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Gold Apple Watch Editions arrive for regular customers with new box, booklet, gold pairing screen [Gallery, Video]

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Nearly a month after the Apple Watch officially went on sale, gold Edition models have begun arriving for non-celebrity customers who placed the earliest online orders. As expected, the Apple Watch Edition’s white external packaging is nearly identical to the cardboard box for the stainless steel Apple Watch, save for the box noting the color of the 18-Karat gold casing and unique band on the side.

Inside the box, however, the items are a bit different. As we’ve noted before, the Apple Watch Edition includes a colored leather-covered box that integrates the MagSafe charger. The Edition also includes a color-matched cleaning cloth with the word Edition embossed into the material. The steel Apple Watches instead include a plastic white box with lining and a beige cleaning cloth. The Edition also includes a booklet explaining the manufacturing process. 

When you power on the Apple Watch Edition for the first time, a gold, not silver, description of the Watch’s hardware materials appears (as can be seen above). MacRumors noted earlier today that Editions started to ship, and the images of arrived Watches first appeared on their forums. You can find a gallery of more images below.

Update: Below, we’ve also added the first video unboxing of the Edition as well as pictures of the bundled booklet into the gallery.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In8Hywj0hEE&feature=youtu.be

Thanks, Shemar!

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Comments

  1. srgmac - 9 years ago

    God damn I want that charger box / case…so beautiful…even has a lightning port on it…I really hope they make that an accessory anyone can buy somewhere down the line. I know they want the Edition models to be exclusive and all that, but bleh…

  2. Graham J - 9 years ago

    I know this will sound like sour grapes but honestly I wouldn’t buy a gold one if I had all the money in the world. Aluminum and steel look way better than gold imo.

  3. richardblayney2014 - 9 years ago

    What beige cleaning cloth for the steel watch???

  4. I got a steel watch – but no beige cloth as mentioned above… is that correct that a cloth was meant to come with?

    • Alex Moran - 9 years ago

      It seems like the steel watch only comes with the cleaning cloth if you purchase the stainless steel with link bracelet. That and a little pouch to store your spare links. That’s the only versions iv seen with it

  5. Sterling Miller - 9 years ago

    Something is a little off with this. The box clearly says 38MM while the watch pairing screen says 42MM.
    Also the box clearly says “White sport band” and yet we see a black one. And last and final issue with the box, it says “rose gold” and clearly the pictures are yellow gold.
    So either they bought two of them and decided part way through the photo’s to change watches, and/or boxed, OR this is fake.

    • Smigit - 9 years ago

      Or the gallery has images from different sources.

    • tonyduanesmith - 9 years ago

      Columbo & Sherlock Holmes haven’t got sh*t on you…

    • vandy75 - 9 years ago

      Great sleuthing. While another commenter suggested that they bought 2 or some such, it is still sloppy reportage to picture something inconsistent with the copy associated with it and not note same.

    • alexandereiden - 9 years ago

      Just different sources. With my gold watch that arrived yesterday, everything matches up to the article.

  6. amirgoodmann - 9 years ago

    Of course, they bought two: a 38 and a 42…!

    • 89p13 - 9 years ago

      Well . . . The Stock Market has been generally up . . . . Maybe a successful broker?

      ;)

  7. zBrain (@joeregular) - 9 years ago

    i disagree that edition buyers are “normal customers”.

  8. charismatron - 9 years ago

    I’m not crazy about the whole smart watch thing, but I’m particularly not crazy about the Edition.

    Firstly, it smacks of Ive and Newson’s pursuit of recognition among the elite in fashion design. While Jobs and Ive may have intensely bonded–resulting in Ives receiving a lion’s share of control in Apple–the Edition represents a noteworthy departure from Apple’s ‘where science and the humanities come together’ philosophy because the Edition has nothing to do with either. That departure is to achieve a single goal: recognition among wealthy fashion purveyors and consumers. It’s a lot to sacrifice for such a hollow goal.

    Edition supporters (not that most of them could ever hope to afford the Edition) argue it has the exact same functionality, which it does. But it’s the departure from the philosophy–not the functionality–that’s bothersome. Apple will continue to do great things, but dividing their customer base in this way isn’t one of them. There’s a definite value to knowing that the rich and famous as well as the common consumer participate in the same “cool” which Apple has long represented.

    Ive and Newson can revel in the attention they are receiving from fashion design circles, but it won’t last. The Edition will receive attention only so long as Apple funds that attention. When Edition V.2.0. rolls out, we’ll go through the ridiculous (and expensive) checking in with the fashion world about whether it’s relevant. It won’t be. And honestly, 99% of people won’t care: they can’t afford to. But Ives and Newson do, and that’s why I think we have this ridiculous gold watch.

    • gazmac - 9 years ago

      I agree. The whole affordable luxury ethos breaks down with this pandering to the elites. Distasteful.

    • dray (@73dray) - 9 years ago

      I also agree with you. If people thought Apple was an elitist product before, they surely do now.

      We own nearly every Apple product out there but philosophically the watch is not one I can support. In my mind it is nothing more than an iPod Nano attached to a watch band with a heart rate sensor. What more does it really do on its own with out its big brother companion the iPhone.

      • 60% of Apple’s business is the iPhone. Some people buy it outright, the vast majority of people pay for it monthly as part of their phone contact. That’s why you see rich people AND little scrotes on the street owning one. You neither have to be rich or a snob. Owning an Apple product does not make you a fully paid up member of an elite club – despite what Apple and some avid followers would have you believe.

    • acslater017 - 9 years ago

      Jewelry and high fashion are part of the humanities, just like music, photography, and film aren’t they? I don’t see why they should be considered more hollow.

      The Edition exists because people like to wear gold and precious metals. E.g. most married person in the Western world. I don’t see that as dividing people really. They offer a model that is just as functional for 1/30 the price.

    • Jonny - 9 years ago

      I’d be more concerned if the Edition had better/different software/hardware than the other models. You could make an argument about the box (which I wish someone would make) but the actual watch will perform the same if you spend a few hundred or a few thousand dollars on it.

  9. AppleLion - 9 years ago

    Let’s see… A Dentist looked like reviewing a $18.000 Apple Watch Edition in 480P Quality… Looks… Yeah… Different…

  10. bdkennedy11 - 9 years ago

    Editing is your friend. Almost 8 minutes of watching this guy stroke everything.

  11. Ryan Simmons - 9 years ago

    I’d love to know where it is made, as in “Designed by Apple in California. Made in [where]? Can’t be China surely?

  12. guacho8 - 9 years ago

    it’s just a box, why is everyone so fascinated by this? at the end of the day my 399 dollars watch has the same guts…to each their own I guess..

    • I’m not understanding the fascination with the box either. I’m positive that someone has made one already. Plus, after the novelty wears off the Watch (I’ve had one since ‘launch day’) it doesn’t seem that special. It seems like an afterthought that I have it on these days. I’m sure the novelty of the box wears off very quickly, as it’s just a box.

      • acslater017 - 9 years ago

        Unless the box is a super nice charging station that you use every day.

  13. I know that criticizing anything Apple on this site is a big no no, but I don’t care and I’m going to say this: There is very little difference between buying a $10,000 to $17,000 gold smart watch and buying a gold smartphone (besides the slight price difference). I saw gold iPhones online years before the Apple Watch was a thought (to me at least). I always viewed gold iPhones, or even iPhones with gemstones in them, as a super foolish purchase. I saw it as downright idiotic, akin to painting a Fisker chrome (Justin Bieber).

    This version 1 gold watch is even more so a foolish purchase. It’s a first generation product that obviously needs some improvements. I’m speaking as a ‘launch day’ Apple Watch owner. I knew after my first week wearing this Watch that it’s going to be a relatively short relationship- perhaps shorter than my iPhone 6. I’m already looking forward to version 2.

    The gold Watch is bought by people who like making statements. I understand that, really. However, it’s not like a traditional watch that can be worn for years, if not decades, and still be considered in-style and relevant. A person who wears a 2015 Apple Watch Edition in late 2016 or even 2017 will be seen in their social circles, which are probably different than my social circle, as ‘so yesterday’. That owner knows this and that’s why their $10-17k watch will be sitting in a drawer sooner than later, just like those gold iPhone 4s I saw years ago.

    • Jesse Dacri - 9 years ago

      I disagree, these are watches first, everything else second. Just like it’s cool to throw a battery into an old Casio digital watch and wear it today, it’s a design and fashion thing that will be trendy to wear as a unique accessory years and years from now.

      In 2020 the 1.0 Apple Watch will still tell time and be relevant in the history of timepieces just as every other watch through the years.

      • 2020 is only 5 years away so it’ll probably still have to be supported by Apple but these are not really heirloom pieces like other luxury timepieces. In 2020 if the whole smartwatch movement takes off you’ll be wearing something else because the software and the technology would have moved on and that gold Apple Watch will only be worth its weight in gold at the time. Also Apple only support their devices for a number of years so good luck replacing that battery and good luck trying to tether it to whatever iPhone model is around at the time.

        Actually has someone taken it apart and worked out the actual monetary worth of the gold in there since it’s not actually worth the huge premium.