“When is a watch not a watch? When it’s the potential multi-million money spinner brainchild of the most powerful company in the world,” Rhiannon Williams reports for The Telegraph.
“It’s been a long seven months since Apple chief executive Tim Cook first unveiled the Apple Watch during an event in San Francisco, putting an end to years of rumours and speculation,” Williams reports. “Yesterday London’s Selfridges played host to hundreds of curious shoppers craning their necks to get closer to Apple’s first original product since the iPad in 2010.”
“The Apple Watch rubs shoulders with Cartier, Rolex and other behemoths of the luxury timepiece world in a corner of Selfridge’s luxury Wonder Room, a neo-classical hall filled with premium jewellery and watches,” Williams reports. “Selling through Selfridges is Apple’s way of giving the faithful a slightly different shopping experience, while coaxing new, monied customers into the iOS fold. It’s smart, it’s exclusive, and it’s all undeniably opulent. This timely business move could be one of Apple’s most lucrative yet.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Watch is the world’s first luxwearable.
I think the Watch Edition will fit quite well on the wrists of the well off. ⌚️😀🖖
Anyone who pays 10K or more for this watch should have sucker written on their forehead
I wonder if the average MDN reader is aware of Selfridges at all (except for high rollers like GM). this is yet another paving stone on the path from geek tech to fashion, a road less traveled.
Anyone who doesn’t know Selfridges (or does for that matter), should check out Mr. Selfridge starring Jeremy Piven (from Entourage)
That was gonna be my joke: “Will Jeremy Piven personally sell one to me too?”
I am sure he would for a fat acting fee and a hefty markup!
It looks like you’re back under a new name again. Can’t stay away? What about “I’m outta here.” six months ago?
There is no fooling you. Congratulations. I only wonder what joy you obtain from badgering helpless posters anonymously. That kind of joy might be fun enough to make me become like you.
Yarn: Back in 1979, when I was selling classical recordings at the HMV Shop (now deceased) on Oxford Street, I was practically across the street from Selfridges. I think I went in there just once to look for a scarf. Silly me.
I’ve been at that shop, a couple of times in my London travels way back in the 90’s. I don’t even think Tower Records survives at Piccadilly Circus anymore.
Didn’t realise record stores remained anywhere these days outside of specialist ones. Occasionally drop into Selfridges to see how the other half live, the whiskey store is something else if you are happy to remortgage your house.
More like how the other 1% lives.
There has been a bit of a renaissance in vinyl over the past few years or so, sort of the hip, cool way to listen to music at home on a high-end system. Most record shops seem to be local, specialty places, often in artist districts.
I went there when they kitted an entire floor out as a skatepark, had a blast doing kickflip blunts on the quarter pipe next to the lift!
Meh, let the rich have their toys… I’ll have a device that does EXACTLY the same thing as theirs for less than £400. 42mm, black aluminium with a black sport band, and I won’t have to worry about having a £13k watch on my wrist!!!
I tried on the 42mm black Sport band, and I was blown away at how comfortable it was. Very soft yet you hardly felt it on your wrist. I actually liked the sport band better than the Milanese band I also tried on (although it was impressive too). And the Watch was smaller on my wrist than I imagined, both in look and in feel. I was very impressed.
…..to the moon !
Apple is at its all time best !
Thank you Tim and the Team !
I don’t know what the hell “Selfridges” is, but I went to a regular Apple Store yesterday. The presentation of Apple Watch is extremely well done. I’m liking this Angela Ahrendts touch, because this presentation is noticeably better than I recall for previous major product releases (and Apple has been pretty good at showcasing its own products at the Apple Store). I’m also liking the “no more lines” philosophy; the store was attractively crowded, without any sign of chaos or people waiting impatiently. I walked right in…
This Apple Store is not that large (as store size goes these days). There’s one table with four “presenters” for the Apple Watch appointments. At each “station,” the table has a drawer with all the different watches for trying on, neatly stored. On that same table are two portable “boards,” with a mounted Apple Watch and a screen to the left (that looked to be from an iPad mini). The cool thing here is that the screen to the left provides “real time” explanations and relevant info about what you’re doing with the mounted functional Apple Watch. I think it’s meant for use by the presenters, but I was able to play with it between their appointments. One interesting bit of detail is that the casually-dressed presenters did not themselves wear an Apple Watch. They either wore no watch, or wore a “regular” (traditional) watch.
The other table has a clear top, and housed a display of ALL Apple Watch models below, in two long rows (facing opposing long sides of the table). One row has all the 38mm models, and the other has all the 42mm models. Additional presenters stand around this table, answering questions. “Rose Gold” looks really nice (less pinkish) in person; the gold ones look amazingly “lustrous” in person.
I also played with the new MacBook. I terms of “look and feel,” this is the best Apple laptop ever. It oozes refinement.
Selfridges is a department store indeed the first in London, Selfridge himself was an American who brought the concept over here and the rest is history.
And on a side note, Mr. Selfridge lived such a lavish overspending lifestyle that he wound up being voted off his own board and died penniless on the streets of London.💥😱😂😁
If you don’t know what Selfridges is, you have not been watching PBS in the last two years.
What! No ZOMBIES sitings?
Selfridges? How gauche!
Everyone knows the London glitterati shop at Harrods.
/s
=:~)
Yep. Bet Harrods said “Sorry but, no.
But Selfridges is the original store of its kind in London brought to England by Wisconsin native Chicago’s Marshall Fields trained Mr. Selfridge who created the store from scratch. Selfridge was the Steve Jobs of department stores in the early 20th century. It’s currently owned by a Canadian entrepreneur who restored it from flailing and almost failing in the last decade. 👀😃
Harrod’s jumped the shark when they started selling Krispy Kreme.
At first I thought Selfridges had something to do with large cooling appliances.
Me too! Automatic ones, right? We silly Americans! 😉
“Apple’s first original product since the iPad in 2010”
That’s an interesting choice of words. It’s as though Apple is behind some curve. What other companies have introduced any useful new technology of note in the last couple of weeks/months/years? I mean something that a lot of people are buying. I’ll wait.
London innit.
Love the Union Jack fridge! Now they just need a Tardis fridge, especially one that is bigger on the inside than the outside.
Sarf London.
Apple Watch is the world’s first luxwearable.
Now what is a definition of luxwearable? Anyone?
Whatever you want it to be, since it’s just a stupid mashed up word like “Brangelina”.
Well seeing as it looks like MDN came up with the word, I’ll let them define it…if they ever get around to it.
As long as you don’t think that toilet paper stuck to your left shoe is a luxwearable.