Being more of a superficial, fashion-conscious person than I am a tech junkie, my impressions of the Apple Watch thus far have far more to do with the look than the functionality of the piece. As far as the look goes, I find it adequate, not preferable. I’ve mentioned elsewhere on this site that I have a bias against square faced watches built into me. Particularly for a smart watch; it looks more like a wrist calculator than a timepiece to me.
That said, my opinion on the matter counts for absolutely nil. Apple is, of course, an unstoppable juggernaut. Some of its fandom is so loyal they’re practically brand patriots. The Apple Watch is going to sell, that much is a given, the only question is whether it will immediately dominate the smart watch market or if it’s going to still leave room for legitimate competition for the number one sales spot.
In what appears to be an attempt to carve its own niche in the still very young and up-for-grabs smart watch market, Apple is also set to launch a luxury edition of the Apple watch. The 18-karat gold-cased Apple Watch is going to sell for anywhere from $10k to $17k.
While there is speculation as to whether the quality of the watch will actually be up to the 18-karat standard as apple is using a patented composite that has less gold per volume, the objective and ambition here is no less evident. To most people, the idea of dropping five figures (or even four-figures) on a watch may seem ludicrous, but as a guy who’s done his share of browser-window-shopping of pricey luxury watches, I can assure that it’s far from unheard of. There are people out there who are truly living out the infamous boast from Glengarry Glenn Ross, “[This] watch costs more than your car,” though they’re typically not such unholy dicks about its.
As far as high-end, luxury smart watches go, Apple will have zero competition. And if their estimated profit margin on the gold watches is even remotely accurate, the luxury gold edition of the Apple watch has potential to be the most successful smart watch in the game without being a top per-unit seller, and by a sizable margin.
Again, for me personally, it’s not a look that I find attractive; besides that, if I were to spend ten-grand or more on a timepiece, I’d go with an established, reputable watchmaker, not someone who’s a beginner in the game putting out a largely unproven product that, by its technological nature, is destined to become obsolete sooner than later, and has zero chance of becoming a generational heirloom. But that’s just me. If there’s just one person who wants to buy the gold Apple Watch for every ten-thousand of me, Apple still stands to do pretty well for itself.
