as any" I guess.

I‘ve never heard that. To whom? Certainly not to the general public.
The image I'm referencing was posted years ago, and I don't remember where. It was a receipt showing an Apple Store in Asia (maybe an authorized retailer?) was dumping their remaining stock for just $6,000 USD or something like that. Once the Series 2 was out and the Series 3 was in development, Apple just didn't want anything to do with them I have to imagine.

But yeah, I could totally see the same deal being offered in Qpromo to employees. I know a friend of a forum member here who works at Apple got one as a gift from his boss for having worked for the company for.. some amount of time.
Too complicated to make, not really mass-producable, questionable demand = not worth the hassle (for Apple). I would love to be wrong but I doubt Ceramic will ever come back. Only if another industrial design guru would become as influential internally as Ive was, which is very hard to imagine.
Oh for sure, I know ceramic is gone and we're only wishing if we think it'll be back. I think I just want it too much.

I get the financials of it being produced in smaller numbers with less demand from consumers, but like you mentioned about the gold watches, it's the PR that does it. Apple wants to be established as a premium/luxury brand, and that's what those Edition watches do. They're priced super high and make of those materials just to say "I'm expensive!"

I'm guessing Apple just either doesn't care anymore or doesn't think the effort is worth it, but there's no way they're unaware there are millions of people out there just waiting for a new ceramic edition.

Uh, Hermès? The luxury part is only in the bands, though. But still. The disappearance of Ceramic and Ti probably strengthened the staying power of the Hermès collaboration as the only remaining luxury tier offering. Which is nothing to sneeze at, especially after the Nike Watch was so suddenly gone.
Hermes is too boring. If you get the silver stainless one, it's an almost identical experience between the $749 Silver Stainless and $1,400 Hermes, just with a few new faces. Especially since they sell the bands separately...

I can't imagine Apple sells more Hermes watches than they would Editions.
 
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My guess is a one time launch just to make a statement in the watch industry, as that was the whole point, right?

Right! And it worked.

Oh for sure, I know ceramic is gone and we're only wishing if we think it'll be back. I think I just want it too much. I get the financials of it being produced in smaller numbers with less demand from consumers, but like you mentioned about the gold watches, it's the PR that does it. Apple wants to be established as a premium/luxury brand, and that's what those Edition watches do. They're priced super high and make of those materials just to say "I'm expensive!" I'm guessing Apple just either doesn't care anymore or doesn't think the effort is worth it, but there's no way they're unaware there are millions of people out there just waiting for a new ceramic edition.

I agree, there absolutely are customers for a new Ceramic Watch (me, for one), but I don‘t think there are millions of them and I don‘t think Apple Watch needs the PR anymore. It is the established leader in a slowly maturing category of devices already. To make this happen, you would need someone greenlighting this who has a personal soft spot for fancy, luxurious materials himself. I don‘t think Tim Cook is that guy.

Hermes is too boring.

I agree, actually. Especially since the new watchOS when Hermès Watches were the only ones not getting the Nike faces. Nike Bounce alone is worth more (to me) than all Hermès watch faces put together. And externally, the Hermès Watch body was always nice, but not special like Ceramic.

F***, the more we talk about this, the more I realize what a downer it is that we‘re probably never getting a new Watch made of a fancy, special material …
 
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Nike Bounce alone is worth more (to me) than all Hermès watch faces put together.
I have a Nike+ Series 6 and just bought a used SS Series 7 and was so pleasantly happy to see this face available! I just wish it was even a bit bigger on the larger screen (pushed up to the top more, bigger digits) but that could be is my aging eyes...
 
F***, the more we talk about this, the more I realize what a downer it is that we‘re probably never getting a new Watch made of a fancy, special material …
Exactly, quite a frustrating thought :/

On the positive side (if you wanna call it that): It makes me and probably a lot of others enjoy owning these special models even more. 💎
 
Also keeps eBay prices absurdly inflated, sadly.
Yup, but with a bit of patience and luck you can find reasonably priced objects of desire and that‘s making it fun for me.

For example, the S5 Ceramic cost me €350 at a french shop selling refurbished gear (only have seen 2 Ceramics pop up there over the last 1,5 years). After I complained about the glass having a scratch even though it was sold as „like new“ I received a refund of €80. I put that towards a paid battery replacement by Apple and of course they swapped it out for a new Watch.
So all in all I‘m quite happy with that :)
 
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