With pundits guesstimating Apple Watch Edition’s price tag to be in the range of $5,000 to $10,000, many are trying to figure out exactly how much gold you get for your buck in Apple’s premium wearable.
Greg Koenig of Luma Labs took to Twitter to discuss his calculation for the approximate gold content of the 18-karat Apple Watch. According to Koenig “very rough” estimate, the larger 42mm Watch will contain 29.16 grams of gold.
The value? By today’s gold prices, that would set the Apple Watch Edition’s value at $853.82 (without taking into account any of the internal components or the strap). Koenig does note that his estimation does not account for certain parts like the digital crown, button, strap embellishments and more that could add to the overall gold content.
Although his model is simply an approximation, it does give an indication as to just how costly Apple Watch Edition could be to produce and how that might impact on the retail price.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that Apple will be keeping these devices locked in safes in its retail stores.
I have to agree with a later tweet from Koenig:
Selling an expensive gold Watch is such a dramatic change for Apple. They will only do so if it is a margin monster – 200%+
— Greg Koenig (@gak_pdx) February 19, 2015
To justify the production cost, retooling, overhauling Apple Stores and massive marketing efforts in order to launch Apple Watch, Apple is going to want to maintain some high margins on the device.
Anyone eyeing up the Apple Watch Edition? Let us know in the comments.
