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Apple to Take Reservations for Trying On Apple Watch, Considered Platinum Model

Monday March 9, 2015 7:35 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple WatchApple is shifting its retail strategy for the Apple Watch to deliver a more personalized shopping experience, according to The Wall Street Journal. The report claims that Apple Stores will accept in-store reservations for customers to try on the Apple Watch and corroborates that Apple is training its retail employees to help customers choose an Apple Watch model that suits them best.

The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, adds that the high-end Apple Watch Edition will have scratch-resistant gold, which an in-depth analysis over the weekend revealed is because Apple mixes the metal with low-density ceramic particles. Apple is also said to have studied a platinum Apple Watch, but the model is unlikely to be announced Monday.
"The company has refined the smartwatch’s luxury features, making the gold in the Edition model scratch-resistant, according to people familiar with the matter," reports The Wall Street Journal. "It also has studied platinum watch casings, although the company isn’t expected to announce that on Monday, they said."
Apple CEO Tim Cook, during a visit to the Covent Garden Apple Store in London last month, told retail employees that Apple has "never sold anything as a company that people could try on before." The chief executive added that "tweaking the experience in the store" will likely be a requirement when the wrist-worn device launches in April. It also appears likely that the Apple Watch will be exclusive to Apple Stores immediately following the product's launch, although for how long remains unknown.

Follow the rest of our March 2015 event coverage for the latest Apple Watch information.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4, watchOS 5
Tag: March 2015 event
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
[ 132 comments ]


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troop231
43 months ago
Platinum or white gold would've been sweet! :)
Rating: 9 Votes
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st0k3d
43 months ago

So no online ordering? Pre-order? That could be messy for the stores.


"Ok great yes I decided I like this 42mm with this bracelet in this color. I'll take it"

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"Ok sir that model is on backorder for 6 weeks, and that strap is on backorder for 2 months"

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"uhhhh"
Rating: 5 Votes
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ikunalz
43 months ago
No platinum Apple Watch? You mean, I will have to settle for a cheap $10,000 gold one? Sheesh!
Rating: 5 Votes
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dannyyankou
43 months ago
No need to try on, I already have my mind made up (Stainless Steel link bracelet). Now make it available for preorder!
Rating: 4 Votes
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DrJohnnyN
43 months ago
Great approach!!

Win the wrist back.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Attonine
43 months ago

So? You buy it for the fact that it never tarnishes, not because flawless platinum looks the same as flawless aluminum. The difference is that the flawless platinum will still be flawless in 100 years. The aluminum will have flaws within a year.


But how long will the utility of the watch last? Lets say 5 years until upgrades are required for some of the new iOS functions to work, so a new model needed, and lets say after 10 years, even if it is still chugging along, will be useless and a really dated design needing another 20 years before it's in vogue again. Then you're just left with a lump of gold. For precious metals better to get a more traditional watch I think.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Attonine
43 months ago
I have considered buying watches made of precious metals in the past, but an Apple watch? No.

I can see the utility in an Apple watch, a health/activity monitor etc, but I would want water resistance to use it for swimming etc too. At the moment I see the Apple watch more in line with the original Swatch ethos, a disposable watch. I just can't get my head round it as being a long term purchase, something to invest any significant amount of money in.
Rating: 3 Votes
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mac1984user
43 months ago
So, any other high-value watch (of the Rolex ilk, for instance) is marketed around its timelessness and its ability to last a lifetime. Why would I want the same precious metals to go into a watch that has a shelf life of about three years at the most?

Never mind the fact that Apple better have a mandatory recycle scheme in place if you ever decide to get rid of your watch; those metals aren't infinite. At this rate, our great-grandchildren will be cursing us for using all of that on consumer trash at the expense of future generations' health care, etc. Meh, screw my great-grandkids.
Rating: 2 Votes
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ewkid
43 months ago
Anyone else think the guts on these watches will be upgradeable? For example buy gold watch this year and next year swap out the guts for Apple Watch 2 for a few hundred upgrade.
Rating: 2 Votes
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kdarling
43 months ago

Gold and platinum don't mix with consumer and disposable devices. When your :apple:Watch becomes obsolete, what will you do? Send your watch for melting?


Maybe so.

For some reason this reminds me of a guy I knew back in the 70s who ran a business cleaning IC prototype labs.

Back then, it was common for these labs to be soldering tiny gold wires virtually by hand, and a lot of tiny snippets of gold wire and gold dust ended up in the anti-static floor mats.

Once a month he'd remove all the mats and replace them with new ones. He could afford to do this, because of all the gold scrap he was able to melt out of the used ones. It was a great gig for a while.

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As for gold Apple Watches, I wonder what big city police think of this. They just finally started seeing crime decrease because of iPhones. Now here comes a product that doesn't even have to be resold in working order or even in normal shape. It can simply be melted for gain.
Rating: 2 Votes

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