VIDEO: Is $17K for an Apple Watch Ridiculous... or VERY Ridiculous?

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At its recent event, Apple formally introduced us to the Apple Watch, revealing pricing and availability specifics. The biggest bombshell wasn't the fact that the timepieces start at $349 — but that they go as high as $17,000!

In this brief — yet lively — video, our experts try and rationalize a $17K watch.


What about you, readers? Is $17,000 reasonable to pay for a watch? Furthermore, what did you think of the Apple Watch's features? Will you buy one? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!


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Jeff Somogyi
Contributing Writer

Jeff Somogyi is constantly trying to come up with ways to surprise and delight audiences the world over. He takes humor seriously ... too seriously. (Honestly, we've never seen him laugh ... it's kinda creepy.)
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19 comments
JABrwoky13
I'm sure there is someone out there that has more money than they know what to do with. Look how many million dollar exotic sports cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc.) get sold every year. Is the average person going to buy one....NO!. I personally would not spend more than $100 for a regular watch. I have not even yet considered purchasing a a smart watch.
Lindsay Sakraida (DealNews)
@nimer That's kind of an interesting idea... if you bought one of these, never wore it and stored it in pristine condition, it might be a collector's item a few decades from now? I don't think I'm willing to take that chance (or that bet), but I momentarily considered it! haha.

This makes me think of the episode of 30 Rock when Jack admits his safe contains his will, and some Beanie Babies he thought would be worth more.
nimer
A good friend of mine collects watches, he has a vault in the bank for them and they are part of his will. He showed me pictures of watches he bought for $5K ten years ago.. but now it's worth... $20K. Luxury watches (limited edition, etc...) usually APPRECIATE.

Will this appreciate?
TZen
@Dealnews-Lindsay
I agree with you that a 17K Rolex (or similar) would be potentially an heirloom & expected to last for many years. The Apple Watch will be obsolete within 12-24 months. Some watches for $17K could potentially be reasonable investments (although not one I'd be willing to make). The author of the Millionaire Next Door recently died, but I'm sure he would have thought that most people wearing an $17K watch are "All hat & no cattle."
I enjoyed the video link. It got me thinking that anyone buying one of these watches should be automatically bumped up a tax bracket.
yivvy
$17,000 is like a dime for a watch? In what world? This is a disposable watch which may be outmoded is a year. Personally, I think this concept is not a winner and hopefully perspective buyers will realize this is a worthless gimmick.
nestormart
i don't think it's ridiculous. i think it's a sin and an affront to mankind to spend this kind of money just because you can. there are many other ways this money could be used to benefit other people. let's invest in love, kindness, respect, and the future of our children. 18 years from now this watch won't matter in the spectrum of life, but the influence we have on a child will last longer beyond our own life, just my thoughts, sorry for the long post. Be excellent to each other.
bikeral
What makes this watch purchase so STUPID is that the $10K gold watch does nothing more than the sub $500 apple watch. This has nothing with buying a luxury item where you pay more and get more. This has to do with Apple trying to see how stupid their customers can be.
OkieDealKing
Do you think Apple really cares whether we think buying a watch priced at $17,000 is ridiculous? The better question, is can they? (Given that they probably had 100 advanced-degree dudes figuring that out in advance...I'd say yes then can.) Of course it is ridiculous price for the average middle-class working stiff. For the guy that drives the $100,000 Porsche? He'll buy one for his teenage kid. All a matter of perspective.
frcn
Sure, only an idiot would pay that much for a watch that does so little and is so superfluous. That idiot's only redeeming act would be to leave it in the box, unused, wait for a year or two to pass after they stop making them, and find a bigger idiot to sell it to at a profit.

"Hey, buddy.. wanna buy a watch?"
xtsam
Guys, look a little further at China if you can, where young people who live on their rich parents will buy this for status. They already have Ferrari, Porsche, Rolex, apple 6, and macbook for that matter. How do you separate yourself from the rest the pack? That is a big headache that I can imagine, and here goes the iwatch at 17,000 some working people consider way expensive.........
wirble
Rediculous? So is Kim K. and she already has it = 1 Trillion Apple valuation
vinaytampa
I don't know about useless. Expensive: Yes. Even the Sport model.
teatimecrumpet
So it's agreed the iwatch is useless.
Scott911
The problem is that this $17K watch will be just as unimpressive in 20 months as the iphone 4s is compared to the iphone 6. Because it's not about the gold or the swiss mechanism, it';s about the technology.

I can easily see a $400 rubber band 'apple watch 2' being thinner, faster, better screen, more memory and sensors than the eventually outdated twenty thousand dollar gold apple watch 1.

Will you even be able to put the new computer section in the old, gold watch "case" - probably not. Apple doesn't even let you update the memory in most of it's computers these days.
dealnewsgrub
I probably will buy an Apple watch, but definitely not the $17k (though the black one looks marvelous!). As with all other Apple products, I am in a quandary about waiting for the next generation and/or a refurb'd current gen... I cannot imagine a customer base for the $17k, but Tesla has a customer base (and I'd be part of it before I'd get a $17k Apple watch) so I guess they're out there.
Elpoep
The 17k watch is already working for Apple, you already made a free comerci... a video about it for them.
Lindsay Sakraida (DealNews)
Side note: I wonder what the return policy is like on these...
Lindsay Sakraida (DealNews)
Even though normal high-end gold watches can climb into the $17,000 price range, and there's already a market for that, the difference here is that this involves technology that will undoubtedly be outdated in the next few years (and that's a kind estimate). A "normal" $17,000 gold watch can be repaired, and generally comes in a classic style that will last for decades if not longer.