4 ms·

Apple Watch gold plating for $399 with a 3-day turnaround

19 points by rohanaurora 11y ago

msoad 11y ago
It's a nice offer but I wonder how people should trust them with their watches?
- kleer001 11y ago
  I think it's a clause in the universal customer-business law that says "I want to pay what you're asking just as much as you want to give me the thing I'm paying for. My purchase and good will is more valuable to you than a series of thefts." That's not written down anywhere except the over-arching idiom, metaphor, very ground of the relationship. Is the kind of relationship that can slippery slide into parasitism. And therefor I think extant in many sentient species. Great apes, many primates, birds, cephelopods maybe even. I think it's a reflection of a few basic strategy for living in the world, in a world with limited resources, trust and exchange.
guelo 11y ago
If you're merely well off you too can pretend to be an obnoxiously rich douchebag!
- Dylan16807 11y ago
  When did using a different color metal become 'obnoxious'?
dserkin 11y ago
easy business! it reminds me fake rolex thing ...
kaolinite 11y ago
Whilst there's nothing really wrong with gold plating an Apple Watch, to me it feels on par with wearing a fake Rolex. The difference is, whilst a Rolex is reasonably affordable, the Edition is clearly out of the price range of most people - so wearing something like this will be so obvious. However, I would love to see some companies coming up with custom Apple watches. Not to make them look more expensive, just to make them look different. For the first time, I might actually buy a customised Apple product if it weren't too expensive (maybe a wooden Apple watch case might look nice, for example.) We'll definitely see this with custom bands (really looking forward to that) but it'd be cool to see new watch bodies too. As an aside, whilst I understand (and mostly approve of) the reasoning behind Edition, it's a shame that the only gold Apple watch is so expensive. I wish that Apple had created a gold coloured watch in addition to the solid gold Edition - similar to how many watch companies produce the same watch in stainless steel and white gold or platinum. Or how watch companies sometimes put a diamond on the back of the watch but none on the front.
- theluketaylor 11y ago
  How much do you think Rolex's cost? Submariner, Explorer II, and Datejust (very classic go-to Rolex models) are about $7000-$8000. Daytona chronographs start at around $10,000. And that's just for stainless steel. Gold Rolex watches are much, much more. Apple Watch Edition is actually one of the cheapest solid gold watches out there
  - kaolinite 11y ago
    I think you misread my comment. I wasn't comparing Edition with a gold Rolex, just a low-end (perhaps second hand) stainless steel Explorer / AirKing / etc. If you see someone wearing a fake stainless steel Rolex, there's a genuine possibility that it's real (assuming you can't tell it's fake). But with Edition, the chance of it being real is pretty low. Thus, wearing a gold plated Apple Watch is pretty obvious. I'm well aware of the costs of a Rolex (and most watch brands, I'm a watch enthusiast). You can pick up a Rolex for a few thousand pounds in Britain. New, they start at around £4000ish. Gold watches in general cost a lot more, especially if they have a gold link bracelet, and you're right that Edition is priced fairly competitively. A stainless steel Rolex is, whilst quite a bit of money, affordable if you decide that you want it. I don't live in a major city and yet I'll still see a few on the wrists of people if I take a trip around town. Edition, however, would be quite a sighting - similar (in terms of required wealth), in my opinion, to seeing a complicated Patek on a wrist. (Whilst the prices are different, I'm saying this because of the upgrade issue, i.e. a £100K Patek will last many lifetimes, a gold Edition will be useless in less than 5 years).
    - gonzo 11y ago
      I own a stainless Datejust (Rolex). The MetaWatch people gave me several (10+) of various models of their watches. I wear neither, and have no plans on an Apple Watch.
Involute 11y ago
Or, much cheaper and a 4-hour turnaround: https://youtu.be/MMF9I_9DAcs https://youtu.be/MMF9I_9DAcs.
- malandrew 11y ago
  I was really hoping for a really nerdy video explaining how to electroplate an Apple Watch. Just masking off and spray painting the phone was disappointing.
kev6168 11y ago
My bold prediction about the whole Apple Watch phenomena: _It will be a big bust._ After the initial hype, not many adults would want to wear it. This might upset some people (Apple fans?). But now, let's build a mental image together: one day, in the middle of a meeting at your work place, many of your colleagues rest their hands on the conference table (either using a tablet/phone/laptop, or holding papers). You raise your head and glance over the whole room, and you see there are so many Apple watches out there. They look the same, blink the same way, sound the same. The square-ish shape becomes kind of tiring and stupid, simply because you've seem them everywhere. They are really out there. A funny idea pops up in your mind: is this a robotic, dull and weird picture or what? Watches are not like mobile phones, in terms of personal touches. Adults use phones mostly for their practical functions, and phones can be kept out of sight. Watches are different. Nowadays they are mostly for images/styles/personalities/fun, so, do you want to wear the same watch as everybody else and appear so average?
- sytelus 11y ago
  I've been wearing watch for its utility for more than a decade. My watch (Casio ProTrek PRW-3000-1) has compass, altimeter, world time, sunrset times, alarms and so on. This watch is extremely robust in bad weather or even under water. It self-charges itself (it doesn't even has any external way to charge it). Sure, I've smartphone usually with me but ability to look up time in split second with a slight turn of wrist is valuable. But the more important is all these tools and reliability that they are available to me in all kind of weather, places and without need to worry about charging it. Now let me also make it clear that I do question this way of life where time matters so much. However that's different discussion and until conclusion arrives, watch is pretty useful tool. If I'd all these features available in Apple Watch then I would buy it in heart beat. I can imagine several apps that would be super useful. However price tag is way too high and it needs charging every day. I think Apple Watch isn't going to be smashing success right now but given their investment levels, they might continue produce next versions that gets better and better and hopefully cheaper. It's important to remember that iPhone 1 wasn't smashing success either when it first came out given it's price tag and less powerful batteries.
  - 11y ago

19 points by rohanaurora 11y ago

msoad 11y ago

It's a nice offer but I wonder how people should trust them with their watches?

kleer001 11y ago
I think it's a clause in the universal customer-business law that says "I want to pay what you're asking just as much as you want to give me the thing I'm paying for. My purchase and good will is more valuable to you than a series of thefts." That's not written down anywhere except the over-arching idiom, metaphor, very ground of the relationship. Is the kind of relationship that can slippery slide into parasitism. And therefor I think extant in many sentient species. Great apes, many primates, birds, cephelopods maybe even. I think it's a reflection of a few basic strategy for living in the world, in a world with limited resources, trust and exchange.

guelo 11y ago

If you're merely well off you too can pretend to be an obnoxiously rich douchebag!

Dylan16807 11y ago
When did using a different color metal become 'obnoxious'?

dserkin 11y ago

easy business! it reminds me fake rolex thing ...

kaolinite 11y ago

Whilst there's nothing really wrong with gold plating an Apple Watch, to me it feels on par with wearing a fake Rolex. The difference is, whilst a Rolex is reasonably affordable, the Edition is clearly out of the price range of most people - so wearing something like this will be so obvious. However, I would love to see some companies coming up with custom Apple watches. Not to make them look more expensive, just to make them look different. For the first time, I might actually buy a customised Apple product if it weren't too expensive (maybe a wooden Apple watch case might look nice, for example.) We'll definitely see this with custom bands (really looking forward to that) but it'd be cool to see new watch bodies too. As an aside, whilst I understand (and mostly approve of) the reasoning behind Edition, it's a shame that the only gold Apple watch is so expensive. I wish that Apple had created a gold coloured watch in addition to the solid gold Edition - similar to how many watch companies produce the same watch in stainless steel and white gold or platinum. Or how watch companies sometimes put a diamond on the back of the watch but none on the front.

theluketaylor 11y ago
How much do you think Rolex's cost? Submariner, Explorer II, and Datejust (very classic go-to Rolex models) are about $7000-$8000. Daytona chronographs start at around $10,000. And that's just for stainless steel. Gold Rolex watches are much, much more. Apple Watch Edition is actually one of the cheapest solid gold watches out there
- kaolinite 11y ago
  I think you misread my comment. I wasn't comparing Edition with a gold Rolex, just a low-end (perhaps second hand) stainless steel Explorer / AirKing / etc. If you see someone wearing a fake stainless steel Rolex, there's a genuine possibility that it's real (assuming you can't tell it's fake). But with Edition, the chance of it being real is pretty low. Thus, wearing a gold plated Apple Watch is pretty obvious. I'm well aware of the costs of a Rolex (and most watch brands, I'm a watch enthusiast). You can pick up a Rolex for a few thousand pounds in Britain. New, they start at around £4000ish. Gold watches in general cost a lot more, especially if they have a gold link bracelet, and you're right that Edition is priced fairly competitively. A stainless steel Rolex is, whilst quite a bit of money, affordable if you decide that you want it. I don't live in a major city and yet I'll still see a few on the wrists of people if I take a trip around town. Edition, however, would be quite a sighting - similar (in terms of required wealth), in my opinion, to seeing a complicated Patek on a wrist. (Whilst the prices are different, I'm saying this because of the upgrade issue, i.e. a £100K Patek will last many lifetimes, a gold Edition will be useless in less than 5 years).
  - gonzo 11y ago
    I own a stainless Datejust (Rolex). The MetaWatch people gave me several (10+) of various models of their watches. I wear neither, and have no plans on an Apple Watch.

Involute 11y ago

Or, much cheaper and a 4-hour turnaround: https://youtu.be/MMF9I_9DAcs https://youtu.be/MMF9I_9DAcs.

malandrew 11y ago
I was really hoping for a really nerdy video explaining how to electroplate an Apple Watch. Just masking off and spray painting the phone was disappointing.

kev6168 11y ago

My bold prediction about the whole Apple Watch phenomena: _It will be a big bust._ After the initial hype, not many adults would want to wear it. This might upset some people (Apple fans?). But now, let's build a mental image together: one day, in the middle of a meeting at your work place, many of your colleagues rest their hands on the conference table (either using a tablet/phone/laptop, or holding papers). You raise your head and glance over the whole room, and you see there are so many Apple watches out there. They look the same, blink the same way, sound the same. The square-ish shape becomes kind of tiring and stupid, simply because you've seem them everywhere. They are really out there. A funny idea pops up in your mind: is this a robotic, dull and weird picture or what? Watches are not like mobile phones, in terms of personal touches. Adults use phones mostly for their practical functions, and phones can be kept out of sight. Watches are different. Nowadays they are mostly for images/styles/personalities/fun, so, do you want to wear the same watch as everybody else and appear so average?

sytelus 11y ago
I've been wearing watch for its utility for more than a decade. My watch (Casio ProTrek PRW-3000-1) has compass, altimeter, world time, sunrset times, alarms and so on. This watch is extremely robust in bad weather or even under water. It self-charges itself (it doesn't even has any external way to charge it). Sure, I've smartphone usually with me but ability to look up time in split second with a slight turn of wrist is valuable. But the more important is all these tools and reliability that they are available to me in all kind of weather, places and without need to worry about charging it. Now let me also make it clear that I do question this way of life where time matters so much. However that's different discussion and until conclusion arrives, watch is pretty useful tool. If I'd all these features available in Apple Watch then I would buy it in heart beat. I can imagine several apps that would be super useful. However price tag is way too high and it needs charging every day. I think Apple Watch isn't going to be smashing success right now but given their investment levels, they might continue produce next versions that gets better and better and hopefully cheaper. It's important to remember that iPhone 1 wasn't smashing success either when it first came out given it's price tag and less powerful batteries.
- 11y ago