Following an Apple Watch with gold link bracelet, an exclusive combo that Apple isn’t offering to consumers, surfacing on the wrist of designer Karl Lagerfeld, today Beyonce is flaunting the same model at Coachella, as shown in these images posted to her website.
While so far Apple has been quiet about the exclusive Apple Watch models, it appears that the company is giving out a limited run of exclusive strap colors to celebrities and influencers like Beyonce and Lagerfeld. Beyonce has teamed up with Apple in the past on exclusive releases for iTunes and other promotions, and many other musicians and celebrities with ties to the company have also been spotted with the device ahead of its April 24th release.
In addition to the all gold— we’re assuming 18k like the gold Apple Watch Edition— link bracelet, a collection of Sport bands in dark blue, red, yellow, and various skin and earth tones were spotted at an event hosted by Apple’s Jony Ive and friends during Milan Design Week.
It’s unclear if Apple has plans to offer these bands down the road to all consumers, but it’s definitely an interesting idea to offer these limited edition models to a select crowd of influencers— limited edition models are something many traditional mechanical watch makers offer to increase the collectibility of certain pieces.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
I’m such a jealous little shit. I just want my sport model so that the sting of celebs getting $40,000 apple freebies won’t hurt AS BaD
You millennials are ireal diots.
First off just because a celeb has a product doesn’t mean they get it for free. If a celeb truly loves a certain brand they’re gonna wear it no matter what the cost is. Case in point. You don’t see many celebs showing off Android products. And companies like Samsung would not only give celebs products for free but are willing to give far more money than Apple to promote their products. So don’t act like celebs go with what they get for free or they go with the highest bidder. Samsung would beat out Apple in highest bidder, since Samsung has a harder time selling Galaxy phones, tablets and watches than Apple does iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches.
What has Android/Samsung got to do with his comment? You seem to be bringing them up in every comment even though they aren’t mentioned.
@Mark Jenkins said “Seems to me like you care too much about how others view you.”, “I’m getting the $400 one in space grey”….
All while caring how others view you. BTW, nobody gives a crap what your name is or which style watch you’re supposedly getting.
must be nice to be so influential… you get wonderful gifts that most people can only dream of and wish someday they can actually pay for it
Beyonce: you’re wearing it the wrong way.
Sam Smith: its called Apple Watch. Not iWatch.
Yeah, I caught that too. The watch is upside down given it is on her right wrist. The crown should be toward the hand, not the elbow. That makes it seem like a paid product placement that is not really being used at all.
Yeah i am inclined to agree with you the watch is on the wrong way which would suggest a product placement.
“You are holding it wrong!”
God, David Guetta looks awful.
Way to make us middle class folks feel like scum
Really? This makes you feel like scum? Why? Someone’s $349 Space Gray watch will do exactly the same stuff as Beyoncé’s ridiculous gold watch.
It’s not what the watch does, it’s that no corporation will consider us trendsetters or beg us to wear their flagships. It makes us feel like the droids the celebs get paid to program. Peons. Peasants. Nobodies. Sigh. It’s true though.
And have you actually set any trends recently…?
xprmntr. How does this make you feel like scum? Seems to me like you care too much about how others view you. I’m getting the $400 one in space grey and I guarantee you no one is gonna laugh at me for it. Why? Same reason as owning an iPhone. Most people can’t afford to pay even $350 for a watch, those ppl will end up with an Android watch which they got for less than half what the cheapest Apple Watch cost. Just like 90% of Android phone users have an Android phone that costs less than half what the newest low end iPhone costs.
madman8: trendsetters use their real name and pic online, they want everyone to know who they are. Seems to me like see yourself as a nobody and think saying youre a trendsetter makes you a somebody. A nobody is a nobody even if they have the newest products before the masses get them. You’re just a nobody with something others want.
Matt Perkins, why do you feel the need to bash Android in each of your comments? You’re a huge iSheep and you’re extremely obvious about it. When explaining something to somebody, you just have to slide in something bad about Android, don’t you? Why don’t you mention to those people that Android is the world’s most popular OS. What about how there are plenty of Android devices more expensive than Apple’s. Android companies don’t need to bribe anybody. They’re already towering over Apple with sales. Stop being a jealous hater and stop bringing in Android for no reason at all!
@xprmntr
You’re already fortunate to live in a country (any of the countries that got the watch at launch) that not only gives you the ability to order one of these things, but maybe even fortunate enough to live in one that gives you multiple opportunities to amass immense wealth (US especially). Much of the world considers you “rich”.
Perspective … it does a soul good.
@MattPerkins
Owning an iPhone isn’t an indication of wealth or being in some type of exclusive club my friend. Most people around the world will be paying for their phone monthly as part of their contract which is why every man and his dog has one.
It’s really interesting that in no way shape or form did xprmntr criticise you directly yet you have instantly let forth a diatribe about Apple & Android as if his comment personally slighted you and forced you to justify your purchase by insinuating that owning an AppleWatch instantly makes you cool, and owning anything else makes you a second class citizen.
Your nearly 40 years old – perhaps it’s time you should grow up and realise that others have different opinions and tastes to you eh?
@mattperkins
Just saw your rant to madmen8 too. Wow. Just what we need here – another little Hitler telling people how they should use the internet.
Lazy ignorant analysts need to stop comparing apple watch to iphone 6 sales. If every company did that none of their products would be considered a “succcess” and seem more mediocre sales. Original Iphone only sold couple hundred thousand its first weekend and it took many iterations to get to current sales. No products can compare to iphone 6 and analaysts are using the wrong metric comparison here. Like they were wrong about samsung scare taking over smartphone market. They are wrong here too. That is why PE of Apple is so low even with record cash flows.
Can’t wait for her to develop blood cancer from that watch. Irony of opulence.
Why would you wish anything like that upon another person?
Thats awful.
Utilizing the influence of tastemakers to advertise new products is nothing new. However, this new product from Apple requires its once-reclusive designers to make appearances at design/fashion shows. Slapping it on stars which have millions of fans and followers is good business, so all this is all business as usual. It’s just an unusual business for Apple to have gotten itself–and its customers–into.
Apple’s current campaign is an interesting phenomenon inasmuch as it sends an amply subversive message (even in this simple Beyoncé shot): it clearly illustrates the division of wealth and class(es) in North America, and makes an unapologetic campaign out of that division. This sort of division doesn’t enter into any conversation regarding Apple because, like Warhol’s comment about Coke, everyone got the same best Apple product.
Not anymore.
There’s nothing wrong with being a celebrity and getting freebie Editions. I wish I had the opportunity myself. There’s nothing wrong with how Apple is doing business: They make great products, I’ll shop there for the foreseeable future, and they do a lot towards the environment. There’s nothing wrong with this campaign: it’s effective, media saturating, and making the Apple Watch an object of desire. This is Apple’s raison d’être.
But the messaging is bothering not just a few folks that otherwise wouldn’t have heard it in the first place. And for a company as large and influential as Apple, that’s new.
You are very wrong in saying that not everyone gets the same best Apple product. Every single model of Apple Watch has the same exact functionality. If anything the gold models are slightly worse that the aluminum or stainless steel models due to the softer metal.
People shouldn’t be bothered by this. Just because we can’t afford the Apple Watch Edition, doesn’t mean that other people who can (such as Beyonce) shouldn’t be able get one. We should say, wow, that’s so cool that can afford the Apple Watch Edition. Especially here in America. One of the things that makes the United States special is that anyone can become wealthy with hard work and a bit of luck.
SLGonzalez,
Actually, I am not wrong. There’s a tremendous difference between “product” and “functionality”, and they really shouldn’t be conflated. That would be wrong, because they don’t have the same meaning.
The materials used account for the cost difference between the Edition and the others. Functionality doesn’t enter into it. If all the materials used were the same–and functionality was the same–there wouldn’t be any cost difference because they would all be the same. But there is a cost difference. There is because they are different products. They are different products because of the different materials used.
So, everyone is not getting the same best Apple product. The same great functionality, yes. The same product? Something close to $10,000 says, “no”.
Cheers!
So, you would prefer there is only a single Apple Watch model made of aluminum?
I don’t understand what you are getting so upset about, most people are able to afford the Apple Watch Sport; those with more money can indulge for the Edition.
Also in what way is aluminum or stainless steel “inferior” to gold? You do realize that most Swiss watch makers (like Rolex) make stainless steel watches that cost more than the Edition, don’t you? Or are you going to try to argue that gold is the ideal material for everything and you are unhappy that it is expensive?
>
SL,
I don’t think you’re reading what I’ve actually written.
Where in what I’ve written suggests I have a preference about the watch material? (I don’t)
Where in what I’ve written does anything indicate I’m upset? (I’m not)
Where did I say “inferior”–you use quotes as though you’re quoting me–about materials used? (I didn’t)
Honestly, based upon your response–and I don’t say this to be unkind–I don’t think you have understood anything I’ve said.
My original comment is a commentary on the potential subversiveness of the Apple Watch campaign, how it highlights–and depends upon–extremely differing financial status’ in North America, and how that campaign is negatively affecting some Apple fans.
Peace!
@slgonzalez: It’s not the same product if one is for “rich people” and one is for the rabble. Just because it has the same functionality inside doesn’t make it the “same product.” You’re missing the point entirely.
If it was the same product, then everyone would be able to buy it, but they can’t. If it was even the same product, but a different material, then everyone who was able to buy the product, plus afford the different material could also buy it, but that isn’t the case either.
It’s a *version* of the product that that has been PURPOSELY priced out of the reach of the people who can buy the other product. For the FIRST time with an Apple product, the price has NO RELATION AT ALL to the cost.
It’s NOT … “the Apple Watch product, but made with gold,” it’s the Apple Watch, made in Gold, WITH $10,000 to $15,000 EXTRA ADDED ON TO THE PRICE TO SPECIFICALLY MAKE IT UNAVAILABLE TO “the rabble.” That’s the point.
People saying that Apple is not being elitist here because “it’s the same product” are simply wrong. It’s not. There are no two ways about it.
Jobs is dead. Let him be.
Well said Sir.
I meant charismatron, not slgonzalez!
I don’t think that Apple is going to play this like iPhone / iPad.
I honestly believe that this Apple Watch v1 case design will be around for a long while (years)…the S1 chip as well…for maybe 2 cycles instead of one like iPhone etc. It’s not about ditching the old for new with watches…especially when they cost a grand plus. This case will be available for a very long time as a style, and over time more case options will become available.
If anything, this is a hybrid between the mechanical watch game (last for decades), the Mac/iPad game (something you use for several…3 to 5 years), and iPhone (1 to 2 years).
The new wrinkle, because it’s a fashion item, is that they want us to buy one, and two, and three…this design and the next design…but not to replace the previous one—rather to treat it like people treat watches in general—to have style options. Which makes this a radically different value proposition than iPhone.
I also still think that the play with chip architecture is set up for swapping of chips, for a price…maybe a few hundred bucks per swap? This would extend the profits of a watch out for years. Especially the SS and gold. On this alone, it builds an entirely new revenue model that traditional watches never had.
Everything about the S1 and system-in-package architecture SCREAMS upgradability. And for $1K to $17K watches, it makes a boatload of sense to take care of those customers for years to come. The chip shape could stay the same through S2, S3 etc depending on case design…no reason why not. I also see the next case design coming with one shape of S2 chip, while another case design gets an S2 chip with a different shape to fit the different design potentially.
They can sell this first case design for a very long time simply through seasonally adjusting case colors/materials and bands i.e. champagne watch sport, other aluminum colors, polycarbonate cases, ceramic, etc etc etc. It’ll be in the mix for years…mark it.
The rest of the watch industry has done very well selling timepieces that last for a very long time, and I have to think that Apple understands this, and is set up to capitalize on it to some degree.
To believe that they’re going to treat this like an iPhone just doesn’t line up 2 to 5 years out from today. And to charge someone $10-17K, and stiff them in a year isn’t good business…even if you’re Apple, and even if you’re a customer who can afford it.
The SS and gold watches are an investment, and as such you have to think that this new chip design was created to honor these as such—extending their value out over many many years just like any other watch of similar price through technology upgrades.
THEN AGAIN…there’s a sucker born every minute! (Which is why I bought the Sport on this first go around)
There will be no replacement of the SOC. The self-contained unit is to achieve water resistance. Given the cost of the bands and bracelets I would like to believe that this same case design will be retained for a while, but I don’t think so.
I think v2 of the watch is not that far away. Perhaps then we will get some stability, but v1 exists to prime the market, and determine the depth of resources which should be expended on v2.
ITT: So much saltiness
I really can care less about these celebrities getting watches. Apple is forgetting its roots. We are their audience, their core followers, and look how they treat us. First they renege on the launch date, second they push back pre-order deliveries. What’s next?… They make us pay for gifting to these millionaire celebrities watches and computers. Hells no! Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave right now. A very sad moment in Apple history is unfolding before us. Don’t even get me started on these special edition bracelets that only these celebrities have access to.
They didn’t do back out on the launch date – my watch will be here by Friday. A lot of people who bought when the product launched will have it by Friday. Many others will get it in the subsequent days. It isn’t Apple’s fault that the product was far more successful than they anticipated. Better that than to be sitting on a pile of product, waiting for the bad PR to kick in, as happens with Microsoft.
If people wanted it that bad, then they should have been prepared. Everyone knew the launch would be massive. If anyone thought they could skip pre-order and just mosey into an Apple store this Friday…they’re nuts.
“They make us pay for gifting to these millionaire celebrities watches and computers.”
Giving a $10k watch to a celebrity with millions of followers is a lot less expensive than paying an ad company to develop and shoot a spot and then paying publications for ad space. Apple is actually being more efficient with their marketing this way, thus saving money for shareholders, product development, etc.
She wears it well, much better than Karl.
I love it look good on queen bey
One picture solidifies the idea that the gold watch is truly for d-bags.
I gotta admit, it looks good on her. I’m sure some gold bling bracelet could cost as much or more.
Pretty sure that most of the people given a watch know nothing about it. So it´s ok if Sam Smith doesn’t know the name of it or if Beyonce wears it wrong. They are just advertisement posters for Apple. These people are a product. So lets not feel too bad about it :-)
Seems like she knows more of it than you. As a leftie she wears it absolutely right, or do you really prefer the crown at the bottom? I’m a leftie too and will wear it the same way after some experiences from lefties at appointments.
Then you’ll be reaching over your screen to use the crown, which maybe lefties are into — but it seems less practical than the crown being on the bottom.
It’s not like top and bottom really matter. Why let right-handed people define what top and bottom means? The watch doesn’t care.
Exactly.
UNOBTANIUM
How will she use it, if it is on her right wrist and the dial on the right side?
She’s a lemming….she has no idea.
Celebs are such insecure, fragile, narcissistic people. Unfortunately THIS is the group Apple is targeting the Edition watch. I have never understood why people look up to, “celebs”. The word is so loosely used, you can be one just for being widely known, ala the Kartrashians. What a bizarre concept that is woven in the media that people care so much about superficial people so much, they want to emulate them. They should try emulating someone who matters.
I’m not a doomsdayer, naysayer or Jobs fan boy but Apple seems to have become a weird company going down a road, I doubt Steve Jobs would have, under Tim Cook’s leadership. The pics of Johnny Ive yesterday are just odd. They have become a group of weird, self righteous eccentrics resembling Andy Warhol or Truman Capote. The products lately have become about change for the sake of change, thin for the sake of saying “we believe it’s the THINNEST (insert product name here) we’ve EVER made!” at the expense of being a revolutionary idea. I’m speaking of the 12″ Macbook and the watch is not THAT revolutionary. A $17,000 dollar anything at Apple is odd and the lack of mentioning at the last Keynote is evidence they think it is as well. The fact that it’s a watch that is the exact same thing as a $350 watch is just ostentatious and in my opinion something Steve would not have done. Steve’s Keynotes used to be amazing to watch and an “Event”. Tim’s have become the same dog and pony, with the same accentuated phrases. Yes I think the old Apple is surely dead and a new, odd, even more pretentious Apple is here for the foreseeable future.
“even more pretentious Apple is here for the foreseeable future.”
And if anyone would know about pretension, it would appear to be you!
Jobs is dead. Let him go.
These comments have gone full retard
That’s a beautiful photograph, pose, woman, jewelry and watch. The Beygency would approve.
There are many cultures where gold is king. I am particularly thinking about the gold Souks in the MidEast. But I’m sure it’s true in parts of Asia as well. This will be sold by Apple or someone else will sell it as a custom band.
I’ve never understood what Beyonce actually has going for her besides being popular and attractive.
None of her music, nor ANY of the current crop of celebrity “pop-stars” is really very good or even original. Superficial things fade. 50 years from now, no one will even remember who she was. There is a big difference between “good” and “popular.”
“I’ve never understood what Beyonce actually has going for her besides being popular and attractive.”
I’m positive you wouldn’t know from personal experience, but that combination tends to get you pretty far in life.
It’s only backwards because “she’s been drinkin, she’s been drinkin” lmao