The new ceramic Apple Watch Edition
Apple tried, and Apple failed.
The luxury watch market isn’t for everyone. Many companies have tried to enter the market, which values exclusivity and hand-craftsmanship over mass-produced devices built by robots. Apple was the latest entrant, attempting to break in two years ago with the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition, which started at $10,000 and topped out at $17,000. It was essentially a luxury watch starter kit: it was gold, expensive, and Apple handed out custom versions to fashionable celebrities like Beyoncé and Karl Lagerfeld for the free promotion.
But now that watch is dead. You won’t find a trace of it on Apple’s website. The first generation Apple Watch Edition has been replaced by a ceramic version that will sell for a tenth of the price of the cheapest gold model, marking the end of Apple’s attempt to woo luxury watch owners. Convincing the luxury watch market to buy an Apple Watch was never going to work with a square design anyway. There’s a reason the biggest luxury watch brands have been around for an average of 100 years. People who spend tens of thousands of dollars on a mechanical watch aren’t looking for innovation or dying to know when their next meeting is (that’s what an assistant is for). Those watches are statement pieces, or heirlooms, or purchased just for the appreciation of a handcrafted device that largely hasn’t changed in half a century.
There’s ...