Until today, the only way to get a premium Apple Watch Hermès band was to buy the band and watch together from the Apple Store, or buy a very-similar (and cheaper) knockoff band and pretend it is genuine. It was also only offered in one color, fauve brown. That is all about to change however. Apple has announced that it will soon start selling Apple Watch Hermès bands standalone and in several new colors.
Soon, customers will be able to buy Double Tour, Single Tour and Cuff bands separately in fauve brown, feu red, blanc white, bleu paon green and blue saphir blue shades. The new bands will be available from April 19, 2016 …
Availability varies per Apple Watch model size, so not all colors are available for both the 38mm and 42 mm models. The existing Apple Watch Hermès models come with a +$450 premium over the steel Watches, so don’t expect them to be cheap. Via A Blog To Watch, prices for the new bands will be $340 for Single Tour, $490 for Double Tour, and $690 for the Cuff.
The expansion of the range allows existing Watch customers to add some premium style to their outfit, or are simply interested in more vibrant Hermès colors than the brown option that existed before. These standalone bands are also great candidates for gifts to friends and family, without having to shell out for a whole new Watch body at the same time.
Last month, Apple refreshed the Apple Watch models with a variety of new bands and colors, including a new set of nylon bands and a Space Black Milanese Loop. Expect the Hermes range to join the lineup soon.
Thanks Alixrezax for the tip off.
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It can only be a good thing. Wonder if you’d get the exclusive Hermes watch face as well.
I’d love a Watch Face Store for such stuff!
I doubt it. The watch face is part of a custom version of watchOS made for the apple watch hermes. For owners of regular apple watches who buy ust the bands, getting the custom watch face would mean reinstalling the entire OS. I wouldn’t expect apple to release a watchOS update just for them. Besides, judging by the prices -assuming the source is reliable since apple hasn’t officially said anything-, I suspect the bands are targeted more towards people who already bought the hermes apple watch. Most of those hermes bands cost the same as the cheaper stainless steel apple watches and more than the sport aluminum watches, making the investment less attractive for owners of those.
If the bands are going to be $340 for the single cuff isn’t it cheaper to buy a SS Watch for $599 and then pay $340 for the band and then you’re paying $200 less and getting a sport band?
But then you’d be sacrificing the custome watch faces and the etching on the back of the etch. /s
nobody sees the custom etching and I prefer the watch faces that ship with it. Besides I bet eventually you’ll be able to jailbreak it and get those watch faces on any of them. Not to mention custom watch faces will likely soon come. I would assume in watchOS 3 or 4
If you buy the cuff model you can’t see the engraving on the back unless you remove the cuff band. I’m sure when you purchase the bands they will come with some download option for the faces.
I can’t believe I need to explain this:
/s = sarcasm.
You’d also be missing the orange Hérmes box and the extra year of warranty coverage.
http://m.usa.hermes.com/applewatch/warranty
So sad to see my favorite company in the world, the company that created Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPad (i.e., products that revolutionized industry by improving peoples lives) slowly but surely completely transform into a luxury douchebag company since Steve’s been gone. It started almost immediately after he died. For 5 years there’s been nothing new except more gold colors, celebrities, and higher prices. In other words, total opposite of Steve Jobs style, which of course was the style that made Apple what it is.
This is exactly right… and why isn’t anybody going bananas that the watch has ‘complications’…. SJ always wanted things simple and elegant…. not cluttered and complicated….
The DNA apple used to cultivate (and boast about) is evaporating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complication_(horology)
What other products is Apple producing that makes you think it’s a “luxury douchebag company”? Watches have always been an area where you can get a well-priced entry level device, and easily go up to high-end prices. Apple is following that trend as expected.
As far as the gold colors go, remember Apple made a “flower power” Mac. At that point it may have been seen as extremely childish.
Are you impressed with the Apple Watch? In six years (i.e. since iPad introduction), that’s all Cook’s Apple has been able to come up with — a micro version of the iPhone that you wear on your wrist and that no one really likes. Under Jobs, Apple completely revolutionizing consumer electronics and computing every couple years. All Cook seems to want to do is increase prices (e.g. iPad price just went up 20% for no real reason), add celebrities, and push poorly designed crap that Jobs would have never let out the door like Apple Music.
You talk about Apple following trends as if it’s a good thing. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with being Sony, Microsoft, Google, HP, etc. But it’s sad that that’s what they’ve become when they used to be Steve Jobs Apple — the company that set the trends and that everyone else slavishly copied.
@Tuomas: I’m tired of people showboating Jobs and using him to badmouth Cook. If you sit and actually think of it, your points are moot.
The Apple Watch is the most sold smartwatch by a long mile and people are only buying more and more now that the cost has reduced. iPad prices actually went down with the release of the iPad Pro. Now you can get other models for even cheaper. Don’t tell me you don’t remember U2 with Jobs, celebrity-wise. As for Apple Music, it’s agreeably shaky, but so is fabled Jobs’ iTunes Match.
We all love Steve, we really do. But Cook is not a demon driving Apple into the ground. If anything, the company is more and more open and environmentally aware now. It’s a lot more health and medical forward too. Cook’s got disagreeable decisions, he’s human. Same for Jobs.
Welp, I’m with Hiroi.
this is the apotheosis of sadness like if spacex would create golden rickets
hey apple what if you concentrate to create serious (remember “it just work”?) software, avoid to create just-on-off hardware?
seriously apple’s future relies on all those iphone merchandising gimmicks?
sadness
Wut?
sorry i forgot that english people don’t understand similes not can space with mind.
Angela Ahrendts must be spiking Sir Jonny’s tea.
Does anyone else think there won’t be a second-generation Apple Watch Edition?
I hadn’t considered it, but, now that you mention it, I don’t disagree.
TRULY an idiotic thing to spend your money on… For the SAME PRICE as a watch band, I can have a NEW iPad ?? Wonder which one I’m gonna pick?? DUH !!!!
But would your iPad fit on your wrist and tell time? Nope.
For the same price as an iPad you can have an iPhone, which are you going to pick? What if you want all three because they serve different purposes?
I can now buy watch bands that cost more than Apple Watch!
you could do that since day 1 — apple watch sport < link bracelet alone
Obscenely expensive for watch straps…what’s their profit margins here…multiple hundreds of percent?
Hermes sells a key holder for $265. http://usa.hermes.com/leather/small-leather-goods/in-the-pocket/carmen-key-ring-15609.html
Everything else they make and sell is equally as expensive for its category. It might be expensive to you, but it is par for the course in the world of luxury goods.
Hermes is like the absolute obscene, worst of the worst, in the luxury fashion game.
They don’t even want upper middle class customers…They’re celebrity, politician, or rich bastard clientele only.
Not even Gucci \ Fendi \ Prada sells 2000 dollar belts, 1500 dollar wallets, 500 bucks for one pair of boxers.
Interesting. I guess this is how they will accommodate those who wish to update to the next Apple Watch. I’ll miss the “exclusivity” of the Apple Watch Hermes, though.
$340 for an Hermes band isn’t bad. That said, it would look a bit tacky combined with a $299 Apple Watch Sport.
Can you really tell what kind of Apple Watch someone has? I’ve had the sport from the start, no one even knows. I think these bands would look great with it. The stainless steel AW’s get scratched *very* easily; that’s why I got the sport one. I’m a watch fanatic, and this is the reason I don’t particularly like Titanium or SS watches…They scratch way too easily. Ceramic is probably my fave for everyday wear…my Chanel J12 or Bvlgari Diagano :)
Hermes bands are sharp. Obviously not for everybody, but research the way they produce their leather. It is a premium product.
$340 for a watch band, seriously????? Unbelievable the disposable income some people must have. That’s a weeks income for someone. I guess being “rich” equates with stupid and you can’t fix that….
Hermes sells 2000 dollar belts, 500 dollar boxers (yes, for ONE pair) and don’t even ask how much the Birkin bags cost.
They’re basically the extreme of the extreme when it comes to luxury brands.
I like their fragrances and scarves, but everything else is way out of my price range.
For the record, there were other colors of bands from the start (Noir, Etain, Bleu Jean, Capucine). They are adding 4 new colors, and are streamlining the packaged sets so that they all come in Fauve Barenia, with the ability to buy other colors as separate bands.
I love Hermes but I don’t think they were the right brand to do this with.
In the market of expensive designer “stuff” — Hermes is the extreme of the extreme…1200 bucks for a wallet extreme, 2000 bucks for a belt extreme.
Is it any wonder that these bands are priced like this? Almost 400 USD for a tiny leather band? That leather probably cost them about 5 dollars per band to buy in bulk.
Also what’s with the majority of these bands being 38mm only? I don’t understand the logic behind that…
I was hoping they would allow brands from all over the industry to come out with their own bands (Gucci, Prada, YSL, etc.) and actually compete for pricing.
Guess that’s not happening.
These seem like they are priced low to me. Hermes pricing is usually at the very high end. I’m surprised that are $700-1000.
Looks like they added “Stupidity TAX” at the “Dumb Ass” rate