Luxury watch makers have expressed confidence that Apple's incoming smart watch will be of little consequence to their base of consumers, but the iPhone maker is planning a version of the Apple Watch that will likely attract those who opt for the Tag Heuers and Omegas.
The base model of the Apple Watch has been priced at $349, but a series of gold versions will cost between 10 and 14 times that price. The gold Apple Watches are expected to sell at a price point between $4,000 and $5,000.
One could purchase a Mac with Retina 5k for $2,499 and a standard Apple Watch and still come in under the golden smart watch's price tag. But with the possibility of the Apple watch coming in 18-carat pink or yellow gold variants, whenever it releases, the $349 base model could come off as a bore.
Rumors of the gold Apple Watch price range emerged on iGen, a French language blog of Apple news. The purported price range of the golden Apple Watch still pales in comparison with the best Breitling and other crafters of luxury timepieces have to offer, but it does place Apple's smart watch in competition with the lower end of what the world's best horologists sell.
Ryan Raffaelli, a professor at the Harvard Business School, says the growth of the Swiss watch industry has been spurred by sales of timepieces priced well over $5,000.
"While the Apple Watch is technologically far more accurate and offers unimaginable functionality, the Swiss watch's value proposition is quite different," says Raffaelli.
The Harvard professor says luxury watchmakers should embrace the Apple Watch, as the smart watch could generate interest in high-end timepieces among a new generation of consumers. At the very least, it'll reintroduce people from all age groups to the fading concept of wearing a wristwatch, according to Raffaelli.
Though luxury watchmakers may appreciate the attention the Apple Watch brings to the industry, Maksud Agadjani, owner of TraxNYC, says he doesn't expect to see a partnership being forged between Apple and the likes of Rolex.
Agadjani says he plans to sell the Apple Watch in his high-end jewelry store, but says he could only see Rolex partnering with Apple through a celebrity on an extremely limited, one-time deal for production. Rolex only aligns itself with "kings, presidents and dignitaries," says Agadjani.
"Rolex wants to maintain complete control and does not want to dilute the brand with high-volume production," Agadjani says. "It prefers the realm of the 0.1%, not the mass market, even if it's the upper crust."
