If Apple’s 18-karat gold ‘Apple Watch Edition’ doesn’t look fancy enough for you, have no fear. Swiss watch designers and jewelers are already planning to bling out Apple’s unreleased timepiece with precious metals and fancy gems. And of course, the modifications will be ridiculously expensive.
Swiss watch designer Yvan Arpa has shared these concept images of the Apple Watch peppered with baguette-cut diamonds and luxurious straps. Ariel Adams explains on aBlogtoWatch:
Stuff like this is rather easy to make fun of, but you know it is going to happen. Yvan Arpa is just being entrepreneurial about an expectant surge in smartwatch popularity, and what could possibly be Apple Watch dominance of the segment for at least a good while. Further, he is sending a message to his high-end clients that, “don’t worry, we can still do business together, even if you’ll want to wear an Apple Watch.” If customers used to wearing lavish mechanical watches worry about losing their “exclusive edge” by choosing a mass produced Apple Watch, then perhaps there is a market for after-market Apple Watch customization.
As the recent Apple Watch event at Colette in Paris shows, the fashion world is really interested in what Apple is working on. In the same way that companies like Feld & Volk sell gold-plated, diamoned-encrusted iPhones for a high premium, fashion designers could sell their own mods of the Apple Watch.
Any kind of aftermarket market will all depend on how easy Apple makes it to swap parts. Some have theorized that the Apple Watch’s system-on-a-chip will be upgradable each year as specs improve. That way, buyers can hang on to the more valuable metal/gold casings and bands.
Apple hasn’t said anything to confirm or deny, of course.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
10 responses to “Swiss watch designers are planning to bling out the Apple Watch”
Can they do that for Samsung Gear? lol
If it’s gold plated and still won’t phone home what good is it?
A traditional watch like a super expensive, pimped out Rolex can be used by multiple generations … and indeed many have. And some of them actually go up in value over the years. However, that Apple Watch will be outdated in a couple of years, so it seems rather stupid to spend mega bucks on something with no future value.
How do you know it will be outdated enough to have to update it with a new watch? The sensors Apple could be working on adding might not even be internal sensors but external sensors. The only things they might add later is RAM, which is doubtful, NAND storage, which is doubtful for long time. Look at how long it’s taken for Apple to increase the RAM and NAND storage on their iPhones and iPads, which both have infinitely more room inside. In terms of chip processing, it’s not doing all that much in the first place.
I think until they actually release a second generation version, it’s all speculation.
With smart watches, its’ function first, fashion second, with traditional watches, it’s fashion first, function second. I personally think spending too much on these things becomes excessive, but when it comes to the super (stupid) rich, they really don’t care because spending thousands of dollars is like a normal person dropping a couple of pennies on the ground. Money becomes meaningless after a while since they have endless supplies of it.
You must be new to the IT/computer world if you think the Apple Watch … and every other type of present-day computer tech … will not become outdated in a few years. Even things like RAM & NAND will eventually become obsolete and replaced with who-know-what?
And who’s going to want a watch that has very expensive jewelry but it’s technology is outdated and not the very latest high-tech?
Do you actually think the Apple Watch will not evolve the same way as the Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc.?
And yeah, right? Very rich people are stupid. That’s how that made so much money. Funny how people without much money are such experts on the rich.
Also, it’s a watch in name only. If you interact with a watch for 1 hour a day then it becomes more than that.
Original mac’s sell for $600k, i’m sure these will go up in value over the years.
I highly doubt it. Main value of this one will be stuff from blinging. And for standard Apple Watch – it will lack certain thing to be expensive. Rarity. Reason why that Mac got 600k dollars is that, it’s super rare(and by such price, I’d guess It was working one). Apple Watch won’t be for quite some time, as it will surely be brought by millions. At best – prototypes may get higher prices. But now – it’s gonna take quite some years for Apple Watch to have a chance to get worth much. And then Apple will have to be that important as a brand as it is now. And then also after all these years, watch will have to work.
Those of you concerned with form and rarity can continue to use and collect the Rolex’s of the world. Those of us concerned with function and form will use these new devices that we are calling watches for some reason…
I’m disappointed in the design of the iWatch. I thought it would be something special. It’s just a rectangle with rounded corners, just like every other freaking smart watch out there. Steve Jobs would never have allowed this to happen. With watches it’s style first, then function second, but as Jony’s theory goes “it’s not how it looks, it’s how it wurks.”
I think Motorola got it right. The iWatch should look like a real watch with a circular face. Now you can bling it out to your heart’s content cause it actually looks like a stylish watch.