The Hermès Apple Watch: It Starts

I feel stupid. Well, somewhat, anyways, and that’s a rarity. (Usually, I feel like a full-blown moron.)

I should have seen this coming. And partly, I did, but not like this. I didnt’t expect custom Apple Watch Faces to be a part of a bigger product. I didn’t expect the Hermès collection.

Positioned at retail in the neighborhood of the Space Black stainless Apple Watch with Link Bracelet ($1100 to $1500), the Apple Watch Hermès series features several (via Apple):

The Single Tour with the 38 mm stainless steel case comes in fauve Barenia leather, noir box leather and capucine Swift leather, while the Single Tour with 42 mm stainless steel case comes in fauve Barenia leather and noir box leather. The Double Tour pairs with the 38 mm stainless steel case and is available in fauve Barenia leather and bleu jean, capucine and etain Swift leather. The Cuff pairs with the 42 mm stainless steel case and is available in fauve Barenia leather only. Across the collection, each stainless steel case features an etching of the Hermès signature and includes a customizable face with three exclusive dial designs inspired by Clipper, Cape Cod and Espace Hermès watches.

Interestingly, the special Face is mated to these variants in a way that makes them unavailable to other non-Hermès Apple Watches, presumably by utilizing a special Watch App Store code that comes with the device purchase (unless Apple pre-loads the collection with the Face itself).

In either case, this does align — or begin to align — with my assertion that Apple Watch is a perfect platform for custom Face designs and officially branded, iconic, digital replicas thereof. Would other companies buy into this? Will it ultimately prove more profitable to pump out an entire product with an exclusive Face than to simply make said Face(s) available for purchase to all users? I dont know.

But I do know that, right now, Apple is going the former route, and that’s understandable. However, it’s very clear already that Hermès’ classic Face is going to be a big draw for the upper-middle-end buyers out there.