The standard $12,000 Watch Edition isn’t expensive enough for Beyoncé

By Andy Boxall April 22, 2015

Apple Watch Edition Beyonce — Beyonce/Beyonce.com

When the Apple Watch went up for preorder, several celebrities were already lucky enough to be wearing the cool new wearable, and usually the ultra-expensive Watch Edition too. Now, the rich and famous are going one step further, and showing off custom, not-sold-in-store versions of the Apple Watch. That’s right, they’ve got even more limited editions of a device that hasn’t even made it on to the public’s wrists yet.

First up it’s Beyonce, who posted a picture of herself wearing a gold Apple Watch Edition on her own website. Nothing that unusual, but the watch has a gold metal strap, which isn’t available to the public. It’s not unique though, because fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld also has one, something we learned after his bodyguard posted a picture of it on Instagram.

The strap appears to be a gold version of the steel Link Bracelet, and is attached to the Yellow Gold Watch Edition. The Link Bracelet isn’t a standard option with any of the Watch Edition models at the moment, and is only sold in steel or Space Black colors. Therefore we can’t put a price on these exclusive editions, but it’s going to be way above the $13,000 needed for a Watch Edition on its own.

1st apple watch specially made for KarL !! Amazing !!! Thanks #apple !!!!!! @karllagerfeld

A photo posted by Sebastien Jondeau (@bentoub) on Apr 15, 2015 at 9:55am PDT

Where did they get them? It seems Apple has been handing out these rarities, but only to its most treasured friends. According to the Telegraph, Lagerfeld is a huge Apple fan, owning 20 iPad tablets and an astonishing 300 iPod music players at last count. Other celebs spotted wearing an Apple Watch — without the gold Link Bracelet — include Katy Perry, and most recently, director J.J. Abrams. Additionally, special versions of the Watch Sport strap were seen at a fashion show in Italy.

The Apple Watch is due to start shipping to mere mortals on April 24, but it’s not clear how many will be released on this day, as many buyers are faced with a wider delivery window stretching to May 8. Many preorders placed after the initial rush have a May or June delivery date attached.

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Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

Apple Watch Edition to go on sale in Taiwan on Friday at a price projected to be $1,000 less than U.S. retail

Apple Watch Edition

The price range for the Apple Watch Editions in the United States may range from $10,000 to $17,000, but if you're willing to wait until Friday and make the trek over to Taiwan, you can own the most luxurious version of the Apple Watch for just $16,163, or NT $500,000, saving you nearly a cool thousand on a device you probably don't need. Market observers in the Taiwanese market announced Wednesday that the highly anticipated release of the gadget is set to cost this amount, but a final price has yet to be made public.

So exclusive is the accessory that it will only be sold in one location in all of Taiwan -- eager consumers will have to brave the lines at Studio A branch at Taipei 101 Mall, where they'll be able to try the watch on, and if the price is right, perhaps even take an 18 karat rose or yellow gold version home. While the Apple Watch Edition may be the star of the show, the store will also have the rest of the Apple Watch fleet available for purchase -- that's right, all 54 models in the Apple Watch Sport, the Apple Watch, and the Apple Watch Edition will be on full display come Friday.

Mobile

This won’t end well: See a $10,000 Apple Watch Edition come between two very big magnets

apple watch edition crushed between magnets news

What did you do this weekend? Destroy any high-cost luxury consumer tech products? Probably not, but if that’s something you wish had filled your downtime, you’ll enjoy this video. Known for needlessly obliterating must-have gadgets in spectacular ways, infamous YouTuber TechRax has turned his attention to the 38mm Yellow Gold Apple Watch Edition. That’s the one worth $10,000.

What fate awaits the Watch Edition? Being crushed between two hefty neodymium magnets, delivering 650 pounds of power that according to the narration, could crush the bones in your hand if it happened to be in the way when the pair come together. We’d say, if the regular Apple Watch Sport isn’t within your financial reach, then the result may bring a tear to your eye.

Wearables

Can’t afford an Apple Watch Edition? This dog owns, and wears, two

dog owns two apple watch edition news small

There is a dog in China that owns two Apple Watch Editions. Let’s just break that sentence down. A dog. Owns. Two Apple Watch Editions. We don’t own one, and there is a good reason for that — they cost more than $12,000 each, so even one is way beyond our means. For a dog to have the requisite bank balance to purchase a couple of the extravagant timepieces makes us feel a little inadequate.

The dog is a Siberian Husky, and its disposable income no doubt comes from its owner, Wang Sicong, the son of Wang Jianlin. Heard of him? He’s the richest man in China, with an estimated wealth of $24.2 billion. Suddenly, buying a couple of Apple Watch Editions doesn’t seem like such a big deal.