Benjamin Klymer, Executive Editor of Hodinkee:
One of the most amusing things about doing what I do for a living – writing about and working with mechanical watches – is the reaction that other watch guys expect me, or really any other reasonable watch person, to have about the Apple Watch. They think we should hate it. I don’t hate the Apple Watch, nor should anyone else. If anything, the build quality versus price ratio on the Apple Watch is so embarrassing for the Swiss that I genuinely think it will push mechanical watchmakers to be better.
This is a thoughtful, long, and fantastic review of the Series 3 Apple Watch. More specifically, Benjamin is writing and speaking about the ceramic Edition model, which now comes in both grey and white. Don’t miss the video at the top, and the terrific collection of pictures sprinkled throughout.
There’s no way to quote out all the chewy goodness in this post, but I did find this particular point fascinating.
On the red dot on every single Apple Watch Series 3 Edition:
All Edition watches feature cellular technology so all Edition watches will feature the red dot.
And:
If Apple did want to have some visual cue to let others know you’ve copped the new hotness with that cellular bizness inside, why make it a red dot, a logo well known and loved by a brand with which many consumers of “luxury digital products” are well acquainted – Leica? Hell, Apple designers Jony Ive and Marc Newson even collaborated on a Leica for the Red Charity Auction in 2013. Again, the red dot isn’t a huge deal, but I’d love to get the background on this. Why that and why there?
To see this red dot similarity for yourself, just hop over to the Leica camera web site. That red dot is all over the place. Interesting.
[Via DF]
The problem as I see it with “Red Dot = Leica” is …
Leicas are ludicrously overpriced status symbols*.
Apple Watches aren’t (in general).
(* Yes, I do photography. Yes, they’re very nice cameras. No, the value proposition is ludicrous in any realistic assessment.
You buy a Leica because you’ve lusted after one and you can finally afford to waste that much money on one, not because it makes any possible logical sense.
[Kinda like a Porsche; that Carrera is genuinely fast and sporty.
But $90k for a stripper model and Porsche Reliability is, well, a sucker bet if you’re not emotionally invested.])
Love how the Space Grey looks; I really want one. But, the problem with the Edition is the fact it’s outdated in 1 year.
I have a Series 2 steel, and it’s great, but when I get my next Apple Watch I’d love to get a Space Grey Edition. But can I justify spending more than an iPad on something I’d replace as often as an iPad?
I have the White Ceramic Series 2 and am facing the 1-year dilemma now. I would love the Space Grey S3, but I can’t justify it. It looks like the S2 Editions are going for around $800-$900 on EBay, so they retain some value but it’s still a big upgrade cost. That combined with the $10/month cell plan means I’m probably gonna hold off for at least another year.
Oh, and once you go ceramic you can’t go back!
I’m waiting one more generation with a stainless steel 2. 🙂
I’m wondering if I want to splurge for ceramic when I get a Series 4. If I can hold onto it for ~3 years I would immediately, but I know Apple will improve things a lot by then. So I need to convince myself I’d be OK with spending $1500 every 2 years… ugh.
And, yes, I’m afraid once I get one I won’t be able to get anything else.
When the first/original Apple watch started shipping, Tim Cook had a special custom model with the same red dot! http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ceo-tim-cook-unique-apple-watch-red-tip-on-digital-crown-2015-4