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Who else plans to get the Apple Watch Hermès?

Is it worth it?

  • Total voters
    284
JayLenochiniMac said:
I'm personally using the Simple face but with no numbers in order not to accentuate how small the dial is (like what you see on the Chronograph face). A more elegant version of the current Simple face would be the following (although what I really want is for the dial/numbers to follow the perimeter of the watch body):

bildschirmfoto-2015-05-13-um-21-39-23-png.551797
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Is this one of the Hermès faces? How many other faces are specific to the Hermès?
 
When I was in college my mother got me a leather bomber jacket from Brooks Brothers. It wasn't high quality leather, but it wasn't pig either. I wore it almost everyday and abused it thoroughly. I never hung it up. I wore it in the rain. And after a year it looked like crap. There was wear, scratches, discoloration, and even a hole.

It went into storage and came out a couple of years ago, as I needed something lightweight for the warm Florida winters. It got such compliments that it amazed me - because of the wear and the abuse.

I'm eager to see what the watch looks like in the morning. Right now I'd actually see more wear!
 
I really want one but I don't know what to do with my current SS with 2 extra bands. Paying about 2k for both seems kind of up there. Wish apple sold the bands and the ability to get the face with purchase of the band.
 
BigGuy219 said:
Sell it? Give it as a gift?
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Of course, right now eBay is full of opportunists trying to double their money on Hermès watches. Hopefully Apple comes through with more supply this week to pop that bubble.
 
SHNXX said:
Haha it's somewhat odd that we are talking about patina of Hermes leather on an Apple forum.
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The Hermès Watch is bringing out the fashion conscious crowd that Apple wants, if my experience yesterday on the Upper East Side is any indication. $1100-$1500 is nothing. A 1-bedroom apartment will cost you $5K easily, and even more to buy.
 
KPOM said:
The Hermès Watch is bringing out the fashion conscious crowd that Apple wants, if my experience yesterday on the Upper East Side is any indication. $1100-$1500 is nothing. A 1-bedroom apartment will cost you $5K easily, and even more to buy.
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An older woman two ahead of me, third in line, appeared to work in realty and was scoffing at the people who want a Fifth Ave address but aren't qualified. The woman directly ahead of me worked in luxury goods. The guy behind me owned a tech startup downtown.
 
The crowd for this watch was definitely older and I had a mix of clientele in my line. One was a woman who drove two hours to purchase the double tour and another was a man who gave a standard Apple Watch away last year and wanted this one for himself and gift two to others.

I think partnering with Hermes just gave it a sophistication and luxury cred that it wanted to establish on its own but couldn't. The thought and care put into the product shows and this version is equally a fashion / status accessory as it is functional smart watch. And yes, the price is a steal, particularly for anything with the Hermes brand.
 
BigGuy219 said:
When I was in college my mother got me a leather bomber jacket from Brooks Brothers. It wasn't high quality leather, but it wasn't pig either. I wore it almost everyday and abused it thoroughly. I never hung it up. I wore it in the rain. And after a year it looked like crap. There was wear, scratches, discoloration, and even a hole.

It went into storage and came out a couple of years ago, as I needed something lightweight for the warm Florida winters. It got such compliments that it amazed me - because of the wear and the abuse.

I'm eager to see what the watch looks like in the morning. Right now I'd actually see more wear!
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Yep, I spent $350 on a pair of Norwegian-welt hiking boots in high school, which was an absolute fortune for me at the time, but, now I'm in my mid-30s and I still wear them. I'm in Portland, and people ask me about them all the time. LOL
 
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justdefend said:
I think partnering with Hermes just gave it a sophistication and luxury cred that it wanted to establish on its own but couldn't.
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You mean selling it at Target wasn't sophisticated enough for them?

justdefend said:
The thought and care put into the product shows and this version is equally a fashion / status accessory as it is functional smart watch. And yes, the price is a steal, particularly for anything with the Hermes brand.
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What thought and care? It's essentially the same bands Hermes designed for their other watches, attached to some Apple designed lugs. Everything else is Apple except the typeface used on the digital watch face.

While I can certainly appreciate the quality leather over what Apple offers, that's all that's changed here. It's the exact same watch they sell at Target for $349, and sell at London Jewelers for $17,000, just with a stock design Hermes leather band. Would Hermes customers buy an Watch elsewhere, if they could just buy the bands separately? If the answer is no, then I have to wonder what exactly these customers are using it for ...
 
Mac 128 said:
While I can certainly appreciate the quality leather over what Apple offers, that's all that's changed here. It's the exact same watch they sell at Target for $349, and sell at London Jewelers for $17,000, just with a stock design Hermes leather band. Would Hermes customers buy an Watch elsewhere, if they could just buy the bands separately? If the answer is no, then I have to wonder what exactly these customers are using it for ...
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The fact that the Hermes, like the Edition, comes with a 2 year warranty and optional coverage for a third year (unlike the regular Watch with a 1 year warranty and optional second year) leads me to believe Apple expects Hermes and Edition buyers to purchase the watches less often and hold on to them longer. Selling the straps separately reduces its exclusivity. It makes sense to sell the whole package.

What will be interesting to see is how Apple handles the next generation of the Edition and Hermes watches. Will they sell existing owners just the Watch case or will they continue to sell only the whole package? I can see them going either way, but if they do the former, they'd likely go with some sort of trade-in program in order to keep it exclusive. Hermes owners in particular may want to carry the band over as it develops a patina over time. With the Edition there is always the option to go with the Sport version, but that's not an option for Hermes owners (since there is no Hermes with a sport band and the base stainless steel lacks the Hermes watch face).'

In the end, I'm guessing that they'll just do what they did this time around and release the "Watch 2" Hermes edition at a later date and sell it solely as a complete package.
 
KPOM said:
In the end, I'm guessing that they'll just do what they did this time around and release the "Watch 2" Hermes edition at a later date and sell it solely as a complete package.
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How likely do you think that there will be a Hermes Watch 2? Because if I knew for certain that there will be one, I'd certainly wait to get that one.
 
Mac 128 said:
What thought and care? It's essentially the same bands Hermes designed for their other watches, attached to some Apple designed lugs. Everything else is Apple except the typeface used on the digital watch face.
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But that's just it. It isn't a standard watch band that Hermes licensed their name to. It is a real Hermes band made in the same way as other Hermes bands (hand stitching, etc.)
 
Night Spring said:
How likely do you think that there will be a Hermes Watch 2? Because if I knew for certain that there will be one, I'd certainly wait to get that one.
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It probably depends on how well the current version sells and whether it attracts the customer base that Apple and Hermes find appealing to them.

If smart watches take off as a category, the fashion houses and watch makers have several options. They can release Android Wear watches of their own (which Tag Heuer is doing), partner with Apple (which Hermes is doing), partner with an Android Wear OEM (e.g. a Moto 360 Omega), partner with Samsung (e.g. a Gear 2 Louis Vuitton), try their own OS (which Swatch is reportedly doing), or some combination. Realistically, partnering with Apple or Samsung make the most sense to me. Based on the Android phone experience, it's difficult for anyone to differentiate. Samsung is the only Android OEM who has managed to do so somewhat, and they concluded that they needed to go their own way for watches (using Tizen).

That's a long-winded way of saying I think that there will be a Watch 2 Hermes, but it might not be released until a few months after the Watch 2.
 
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KPOM said:
They can release Android Wear watches of their own (which Tag Heuer is doing), partner with Apple (which Hermes is doing), partner with an Android Wear OEM (e.g. a Moto 360 Omega), partner with Samsung (e.g. a Gear 2 Louis Vuitton), try their own OS (which Swatch is reportedly doing), or some combination.
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Or they could release Apple Watch bands. For instance, if Coach were to release an Apple Watch band, I'd be all over that. I know I can buy their regular watch band and use an adapter -- in fact, I got as far as getting an adapter from Amazon, but haven't quite gotten around to going out and buying a band. But if I could buy an Apple Watch band from Coach or Louis Vultton without fussing with installing an adapter, that just might motivate me to go get one.
 
Night Spring said:
Or they could release Apple Watch bands. For instance, if Coach were to release an Apple Watch band, I'd be all over that. I know I can buy their regular watch band and use an adapter -- in fact, I got as far as getting an adapter from Amazon, but haven't quite gotten around to going out and buying a band. But if I could buy an Apple Watch band from Coach or Louis Vultton without fussing with installing an adapter, that just might motivate me to go get one.
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But that will always be just an accessory. Hermes could have released a band under Apple's "Made For" program, but it wouldn't have Apple's marketing support and would lack the special watch face and co-branding. It's somewhat easier to do that for Android Wear devices since you can download watch faces, but it still comes down to the marketing support and co-branding.
 
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Mac 128 said:
You mean selling it at Target wasn't sophisticated enough for them?
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The Apple Watch Hermes won't be sold at Target so it retains its exclusivity as a luxury / high-fashion accessory. Heck, it's only sold in 17 stores in the U.S., less than the pricier Edition.

Mac 128 said:
What thought and care? It's essentially the same bands Hermes designed for their other watches, attached to some Apple designed lugs. Everything else is Apple except the typeface used on the digital watch face.

While I can certainly appreciate the quality leather over what Apple offers, that's all that's changed here. It's the exact same watch they sell at Target for $349, and sell at London Jewelers for $17,000, just with a stock design Hermes leather band. Would Hermes customers buy an Watch elsewhere, if they could just buy the bands separately? If the answer is no, then I have to wonder what exactly these customers are using it for ...
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It's exactly the same Sport Edition with aluminum construction and a rubber watch band they sell at Target for $349 and the same as the Edition with 18K gold for $17,000?? It's frankly neither. Neither of those items have watch bands made in France by Hermes and neither have the exclusive watch face or the stainless steel engraving. It's why the luxury and fashion crowd like this particular item. It's singular in many respects and pays respect to a storied fashion house.
 
It's a SS version of the Apple Watch... the band pricing is in-line with their non-Apple Watch Hermès counterparts. They may be even less, all things (and locations) considered.
 
justdefend said:
The Apple Watch Hermes won't be sold at Target so it retains its exclusivity as a luxury / high-fashion accessory. Heck, it's only sold in 17 stores in the U.S., less than the pricier Edition.



It's exactly the same Sport Edition with aluminum construction and a rubber watch band they sell at Target for $349 and the same as the Edition with 18K gold for $17,000?? It's frankly neither. Neither of those items have watch bands made in France by Hermes and neither have the exclusive watch face or the stainless steel engraving. It's why the luxury and fashion crowd like this particular item. It's singular in many respects and pays respect to a storied fashion house.
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Yep, and, IIRC, Target is only selling SKUs up to $599.

Ultimately, it looks like the big differentiators between the models are primarily going to be case materials and bands, with occasional custom faces, which makes sense. Even though they do the same thing, there's a pretty noticeable difference in vibe and quality between the Watch Sport on rubber that I initially purchased, and the steel version on link bracelet that I'm wearing now.
 
Here we are a day later in the sunshine state.

Interestingly some of the earlier discolorations from Monday have faded to barely visible. I'll be interested in seeing what these Tursday blemishes look like tomorrow.

image.jpeg
 
So 48 hours in my thoughts are this. If the entire band darkens to that shade over the first year of use we've got a winner and an all time classic IMO. Based on other Hermès products I expect this as likely.

If however six months in we have uneven discoloration it could be a bother. But I see this as unlikely given the pedigree.

If you have one - take it out of the locked glass display case and wear the darn thing and compare patina with me!
 
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