Customers in New Zealand, Russia and Turkey celebrate arrival of Apple Watch

The Apple Watch went on sale in New Zealand, Russia and Turkey today, with the wearable devices available at the countries’ respective Apple Online Stores and brick-and-mortar retailers.

In Russia, Watches can be purchased in person at iPort, Re:Store, and C-store Internet stores. In Turkey, customers can do in-store pickup at Apple Stores in Istanbul’s Zorlu Center and Akasya Shopping Center. In New Zealand, Watches are available at select Apple Stores.

All three countries began selling the Apple Watch at 7.01 AM local time.

This brings the total number of countries selling the Apple Watch to 20 — including the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Interestingly, unlike the first countries to get the Apple Watch, the in-store availability of the Apple Watch means that customers in NZ, Russia and Turkey get the traditional Apple first day queue experience, although one New Zealand newspaper describes the scene as more “quiet” than a typical Apple launch.

Still, judging from the below social media reactions, it certainly seems like customers are happy — which is exactly what you’d expect from a product with a 92 percent satisfaction rate!

Первые покупатели #AppleShop #Apple #AppleWatch #AppleStore #ЦУМ #эпл #Watch #Moscow #Russia #TSUM pic.twitter.com/WsTWopN4we

— Igor St (@Bon_Sens) July 31, 2015

Продаются все, кроме edition-модели #AppleShop #Apple #AppleWatch #AppleStore #ЦУМ #эпл #Watch #Moscow #Russia #TSUM pic.twitter.com/WxQPJAxqW4 — Igor St (@Bon_Sens) July 31, 2015

https://t.co/2Hj0oZoBMI Apple Watch’s quiet NZ debut – New Zealand Herald https://t.co/IpAsCHMwQX

— Fresh Apple News (@HourlyApple) July 31, 2015

Apple Watch’s first New Zealand purchaser #paulhenry #AppleWatch @PaulHenryShow pic.twitter.com/YJXNLbqzkR — Aziz Al-Sa’afin (@Azizle) July 30, 2015

@tim_cook @pschiller Queued up for the Apple Watch in New Zealand this morning – so worth it! Loving my little piece of joy! — Kirk Burgess (@kirkburgess) July 31, 2015

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.