With the Apple Watch Edition having been formally priced last night, Apple has confirmed its 18-carat gold techy timepiece will set wannabe owners back a staggering £13,500.
However, according to Elizabeth Doerr, Editor-in-Chief of online watch magazine QuillandPad, this is just the start of a luxury smartwatch revolution.
“There will certainly be luxury smartwatches in the same way we had diamond-encrusted mobile phone covers ten years ago and still have the odd ultra-luxury quartz wristwatch,” she said speaking with TrustedReviews.
While £13,500 for a watch with technology that quickly dates might be considered crazy by the masses, according to Doerr, there is more than a big enough market to make this a viable product category.
“There are too many people with too much money,” she told us. “This does not mean that it will become the norm or even be here long.
“Like an iPhone, a luxury smartwatch will only have a certain shelf life, so it has a throw-away quality.”
Despite predicting we’ll see more luxury smartwatches moving forward, it's not currently clear which manufacturers would have the brand and marketing clout of Apple to make this work.
What’s more, according to Doerr, although the luxury smartwatch market is set to explode, it won’t ever be able to compete with the upper end of the traditional watch market.
“I think the upper market segment is safe. I do not think there will be an impact on high luxury whatsoever,” she said.
Looking at where devices such as the Apple Watch could hit the watch market, Doerr stated: “What may suffer in the short term is the same price range as the Apple Watch: TAG Heuer and below, let's say. And only because it will compete for wrist space among the less affluent.
“I think it could have short-term impact on the mid- to low-range price segment, but not long-term impact.”
