Jewelers start gold plating Apple Watch to undercut Apple’s pricey Edition models

[ObscureMammal]

Source: http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/04/gold-apple-watch-diy/

 

 

Enterprising jewelers have begun undercutting Apple's enormous price tags for gold Apple Watch Edition models, offering affordable solutions for people looking to turn their Apple Watch gold. Two jewelry companies, Watch Plate and Golden Dreams, are now offering a gold plating service for a fraction of how much you would have to pay for the Apple Watch Edition

 

 

 

 

 

It’s no secret that the price of the Apple Watch rapidly increases if you want a gold model. The Apple Watch Edition with an 18 karat rose gold case starts at $10,000 and ranges to $17,000 for yellow gold models with a gold-plated band. Jewelers, however, looking to take some of Apple’s high-end Watch market, have now started offering their own take on the gold Apple Watch…

 

First, Watch Plate offers to gold plate your own Apple Watch for $399. The process is relatively simple. You simply FedEx them your stainless steel Apple Watch and they will gold plate the device and ship it back to you, all within 3 business days. Watch Plate will even email you a FedEx label to make the shipment process as simple as possible. The company says it is using 24 karat rose gold or 24 karat yellow gold during its process.

 

Golden Dreams takes a different approach to offering gold Apple Watch units. For $3,550, the company will soon offer gold-plated Apple Watch models in 24 karat yellow gold, 18 karat rose gold, and 18 karat white gold models. These watches are all custom-made in Geneva and ship worldwide. The company also touts that their gold-plated Apple Watch ships in a high-end luxury box. Alongside the Watch itself, Golden Dreams will also offer over 160 different colored Alligator leather straps. Hand engraving will also be available, according to the company.

 

The difference between the two is that with Watch Plate’s offering, you must supply your own Apple Watch unit, while Golden Dreams handles the entire acquisition process and ships gold-plated Apple Watch units directly to consumers. The latter makes for a more seamless, albeit more expensive, process. Golden Dreams also touts that its straps are of the same quality of a Rolex and other high-end watch manufacturers.

 

While both options still require a significant investment, there's no doubt that both are a far cheaper alternative to Apple's high price tags for the Apple Watch Edition lineup. 

[Swndlr]

lol i dont see why this is actually news tho, theyve been doing this since day one, they do it with iphones too

[QueenDemetria]

*Lawsuits incoming*

[Syntaxvgm]

According to minecraft if I eat a golden apple it will heal me. 

I tired to eat one. Jeweler wasn't happy. 

It hurt too

Now I need golden teeth. 

[Grrizz]

Poor(ish) mans alternative:

[SurvivorNVL]

...Why don't we all just go buy a Pebble, or a moto, Samsung.. and then take that to the jeweler?  BAM.  I will patent this idea, and make millions.  

[Norman_the_Owl]

It was only a matter of time

[Misanthrope]

*Lawsuits incoming*

 

Apple doesn't (or well, shouldn't) own a patent on plating metals with other metals, otherwise they would basically sue anything with gold on it.

[Trik'Stari]

 

Why would anyone think this is a good idea? Apple is one of the most sue happy companies out there.

 

Apple doesn't (or well, shouldn't) own a patent on plating metals with other metals, otherwise they would basically sue anything with gold on it.

 

Would you really put that past them? I'm 75% certain that an apple lawyer will at one point read that statement, and think "hey....that's a good idea"

[Timmy-P]

Apple doesn't (or well, shouldn't) own a patent on plating metals with other metals, otherwise they would basically sue anything with gold on it.

Don't give them ideas, now!

This is a nice idea, since it's cheaper across the board regardless. Though when it goes outdated (along with Pebble's watch and Android variants) in a year's time when successors are released, would it be worth it then?

[Dabombinable]

I think Apple just got told to fuck off with their pricing of the Edition.

[Briggsy]

Apple's reaction to this news

 

[Ertman]

I dont think Apple will care except for warranty purposes. They could prove me wrong and make a big stink, but it only hurts them. People Gold plating their watches are not edition buyers anyways, and it will only lead to more Apple watch sales.

[TroubleKlef]

That's like putting AMG stickers on your base C250 cuz you couldn't afford the real deal. 

[Bensemus]

idk but it seems like gold plating would scratch easy vs the gold body of the edition which could be buffed to remove scratches.

[sgloux3470]

People aren't spending $10,000 on a gold plated watch for the gold.  They're doing it for status.

 

They'll just start packing these things with a "certificate of authenticity" like rolex watches have.

 

 

idk but it seems like gold plating would scratch easy vs the gold body of the edition which could be buffed to remove scratches.

 

Professional plating job will be identical to what Apple does.

 

[Dabombinable]

 

People aren't spending $10,000 on a gold plated watch for the gold.  They're doing it for status.

 

They'll just start packing these things with a "certificate of authenticity" like rolex watches have.

 

 

 

Professional plating job will be identical to what Apple does.

The end quality will of course depend on the jeweller doing the plating. As for status, some people will look at it like '18k vs 24k'  and the 'rolex quality' bands. The plated Apple watches can actually become more of a status symbol than the Edition.

[The Benjamins]

I think gold and chrome look cheap now.

mainly because a lot of cheap items use gold/chrome "colored" accents to look premium, so now it feels cheap now for me. I prefer Titanium or tungsten on high end watches.

 

I do like how the RF housing my company makes look in gold plating. (they plate them for the RF properties and to solder to it.)

[Dabombinable]

I think gold and chrome look cheap now.

mainly because a lot of cheap items use gold/chrome "colored" accents to look premium, so now it feels cheap now for me. I prefer Titanium or tungsten on high end watches.

Now Titanium is a sign of true quality.

[Maslofski]

platinum or gtfo

[Xorbot]

a significant investment

 

Haha, good one.  Calling this an investment.

[Mightyinvader]

I must be missing something here, but what can they sue them for.

The jewelers aren't calling this the apple watch gold, they are basically just adding a new case for it.

That would be like suing otterbox for making cases....

They are adding a new band to it and adding some gold, you can already by custom bands and apple isn't suing the people making those.

I just fail to see the patent infringement here. Who knows i'm sure apple has a patent that this will fall under

[Xorbot]

I must be missing something here, but what can they sue them for.

The jewelers aren't calling this the apple watch gold, they are basically just adding a new case for it.

That would be like suing otterbox for making cases....

They are adding a new band to it and adding some gold, you can already by custom bands and apple isn't suing the people making those.

I just fail to see the patent infringement here. Who knows i'm sure apple has a patent that this will fall under

 

Bro, all you had to say was "Bedazzler".

 

[dalekphalm]

There is no legal issue here. Apple cannot "sue" the jewelers over this.

 

However, Warranty may be an issue. Will Apple still warranty these aftermarket plated watches? If they do, and they need to replace the whole watch, will they be sending you back a regular steel apple watch?

 

My guess is Apple will keep this simple and simply say that aftermarket plating will void the warranty. I'd be curious in seeing any official statements on that.

[The Benjamins]

Now Titanium is a sign of true quality.

A jeweler show me a watch that was made out of tungsten and he scrapes it on the counter to show that it can't be scratched.