Roger Fingas
The first Apple Watch Edition orders should arrive as soon as Saturday, although unlike most Watch models, buyers are being given the option of when they'll have their device delivered, a report noted on Friday.
Throughout the week Edition buyers have started receiving shipping notifications and credit card charges, MacRumors said. Emails sent to the customers ask them to pick a specific delivery time, as long as it fits within courier hours — for instance excluding major holidays.
The extra attention is due to the cost of the Edition, which uses 18-karat solid gold in its chassis, controls, and some band components. Even the least expensive Edition models are priced at $10,000, and costs can soar as high as $17,000 despite the Edition's functions being no different than those of a $349 Sport.
Many other Watch orders have been shipping since April 24, but until now the earliest preorders of the Edition have still been waiting for delivery. The delay is again presumably because of the use of gold, which requires different manufacturing processes than aluminum or steel, including hand polishing.
The special treatment of Edition customers extends to other areas. Edition try-on appointments are typically longer and segregated from the rest of an Apple Store, and each Edition comes with a unique box that doubles as a charging dock.
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15 Comments
About time! The missus, kids and the dog have all been waiting for theirs to arrive. I got my aluminium one weeks ago... LOL
" Apple Store, and each Edition comes with a unique box that doubles as a charging dock. my friend just got his black SS model with link bracelet. (~$1000) His charging puck has chrome hilights and his box is square vs. the all plastic charging puck and elongated box the Sport Ed. ships with.
Wonder how many people will be calling Dani and asking to reschedule their delivery time AND LOCATION for Kyle's watch.
"...despite the Edition's functions being no different%u2026" We could also say '%u2026despite the ROLEX's functions being no different than%u2026" It's not the functions that raise the price. It's the fact that the Edition is 18karat SOLID GOLD, not gold plate, or gold colored, or sorta looks like gold. 18k gold is a heck of a lot more expensive by weight than aluminum or stainless steel. Roger Fingass, stop denigrating something you know nothing about, or are you purposely trying to show yourself to be an a$$.
The late delivery could also be Apple wanting to have had the Watch in the field for a while to work out any issues. And now that there's been a software update to correct issues they did find, it's time now to deliver the Gold models. This makes a lot of sense, I think, as you do not want you highest paying customers running into early-release problems.