While the Apple Watch will start at US$349 when it launches in April, the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition is sure to cost far more than that. While Apple has yet to announce pricing, some suggestions have pegged it at over US$5,000. Greg Koenig, co-founder of Luma Labs, decided to take a closer look at the situation and worked out how much gold Apple might use in its high-end Apple Watch model. He came up with a “very rough” estimate calling for more than 29 grams of 18-karat gold per watch:
For fun, I took my Apple Watch models and used SW and some basic assumptions to figure the gold content. 29.16g: pic.twitter.com/WGEnjtj1Yh
— Greg Koenig (@gak_pdx) February 19, 2015
The price of gold today closed at US38.82 (CA$48.45) per gram. That translates to US$849 (CA$1060) just for the gold case assuming that 18-karat gold is about 75% gold. Additional gold parts such as the crown, button and strap clasps would require more gold, driving the cost even higher. Throw in the electronic components and factor in Apple’s margins and that US$5,000 price tag suddenly does not appear so outrageous a claim, especially as Apple aims for the luxury watch market with its high-end Apple Watch model.
Should the Apple Watch Edition sell for US$5,000 or more (or even less for that matter), it certainly makes sense that Apple is outfitting its Apple Stores with safes to store its watches.
As a comparison point, Koenig points out that a gold Rolex Submariner that uses about 150 grams of gold sells for US$38,000.
Source : Cult of Mac