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JayLenochiniMac

macrumors G5
Nov 7, 2007
12,819
2,390
New Sanfrakota
I don't care what Hermes has done. That Vans cross-branding is all I need to see. I do care that Apple has seemingly dropped their standards. But I certainly predicted they would from the beginning.

Drop their standards? So Hermes collaborating with Vans means erasing everything they did with Bugatti?

I remind you they're still selling the $10,000-17,000 Edition models. Their own products to boot too!
 

douglasf13

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2010
1,782
1,083
I don't care what Hermes has done. That Vans cross-branding is all I need to see. I do care that Apple has seemingly dropped their standards. But I certainly predicted they would from the beginning.

Drop their standards? By adding Hermes leather? I'm curious, what kind of watch do you generally wear??
 
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I have been an apple fan for years and recently started to collecting Hermés porcelain. What I have noticed very quickly is that £500/$700 doesn't buy a lot in Hermés. Its very much if you have to ask the price then you can't afford it.

Apple Watch (Hermés version) is most likely the cheapest watch that Hermés stores sell.

For Apple the Hermés Apple Watch will be a high end smart product. For Hermés its going to be more of a gimmick type item.

Alex
 

Mac 128

macrumors 603
Apr 16, 2015
5,360
2,930
Drop their standards? So Hermes collaborating with Vans means erasing everything they did with Bugatti?

I remind you they're still selling the $10,000-17,000 Edition models. Their own products to boot too!

Drop their standards? By adding Hermes leather? I'm curious, what kind of watch do you generally wear??

Don't distort the point -- they have dropped their standards by branding a watch with the Hermes trademark, for little more than a "custom" leather band which could easily have been designed for any other watch Hermes sells.

This is no different than if the iPhone had an ATT logo engraved on the back of the case, and instead of an Apple splash screen, the ATT logo. Just because Hermes is a respected fashion brand doesn't make it any better -- in fact in my opinion it makes it worse, because Apple is trying to position the watch as something it's not.

It's one thing if a customer buys an Watch and then buys the Hermes band and watch face, it's quite another for Apple to market their design as a Hermes branded product.
 

Mac 128

macrumors 603
Apr 16, 2015
5,360
2,930
Apple Watch (Hermés version) is most likely the cheapest watch that Hermés stores sell.

For Apple the Hermés Apple Watch will be a high end smart product. For Hermés its going to be more of a gimmick type item.

Likely because Hermes has no interest in the Watch mechanism itself unlike the watches they do design and sell which they manufacture themselves.

The fact that it will be a gimmick-type item of Hermes, is an additional point of what lowers the standards bar for Apple here. It's a smartwatch knock-off of a mechanical Hermes, authorized or not. The Hermes customers are sure to see it as quaint and droll. But no doubt they will sell well, if only as a whimsical purchase at the point of sale.
 

ninethirty

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2006
1,577
1,673
The Single Tour and Double Tour weren't created specifically for Apple. Those were Hermes designs from the 90's. Hermes has literally lent them to Apple.

Edit: Also, I've got to add, I haven't been around this forum for a few months, because it's absolutely impossible to have a conversation with anyone willing to accept reality here. Not to say that any opinion I have is the right one, but everyone around here just accepts anything Apple does and then sticks their fingers in the ears shouting "Nah nah nah nah nah," the whole time. I love Apple (hell, I just bought stock the other day), but I think they're making some huge mistakes and missteps with the watch, and these are fairly obvious to see. Might be a few months before I'm back.

Hermes does have something to do with Apple...they now make 3 leather watch bands specifically for them, which is no different than any of the other cross-promotional work from other design houses.

Hermes has no real horological history, so it's not as if anything is being cheapened in that regard. If anything, the Apple Watch is a better watch than the Cape Cod. The Cape Cod is an overpriced fashion watch.

If Patek Phillipe simply licensed a watch face for Apple, then I'd understand where you're coming from, but Hermes is a primarily a leatherwork, luxury company, and they made leather bracelets for the Apple Watch. It's an important distinction.
 
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JayLenochiniMac

macrumors G5
Nov 7, 2007
12,819
2,390
New Sanfrakota
Edit: Also, I've got to add, I haven't been around this forum for a few months, because it's absolutely impossible to have a conversation with anyone willing to accept reality here. Not to say that any opinion I have is the right one, but everyone around here just accepts anything Apple does and then sticks their fingers in the ears shouting "Nah nah nah nah nah," the whole time.

Sounds like you and Mac 128 are doing this as well with your own opinions that you perceive to represent reality.
 

Brien

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2008
3,822
1,399
I don't see how this is any different than those HP branded iPods. Are people worried that it cheapens the Apple brand?
 

douglasf13

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2010
1,782
1,083
The Single Tour and Double Tour weren't created specifically for Apple. Those were Hermes designs from the 90's. Hermes has literally lent them to Apple.

Edit: Also, I've got to add, I haven't been around this forum for a few months, because it's absolutely impossible to have a conversation with anyone willing to accept reality here. Not to say that any opinion I have is the right one, but everyone around here just accepts anything Apple does and then sticks their fingers in the ears shouting "Nah nah nah nah nah," the whole time. I love Apple (hell, I just bought stock the other day), but I think they're making some huge mistakes and missteps with the watch, and these are fairly obvious to see. Might be a few months before I'm back.

Of course these bands have been around for a while on Hermes watches. These new 3 bands are still specifically made for the Apple Watch, because of the connectors, as opposed to watch bands that take standard strap pins and work on any watch.

Please don't pigeonhole those disagreeing with your viewpoint as Apple fan boys. If you want to talk about other Apple products, I've got all kind of criticisms. I also have criticisms about the Apple Watch, for that matter.
 

douglasf13

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2010
1,782
1,083
I don't see how this is any different than those HP branded iPods. Are people worried that it cheapens the Apple brand?

Granted, I would probably say that those U2 iPods cheapened the brand, in my eyes. LOL
 

zetaplus93

macrumors regular
May 7, 2015
133
59
The Single Tour and Double Tour weren't created specifically for Apple. Those were Hermes designs from the 90's. Hermes has literally lent them to Apple.

Could another angle be that Hermes wanted to dip their toes into this smartwatch category (in case it really grows)? If some of their existing customers are saying, "hey Hermes, smartwatches are become more compelling and I want to wear a Hermes smartwatch. what do you have?", then Hermes can point to the AW Hermes.

It's a pilot of sorts. If it doesn't pan out, then Hermes moves on with (likely) little loss. If it does pan out, then they're one of the first to get on the bandwagon. What's not to like from a business prospective?
 

JayLenochiniMac

macrumors G5
Nov 7, 2007
12,819
2,390
New Sanfrakota
Could another angle be that Hermes wanted to dip their toes into this smartwatch category (in case it really grows)? If some of their existing customers are saying, "hey Hermes, smartwatches are become more compelling and I want to wear a Hermes smartwatch. what do you have?", then Hermes can point to the AW Hermes.

It's a pilot of sorts. If it doesn't pan out, then Hermes moves on with (likely) little loss. If it does pan out, then they're one of the first to get on the bandwagon. What's not to like from a business prospective?

I doubt this (as Hermes is primarily a leather company) and it isn't reflected in their partnerships with other companies.
 

zetaplus93

macrumors regular
May 7, 2015
133
59
This is no different than if the iPhone had an ATT logo engraved on the back of the case, and instead of an Apple splash screen, the ATT logo. Just because Hermes is a respected fashion brand doesn't make it any better -- in fact in my opinion it makes it worse, because Apple is trying to position the watch as something it's not.

The big difference is, of course, (almost) everyone hates AT&T. Hermes is a beloved brand... Plus even if a logo on an iPhone, AT&T didn't design anything.

If this new type of partnership flourishes, could Apple and luxury partner (Hermes, etc) work on slightly different watch cases (plus anything else to differentiate it from standard AW) that's exclusive to the brand? So perhaps you could have standard AW and then exclusive designer Apple Watches?
 

ninethirty

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2006
1,577
1,673
As an investor.. sure, I hope anything Apple does works out, but I'm still not sold on the watch. It was a very underwhelming product from Apple and I don't think the push into the luxury market is correct, or going to work. I think you're going to see very little of these things selling.

It's good that Apple's added many new sport bands, because if anything, that's where the money is with this watch right now. Beyond that, I'd like to see them focus on creating a watch that actually lives up to what we expect from Apple. Right now, this is the only Apple product I've ever bought that I was happy enough to toss in a drawer and go back to whatever I was using before (In this case, my Rolex, and Panerai).


Could another angle be that Hermes wanted to dip their toes into this smartwatch category (in case it really grows)? If some of their existing customers are saying, "hey Hermes, smartwatches are become more compelling and I want to wear a Hermes smartwatch. what do you have?", then Hermes can point to the AW Hermes.

It's a pilot of sorts. If it doesn't pan out, then Hermes moves on with (likely) little loss. If it does pan out, then they're one of the first to get on the bandwagon. What's not to like from a business prospective?
 

douglasf13

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2010
1,782
1,083
As an investor.. sure, I hope anything Apple does works out, but I'm still not sold on the watch. It was a very underwhelming product from Apple and I don't think the push into the luxury market is correct, or going to work. I think you're going to see very little of these things selling.

It's good that Apple's added many new sport bands, because if anything, that's where the money is with this watch right now. Beyond that, I'd like to see them focus on creating a watch that actually lives up to what we expect from Apple. Right now, this is the only Apple product I've ever bought that I was happy enough to toss in a drawer and go back to whatever I was using before (In this case, my Rolex, and Panerai).

That's funny, because I've had the opposite experience. I bought it on the link bracelet, and I think the design is incredible. My Rolex and Omega have been sitting in the drawer ever since. If that continues over the next year or two, I'll probably just sell them.
 

zetaplus93

macrumors regular
May 7, 2015
133
59
As an investor.. sure, I hope anything Apple does works out, but I'm still not sold on the watch. It was a very underwhelming product from Apple and I don't think the push into the luxury market is correct, or going to work. I think you're going to see very little of these things selling.

It's good that Apple's added many new sport bands, because if anything, that's where the money is with this watch right now. Beyond that, I'd like to see them focus on creating a watch that actually lives up to what we expect from Apple. Right now, this is the only Apple product I've ever bought that I was happy enough to toss in a drawer and go back to whatever I was using before (In this case, my Rolex, and Panerai).

In that case, what would you like to see from the AW, something enough for you to purchase it?
 

Brien

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2008
3,822
1,399
I think a lot of people are waiting for the watch to not require an iPhone. Full waterproofing (not resistance) and longer battery life are the other two complaints I see often on the forum.
 

Donoban

Suspended
Sep 7, 2013
1,266
483
I think a lot of people are waiting for the watch to not require an iPhone. Full waterproofing (not resistance) and longer battery life are the other two complaints I see often on the forum.

All day battery will be standard for a while. Just look at the history of iPad and iPhone.

Waterproofing, that could be possible in the future.

iPhone pairing, it's how the watch is configured and managed. Again, prob won't change anytime soon.

Not sure why there is a bit of negativity here around the Hermes partnership.

Hermes is a luxury brand. Anyone know if Hermes actually make their own watches or just pass their designs to Swiss for construction? If that's true, this partnership is a great fit for both companies.

I've always considered Hermes leather work to be some of the best in the world. I hope we continue to see new designs and colours come out from Hermes in the future.
 

ninethirty

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2006
1,577
1,673
I saw a talk at SXSW back in 2012 where a person described actually useful augmented reality - an example he used was a belt buckle a person had constructed years ago, that was connected to a compass and it was rigged to vibrate whenever you were facing north. While that alone isn't particularly useful, it's a perfect example of a wearable that doesn't require a screen, but delivers useful information in a more natural way.

I found the Apple Watch to literally be a miniature iPhone on my wrist. What I'd LIKE to see are some ideas like following:

• Biometric sensors that could alert me, and emergency response if I was in the beginning stages of having a heart attack. I had a friend who's father recently had a heart attack in a Home Depot and if it hadn't been for a person who actually knew what was happening, and how to provide CPR, he would have died. Imagine if his Apple Watch immediately sent a signal at once to emergency response, his spouse etc, with his situation and location and activated a loud speaker explaining exactly what was happening. Same goes for diabetics and sugar spikes, etc. Lots of health immediacies that this could help with.

• Right now there's an app screen, just like your phone (except it's hard to actually navigate), but I don't need all those apps all the time. What if it was more contextual? For example, when I'm at the train station and I click to go to the home screen, prioritize, or only show me apps that are contextually relevant to where I am right now, or a click once more to see them all. So if I'm standing at a train station and I bring my wrist up, I'll immediately see when the next trains are. If I'm arriving home/at home, when I bring my wrist up, I don't have to navigate to to an app to change lights or unlock my door - instead those are the options I see immediately, making that easy to use (and yes, I get that this could be done with Siri, but I just can't talk to my tech, especially not in public - it's

• Not really "Feature" related, but I couldn't see the screen at all in bright sunlight, which really defeats the purpose of a watch, but definitely a device where you need to navigate the screen.

• Health/Fitness - I found the Apple Watch to be horribly unreliable in terms of measuring my activity, and telling me how many calories I'd burned. I use other devices that do this, and either they're way off, or the Apple Watch is. In addition, I feel like encouraging health/fitness should have been perhaps the biggest thing that Apple focused on here and instead it feels like a childish afterthought.

I work in tech/user experience, and I don't know anyone who thinks the Apple Watch was a success. In fact, I don't know anyone who thinks wearables in general are anything more than a fad that people are trying to force. I'm young (mid 30's), and I work in youthful environments, and I've never seen a single person I know with an Apple Watch. In fact, after I bought mine, and was disappointed, I gave it to my wife. I asked her the other day if she likes it and she said she could take it or leave it. I asked her what other people have said about it and she said nobody has even noticed it. She works at a very popular advertising agency with kids coming straight out of art college, and she said she's the only person at her work who has one. Not a good sign at all, especially coming from Apple.

In that case, what would you like to see from the AW, something enough for you to purchase it?
 

zetaplus93

macrumors regular
May 7, 2015
133
59
I found the Apple Watch to literally be a miniature iPhone on my wrist. What I'd LIKE to see are some ideas like following:

• Biometric sensors that could alert me, and emergency response if I was in the beginning stages of having a heart attack.

Yes, I also hope the AW will improve in this area, though I wonder if it can get to where it's going to alert when a heart attack is imminent. These types of features will likely require FDA approval, and I understand that to be a very painful process. It might be other dedicated 3rd parties who make this happen first, with dedicated hardware placed elsewhere on the body.

• Right now there's an app screen, just like your phone (except it's hard to actually navigate), but I don't need all those apps all the time. What if it was more contextual? For example, when I'm at the train station and I click to go to the home screen, prioritize, or only show me apps that are contextually relevant to where I am right now, or a click once more to see them all. So if I'm standing at a train station and I bring my wrist up, I'll immediately see when the next trains are. If I'm arriving home/at home, when I bring my wrist up, I don't have to navigate to to an app to change lights or unlock my door - instead those are the options I see immediately, making that easy to use (and yes, I get that this could be done with Siri, but I just can't talk to my tech, especially not in public - it's

The contextual aspect is interesting, and would apply to other Apple products as well. i.e. provide an option to not require password/PIN if your phone is at home. I would hope they're working on this as it'd be quite compelling and useful in a variety of ways.

• Health/Fitness - I found the Apple Watch to be horribly unreliable in terms of measuring my activity, and telling me how many calories I'd burned. I use other devices that do this, and either they're way off, or the Apple Watch is. In addition, I feel like encouraging health/fitness should have been perhaps the biggest thing that Apple focused on here and instead it feels like a childish afterthought.

So is the issue the accuracy of the measurements, or is it other aspects of its fitness offering that's missing (i.e. the social aspect where you can compete with friends)?

If it's accuracy, I can see that improving relatively soon (plus being able to measure other aspects of fitness, like oxygen level in the blood). If it's the social or other things, I do wonder how well Apple will do since they've not be successfully up to now (i.e. Ping; Apple Music Connect to be seen).

I work in tech/user experience, and I don't know anyone who thinks the Apple Watch was a success. In fact, I don't know anyone who thinks wearables in general are anything more than a fad that people are trying to force. I'm young (mid 30's), and I work in youthful environments, and I've never seen a single person I know with an Apple Watch. In fact, after I bought mine, and was disappointed, I gave it to my wife. I asked her the other day if she likes it and she said she could take it or leave it. I asked her what other people have said about it and she said nobody has even noticed it. She works at a very popular advertising agency with kids coming straight out of art college, and she said she's the only person at her work who has one. Not a good sign at all, especially coming from Apple.

I suppose it's quite different depending on occupation/location (as can be seen in some of the AW threads). In my situation (also work in tech and in the same age bracket), I'm starting to see more people wear it, though it's maybe 2-5% at best.

If the Wristly surveys are any indication, it seems that more techie people are less satisfied with the AW. I'm sure Apple's working on the "low hanging fruits" first and getting to more demanding users like yourself later :)
 

zetaplus93

macrumors regular
May 7, 2015
133
59
iPhone pairing, it's how the watch is configured and managed. Again, prob won't change anytime soon.

Some people are referring to the AW being able to operate on its own on cellular connection. I think that might take a while. But I can certainly see the AW being able to do more without an iPhone nearby, but on Wifi. For example, the weather app should operate without an iPhone nearby (but with Wifi connection). Same for the stock app and probably quite a bit of others like Evernote etc.
 

matrix07

macrumors G3
Jun 24, 2010
8,226
4,894
Obviously there isn't one - that kind of information would be private and between the two companies,

But you are sure anyway. :rolleyes:

but by questioning my comment are you seriously suggesting that Hermes is just giving their design to Apple out of the goodness of their own hearts, and because they really believe in the product, without receiving anything in return?

Are you aware that Hermés will get money from the sales, right? They will be sold in Hermés shops, to Hermés customers. Are you saying Hermés do all of these for Apple for free? Or it's not worth it?

The most likely scenario is Apple come to Hermés, said "Hey! do you wanna sell Apple Watch with your branding? We manufactures it. We even engrave your brand and do the watch face for you. You just do the band and packaging. You pay us this amount per one watch and you have to order no less than this number then you can mark your price up to anywhere you want. Sound good?"
..or something like this.
 
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ninethirty

macrumors 68000
Mar 1, 2006
1,577
1,673
Yes, I'm sure that's exactly how it went. Then Hermes put in an order for a few million, and they'll call them again in a week when they need to re up!

But you are sure anyway. :rolleyes:



Are you aware that Hermés will get money from the sales, right? They will be sold in Hermés shops, to Hermés customers. Are you saying Hermés do all of these for Apple for free? Or it's not worth it?

The most likely scenario is Apple come to Hermés, said "Hey! do you wanna sell Apple Watch with your branding? We manufactures it. We even engrave your brand and do the watch face for you. You just do the band and packaging. You pay us this amount per one watch and you have to order no less than this number then you can mark your price up to anywhere you want. Sound good?"
..or something like this.
 

Mac2me

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2015
965
446
To me, the Watch is a gadget, not a luxury item. While it's the best looking and best made smartwatch out there by far, it's still a smartwatch.There's still a certain "geekiness" to smartwatches that is going to be hard to overcome. I love my Watch and truly enjoy its features, but no matter which model I see (aluminum, SS or Edition), I still see a gadget and not an heirloom.

I get what you are saying but why does luxury to you mean it has to have heirloom potential. I consider this a luxury smart watch, gadget or not. I judge it by it's design elegance and quality materials and how it works (I've been very happy with it). Plenty of other items out there are "luxury" without needing to last generations. I kind of feel sorry for you because it seems like maybe your thinking about it that way takes away some of the pleasure in just enjoying it for what it is.
 

Mac2me

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2015
965
446
But you are sure anyway. :rolleyes:



Are you aware that Hermés will get money from the sales, right? They will be sold in Hermés shops, to Hermés customers. Are you saying Hermés do all of these for Apple for free? Or it's not worth it?

The most likely scenario is Apple come to Hermés, said "Hey! do you wanna sell Apple Watch with your branding? We manufactures it. We even engrave your brand and do the watch face for you. You just do the band and packaging. You pay us this amount per one watch and you have to order no less than this number then you can mark your price up to anywhere you want. Sound good?"
..or something like this.


When I looked on the Apple site the other day I'm pretty sure that I saw that the Hermés watch and bands will be sold in select Apple stores.
 
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