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[jts]

There's 6 material SKUs, potentially each in two sizes. Silver & grey aluminum, silver and grey steel, and rose and yellow gold. So that's six in two sizes each, 12 SKUs if each only had one band.

That's basically what I said, only I grouped the silver and space aluminum into one material (aluminum) and did same for the other metals, but referenced the 2 colors of each thus reaching the same number of what I called "body types" (12).

There shouldn't be a confusion with the current number of SKUs since the product webpage does quite a nice job in telling us.

 

[mcfrank]

Nah. If I can venture a guess... steel with the steel link band will be $550.
With the mesh, $650.

EDIT: Actually, there's nothing about the mesh that would make it more expensive. They're not more costly to produce or anything, if anything it's cheaper than the link bracelet.
The stainless band with the innovative link sizing is actually a lot more interesting.

You are vastly underestimating how much the steel band will be. Apple advertises that each one takes nine hours to cut and is hand polished. So if the steel watch face is 600 on its own (which is what I think) I bet the steel link bracelet is at least another 4-500

 

[dallow_bg]

You are vastly underestimating how much the steel band will be. Apple advertises that each one takes nine hours to cut and is hand polished. So if the steel watch face is 600 on its own (which is what I think) I bet the steel link bracelet is at least another 4-500

Yeah, I started thinking exactly this after my post after I started to think about the mesh bracelet.

The mesh may actually be cheaper.
The link bracelet is much more impressive tech-wise. And a good high quality bracelet can definitely cost several hundred dollars.

 

[Juice]

Oh man people in this thread are going to be pissed when they see the steel watch pricing. I'll be shocked if I can get the large steel face with a steel link bracelet for less than $999

 

[mcfrank]

Oh man people in this thread are going to be pissed when they see the steel watch pricing. I'll be shocked if I can get the large steel face with a steel link bracelet for less than $999

Yep. I don't really want the link bracelet but I do want a steel watch just for the saphire screen. Hopefully I can get a steel watch with leather and rubber bracelets for 700 or so.

 

[Two Words]

Since when did stateless steel become so expensive as if it's fine jewelry?

 

[dallow_bg]

Since when did stateless steel become so expensive as if it's fine jewelry?

Well, it's not just a simple slab of metal.
These look to be highly finished and higher grade, solid, and have a tool-less sizing system that hasn't been seen before.

 

[Two Words]

Well, it's not just a simple slab of metal.

Regular stainless steel watches holdup for decades.

And the edit sounds like a bunch of fancy jumbo jumbo to sell these bands for hundreds of dollars. It's a metallic band intended to look nice while it holds your watch onto your wrist.

 

[mcfrank]

Since when did stateless steel become so expensive as if it's fine jewelry?

"it takes nearly nine hours to cut the links for a single band. In part that’s because they aren’t simply a uniform size, but subtly increase in width as they approach the case. Once assembled, the links are brushed by hand to ensure that the texture follows the contours of the design"

Apple doesn't write that on their website if the thing is gonna be cheap.

Also, steel rolexes start in the 2k+ range at least. It is unrealistic to expect apple to sell theirs for under 1k.

 

[Guess Who]

Also, steel rolexes start in the 2k+ range at least. It is unrealistic to expect apple to sell theirs for under 1k.

It's unrealistic to think Apple commands even 1/10 of the market power of Rolex in the fucking watch market. Even if the Apple Watch is mindblowing, Rolex has a billion years of reputation that allow them to charge the prices they do.

 

[Two Words]

"it takes nearly nine hours to cut the links for a single band. In part that’s because they aren’t simply a uniform size, but subtly increase in width as they approach the case. Once assembled, the links are brushed by hand to ensure that the texture follows the contours of the design"

Apple doesn't write that on their website if the thing is gonna be cheap.

Also, steel rolexes start in the 2k+ range at least. It is
unrealistic to expect apple to sell theirs for under 1k.

Unrealistic? Rolex obviously sells their steel watches at ridiculous profits, so it's unrealistic for Apple to not do so? Maybe this is just falling into that luxury area like Jordans and Beats headphones and Boss speakers where you're paying for the brand and the luxury status of the product.

 

[dallow_bg]

Regular stainless steel watches holdup for decades.

The bracelet on my Omega costs $750 alone.
It better hold up for decades.

The nice thing is that it will likely hold it's value as well.
You can't say that about a run of the mill bracelet with hollow links.

 

[CharminUltra]

Watch announces Apple.

 

[mcfrank]

Unrealistic? Rolex obviously sells their steel watches at ridiculous profits, so it's unrealistic for Apple to not do so? Maybe this is just falling into that luxury area like Jordans and Beats headphones and Boss speakers where you're paying for the brand and the luxury status of the product.

The fact that apple is selling the higher tiers shows that they are going for the luxury demographic. The sport model is the non luxury version and you can get that for a reasonable price. Any tiers above that and apple is going to push their margins and go for the people who can afford it. That is apple's model. If one has a problem paying 1k+ for a steel watch then my guess is the sports model is going to be where they end up (or not getting one)

 

[Two Words]

The fact that apple is selling the higher tiers shows that they are going for the luxury demographic. The sport model is the non luxury version and you can get that for a reasonable price. Any tiers above that and apple is going to push their margins and go for the people who can afford it. That is apple's model. If one has a problem paying 1k+ for a steel watch then my guess is the sports model is going to be where they end up (or not getting one)

That would be a shame if they locked this product up mostly behind a luxury price tag, which the Sport model will likely be as well. I feel like in time, it could grow to become a very useful accessory. But it's hard to justify spending that kind of money for most people.

 

[DOWN]

I think you people are off and really overestimating a lot but thankfully this all gets settled in a couple of days. Stainless steel ain't that expensive, especially for apple.

 

[dallow_bg]

Also, steel rolexes start in the 2k+ range at least. It is unrealistic to expect apple to sell theirs for under 1k.

The least expensive new Rolex is at least $5.5k msrp btw.

I'm now on the $999 for steel on steel bandwagon.
And $749 for steel on mesh.

EDIT: I'm definitely hoping for a lot cheaper, like most of you.
At $999, I'd rather put that towards a standard watch. I'd probably just the get Sport. I really want to feel/wear the steel link band though sometime.

 

[Compsiox]

do want:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GYXO9U/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Nothing1016]

I think you people are off and really overestimating a lot but thankfully this all gets settled in a couple of days. Stainless steel ain't that expensive, especially for apple.

I hope you're right. I REALLY want the Stainless Steel model but am only willing to pay $550. I have a $200 GC waiting to be used.

 Watch Sport - $150

or

 Watch SS - $350

 

[Laekon]

You can get a stainless steel Orient or Seiko automatic, made in Japan, for $150. Stainless steel and aluminum aren't that far apart per ton. The price people pay for a Rolex has nothing to do with the cost of the product. Sadly the same will probably apply to the Apple watch.

9 hours to make a band is a joke. There is no way Apple is letting a Chinese worker only make 2 bands a day.

 

[Fliesen]

That's basically what I said, only I grouped the silver and space aluminum into one material (aluminum) and did same for the other metals, but referenced the 2 colors of each thus reaching the same number of what I called "body types" (12).

There shouldn't be a confusion with the current number of SKUs since the product webpage does quite a nice job in telling us.

i'm still quite sure GOLD + RUBBER BAND is not an official SKU.

the part of the webpage you're referring to is called "GALLERY". i have no idea how that makes you so confident in saying it's their selection of SKUs.

but we'll see the official pricing / SKUs/ combinations on monday. Still i'm very confident in saying you're wrong about this.

a thousand dollar gold watch with a rubber band being an official SKU. No way in hell.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

You can get a stainless steel Orient or Seiko automatic, made in Japan, for $150. Stainless steel and aluminum aren't that far apart per ton. The price people pay for a Rolex has nothing to do with the cost of the product. Sadly the same will probably apply to the Apple watch.

9 hours to make a band is a joke. There is no way Apple is letting a Chinese worker only make 2 bands a day.

Dude it's 9 hours total. But that 9 hours is spread over x steps in process. It actually takes over 2 months to manufacture and test electronic chips.

 

[Jzero]

 Watch Sport - $150

You freaking wish. The Moto 360 is $250

Edit: wait are those your prices after your giftcard?

 

[mrklaw]

Nice find by Ars about Apple's gold alloy: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/0...novation-a-gold-case-thats-as-tough-as-steel/

The key here is the word alloy. Of course I doubt apple will use that word in marketing materials, they want everyone to think they are able to literally make gold harder than gold.


But what will they call it? Surely they can't call it 18 or 24 carat because it won't be pure gold? So they'll just have to say 'gold' and hope their rich customers don't ask too many questions.

Sounds like when you buy 'orange flavoured drink' and people buy it thinking it contains oranges, but it doesn't.

 

[mrklaw]

Wtf? I thought Apple Watch was going to track HR all the time? That was the entire point!

I thought with optical tracking you need to be relatively motionless or it'll mess up the reading? it could periodically check during the day when it detects lack of motion, and if it is smart it could do that shortly after activity (which it should also know from motion). But I doubt it will be able to accurately track heart rate while exercising. Still best to have a chest strap for that. Actually it'd be nice if you used a BT chest strap to talk to your phone, if that heart rate could be shown on the watch.

Notifications don't work when it's not on wrist correct?
Wonder if there is an option to leave the watch face on while charging? Or at least touch to activate it would be an okay trade off, if you want to use it as an end table clock when charging. Wonder if alarms still work when it is not worn.

I don't think androidwear devices know when they are not on your wrist. I have my phone set to not make a noise when my watch is on, but that means if I take my watch off for something, I don't get any notifications unless I check. Would be good if they could change that.

 

[Fliesen]

The key here is the word alloy. Of course I doubt apple will use that word in marketing materials, they want everyone to think they are able to literally make gold harder than gold.

But what will they call it? Surely they can't call it 18 or 24 carat because it won't be pure gold? So they'll just have to say 'gold' and hope their rich customers don't ask too many questions.

Sounds like when you buy 'orange flavoured drink' and people buy it thinking it contains oranges, but it doesn't.

The whole idea behind the "carat" number is to describe the fineness / pureness of any gold alloy. Can't really cheat on that scale.
pretty much any kind of "gold" jewelery is some kind of gold alloy - white gold a gold+silver alloy, for example. They barely make pure-gold-jewelerey.

i believe, contrary to "their rich customers" you aren't quite as well informed about gold and carat numbers as you think you are.
18 carat gold is only 75% pure gold, for example.
if it's a gold alloy that is 83% gold, the rest additives, it's still 20 carat gold - no cheating involved, right?

 

[Nothing1016]

You freaking wish. The Moto 360 is $250

Edit: wait are those your prices after your giftcard?

Yup. My "hopeful" prices after GC.

 

[mrklaw]

The whole idea behind the "carat" number is to describe the fineness / pureness of any gold alloy. Can't really cheat on that scale.
pretty much any kind of "gold" jewelery is some kind of gold alloy - white gold a gold+silver alloy, for example. They barely make pure-gold-jewelerey.

i believe, contrary to "their rich customers" you aren't quite as well informed about gold and carat numbers as you think you are.
18 carat gold is only 75% pure gold, for example.
if it's a gold alloy that is 83% gold, the rest additives, it's still 20 carat gold - no cheating involved, right?

Can you mix it with anything as long as the percentage gold is the same, and still call it xx carat?

I don't think I know a lot, which is why I was questioning it. It just sounds odd.




For bands, I would expect the third party market to explode, so if you find apple's price for eg the steel watch to be OK, but the bands expensive, just buy a cheap one from eBay or Amazon.

 

[jts]

i'm still quite sure GOLD + RUBBER BAND is not an official SKU.

the part of the webpage you're referring to is called "GALLERY". i have no idea how that makes you so confident in saying it's their selection of SKUs.

but we'll see the official pricing / SKUs/ combinations on monday. Still i'm very confident in saying you're wrong about this.

a thousand dollar gold watch with a rubber band being an official SKU. No way in hell.

I'm not even talking about the gallery. But since when would Apple have a gallery of product pictures that they don't sell just like that?

In any case I'm talking about the Watch Edition page. Please check it.

http://www.apple.com/watch/apple-watch-edition/

The Edition collection features six uniquely elegant expressions of Apple Watch.

Then you scroll down...

1

2 & 3 (38 and 42mm on this one)

4

5

6

You think this is some kind of riddle or something? It's as blatant as it can be.

 

[Fliesen]

Can you mix it with anything as long as the percentage gold is the same, and still call it xx carat?

I don't think I know a lot, which is why I was questioning it. It just sounds odd.




For bands, I would expect the third party market to explode, so if you find apple's price for eg the steel watch to be OK, but the bands expensive, just buy a cheap one from eBay or Amazon.

"Many precious metals are used in the form of alloys. Other metals are added to increase hardness, to make the metal more practical for use in such items as coins and jewelry, or to decrease the cost of the alloy. For example, copper is added to the precious metal silver to make a more durable alloy for use in coins, housewares and jewelry."

i'd say you could create a gold alloy (meaning a mixture of gold with another metal) and still find its carat value. That's the whole idea.

You were possibly mixing up gold carats (which are about purity of a gold alloy) and metric carats, which describe the mass of a gemstone.
(a higher carat diamond just means a "bigger fucking rock" than one of lower carat count.

snippedysnip.

whoa, i stand corrected, my bad. People were posting links to the gallery page. You seem to be absolutely right, then.

whoa, they all list "view all 'X' models in the 'APPLEWATCHFAMILY' collection", even the sports and the stainless steel page. That's a lot of SKUs - but it's most likely less "complicated" than doing in-store mix and matching.

 

[Terrell]

Can you mix it with anything as long as the percentage gold is the same, and still call it xx carat?

I don't think I know a lot, which is why I was questioning it. It just sounds odd.

It's correct though. Any alloy that meets with a particular percentage of gold is still measured in carats, regardless of what the other properties of the alloy are. It's why rose gold is typically close to the same price as any standard yellow gold, they just sub in more copper to give it a reddish tint.

 

[mrklaw]

I don't really understand why they didn't go with normal watch strap attachments. By having that flush fitting part they now need multiple versions of the same band to account for each watch case colour.

 

[mrklaw]

"Many precious metals are used in the form of alloys. Other metals are added to increase hardness, to make the metal more practical for use in such items as coins and jewelry, or to decrease the cost of the alloy. For example, copper is added to the precious metal silver to make a more durable alloy for use in coins, housewares and jewelry."

i'd say you could create a gold alloy (meaning a mixture of gold with another metal) and still find its carat value. That's the whole idea.

You were possibly mixing up gold carats (which are about purity of a gold alloy) and metric carats, which describe the mass of a gemstone.
(a higher carat diamond just means a "bigger fucking rock" than one of lower carat count.

No,I might be a jewellery idiot, but I know the difference between weight carats and purity carats (I don't know why they use the same word for both though?)

If other metals are added to increase hardness, then is there anything special in what Apple are doing? Is 'twice as hard' some kind of breakthrough? I still have my 'apple bullshit' alarm going off but they might genuinely be bringing something new.

 

[numble]

The key here is the word alloy. Of course I doubt apple will use that word in marketing materials, they want everyone to think they are able to literally make gold harder than gold.


But what will they call it? Surely they can't call it 18 or 24 carat because it won't be pure gold? So they'll just have to say 'gold' and hope their rich customers don't ask too many questions.

Sounds like when you buy 'orange flavoured drink' and people buy it thinking it contains oranges, but it doesn't.

Apple has already called it 18 carat gold.

 

[DOWN]

The key here is the word alloy. Of course I doubt apple will use that word in marketing materials, they want everyone to think they are able to literally make gold harder than gold.


But what will they call it? Surely they can't call it 18 or 24 carat because it won't be pure gold? So they'll just have to say 'gold' and hope their rich customers don't ask too many questions.

Sounds like when you buy 'orange flavoured drink' and people buy it thinking it contains oranges, but it doesn't.

Nope, even Cartier is using an alloy. Karats describe how pure it is based on how many parts gold there are in the alloy in this case, with 24 being pure gold (and too soft for practical pieces). Apple is absolutely in the realm of making a precious metal gold watche using a proprietary alloy mix for strength, as long as it contains the correct proportions to reach 18 karats as they claim.

 

[Fliesen]

No,I might be a jewellery idiot, but I know the difference between weight carats and purity carats (I don't know why they use the same word for both though?)

If other metals are added to increase hardness, then is there anything special in what Apple are doing? Is 'twice as hard' some kind of breakthrough? I still have my 'apple bullshit' alarm going off but they might genuinely be bringing something new.

"Each has a watch case crafted from 18-karat gold that our metallurgists have developed to be up to twice as hard as standard gold."

well, it's all about what's considered "standard gold" in their eyes. if it's pure gold - which is pretty soft - then that's no big feat.
There's only one paragraph about what's special about the Gold Edition watch - they have to say something. They're not saying "we're doing things that noone else has done before" but "our gold alloy is made to be really tough". Give 'em a break.

 

[iMax]

Seriously can't believe the number of SKUs some of the posters in here are blowing this into.

There's 6 material SKUs, potentially each in two sizes. Silver & grey aluminum, silver and grey steel, and rose and yellow gold. So that's six in two sizes each, 12 SKUs if each only had one band.

...which they don't.

 

[iMax]

The leather loop seems just as easy and looks much more comfortable. But a notch less posh (and a lot less durable).

I love it.

Considering this is the only one that isn't going to scratch the shit out of my laptop, I'll be going with this.

 

[jts]

whoa, i stand corrected, my bad. People were posting links to the gallery page. You seem to be absolutely right, then.

whoa, they all list "view all 'X' models in the 'APPLEWATCHFAMILY' collection", even the sports and the stainless steel page. That's a lot of SKUs - but it's most likely less "complicated" than doing in-store mix and matching.

No prob. In all honesty, Apple could've made the point across better, this is just such a different product from their other ones that the information is a bit spread over the Watch microsite in a less concise manner... and anyway these could change at the last minute. We'll know soon enough.

I CAN'T FREAKING WAIT FOR MONDAY AHHHH WHERE ARE MY MEDS

 

[DOWN]

whoa, i stand corrected, my bad. People were posting links to the gallery page. You seem to be absolutely right, then.

whoa, they all list "view all 'X' models in the 'APPLEWATCHFAMILY' collection", even the sports and the stainless steel page. That's a lot of SKUs - but it's most likely less "complicated" than doing in-store mix and matching.

Keep in mind that they are going to have these in their own stores and rumored pop-up kiosks and boutiques solely for the watch collections. For those locations, the SKU count is still manageable.

I suspect other retailers will have a rather limited range of popular band pairings for the basic Watch and Watch sport collections, and cover the two sizes of case, so that way it is much more reasonable to track and stock for non-Apple retailers. They'll likely have many of the separate straps, however, to make their limited selections more appealing to the casual buyers.

 

[SeanR1221]

I'm on team stainless under 1k.

My prediction is....

Small sport 350
Large sport 450
Small stainless 550
Large stainless 650

 

[yogloo]

I'm on team stainless under 1k.

My prediction is....

Small sport 350
Large sport 450
Small stainless 550
Large stainless 650

This sounds acceptable.

 

[LCfiner]

FWIW, my gut feeling is that, aside from the gold version, the size differences won’t have so large a price difference.

50 bucks between sizes, not 100. just a feeling

 

[dallow_bg]

I'm on team stainless under 1k.

My prediction is....

Small sport 350
Large sport 450
Small stainless 550
Large stainless 650

Which bands on those stainless though?

 

[Blackhead]

Fluff PR piece on the magical experience of smart watches only iWatch
The Apple Watch Is Time, Saved

A simple tap to reply or glance on the wrist or dictation is a massively different interaction model than pulling out an iPhone, unlocking it and being pulled into its merciless vortex of attention suck.

One user told me that they nearly “stopped” using their phone during the day; they used to have it out and now they don’t, period...

This is the primary use case of the Watch. It’s not just that it’s a “notification center”; it’s that it allows you to act without any additional distraction...

But Sources offer hands-on Apple Watch details: battery life, unannounced features, and more

There is no keyboard at all on the device; all forms of input are handled with pre-populated options and voice dictation. Speaking of dictation, the menus within the Apple Watch label all voice control features as “Voice Control,” rather than as Siri. As we reported earlier, this initial version of the Watch OS does not support replying to emails, even by voice. Users will need to access the Mail app via Handoff on their iPhone to conduct replies.

Eh, which is it?

The irony is that the only voice reply that Pebble Time will offer for iOS at launch is with Gmails lol *sigh* decisions, decisions

 

[iMax]

Fluff PR piece on the magical experience of smart watches only iWatch
The Apple Watch Is Time, Saved

But Sources offer hands-on Apple Watch details: battery life, unannounced features, and more

Eh, which is it?

The irony is that the only voice reply that Pebble Time will offer for iOS at launch is with Gmails lol *sigh* decisions, decisions

this initial version of the Watch OS does not support replying to emails, even by voice.

.

 

[SuperPac]

I'm on team stainless under 1k.

My prediction is....

Small sport 350
Large sport 450
Small stainless 550
Large stainless 650

That was about my prediction as well until Gruber said that Apple people were telling him his $750-1000 prognostication for the stainless model was correct.

This TechCrunch piece on the Apple Watch is pretty great - http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/06/the-apple-watch-is-time-saved/#tmhmdj:zPep

 

[infiniteloop]

38mm Sport - $349
42mm Sport - $399

38mm Steel - starts at $699 with the sport band, up to $1099 with milanese loop
42mm Steel - starts at $799 with the sport band, up to $1199 with milanese loop

38mm Edition - starts at $2499 with sport
42mm Edition - starts at $2999 with sport

 

[giga]

"Each has a watch case crafted from 18-karat gold that our metallurgists have developed to be up to twice as hard as standard gold."

well, it's all about what's considered "standard gold" in their eyes. if it's pure gold - which is pretty soft - then that's no big feat.
There's only one paragraph about what's special about the Gold Edition watch - they have to say something. They're not saying "we're doing things that noone else has done before" but "our gold alloy is made to be really tough". Give 'em a break.

"The patent describes a composite that’s part gold, part ceramic, and of note is the fact that the final product is supposed to be between two and four times harder than normal 18 ct gold. One of the claims cites the finished metal matrix composite as having a hardness of at least 400 Hv on the Vickers scale, whereas 18 ct gold usually ranges between 85 and 230 Hv."

 

[DOWN]

"The patent describes a composite that’s part gold, part ceramic, and of note is the fact that the final product is supposed to be between two and four times harder than normal 18 ct gold. One of the claims cites the finished metal matrix composite as having a hardness of at least 400 Hv on the Vickers scale, whereas 18 ct gold usually ranges between 85 and 230 Hv."

That's hot