A bit of background on Hermès

Ben Clymer at HODINKEE:

Two months ago, Apple followed up the announcement of the Apple Watch with a special edition model in partnership with no less than Hermès. Hermès is, of course, the still-to-this-day family run hyper-luxury lifestyle brand by which all others are measured. It is quite simply one of the great brand stories of the 20th century and beyond, and a rare success story of those who never cut corners being rewarded by the consumer. Further, Hermès is actually an important brand to a watch collector – having partnered with several great Swiss manufactures over the years as a distributor, retailer, co-designer, and more. Even more, several Hermès items, though technically unrelated to horology, have become part of the watch collecting dialog. Today, we’ll explore some of the more important contributions of Hermès to horology, and examine where the Apple Watch Hermès fits in, if at all.

For those people who saw the Apple partnership with Hermès and thought “who’d bother?”, Ben’s article might help.

The Apple Watch Hermès is out today, but you can only get it in 2 locations in Australia: Apple Store Sydney and Apple Store Bondi.

Prices start at AUD$1700 for the Single Tour (both 38mm and 42mm), AUD$1950 for the quirky-looking Double Tour (38mm only) and AUD$2350 for the Cuff (42mm only). All models are rocking the stainless steel edition of the watch.

That’s undoubtedly a lot of money, but I have been reliably informed that for a Hermès product — it’s ‘not that bad’.

Source: Historical Perspectives: A Look At What Hermès Means To Watch Lovers & Why The Apple Watch Hermès Edition Makes Total Sense — HODINKEE