Now that we are nearing the launch of the Apple Watch, it is time to revise my guesses for the prices, based on extra information gathered on the complexity of the processes used:
| Old | New | Variant |
|---|---|---|
| $349 | $349 | Sport |
| $499 | $599 | Standard with Sportband |
| $699 | $999 | Standard with Leatherband |
| $899 | $1199 | Standard with Leather Loop |
| $799 | $1499 | Standard with Milanese Loop |
| $599 | $1999 | Standard with Steelband |
| $1999 | $3999 | Gold with Sportband |
| $2499 | $4999 | Gold with Leatherband |
There is an interesting article about the price of gold cases at GrailWatch, but I believe the math to be wrong: I imagine the thickness of the case to be at most 1.5mm, given the extra strong alloy Apple has developed, and then the math1 comes out to $2500 for the gold in the case. And if we take the ceramic alloys Apple has patent for into account, with a more likely thickness of around 1mm, the gold content would be below $1000.
-
thick=1,5mm
case = (-(36mm-thick)×(42mm-thick)+ 36mm×42mm)×10mm
plate = thick×(42mm×36mm-(15mm)^2×pi)
vol = case + plate=> 2 355,2125 mm^3
vol/(1,1cm^3)×1250$×0,9 in $=> $2 408,74 ↩