Hi All Has anyone else run into problems with My Hermes? I have had an absolute nightmare with them! They have cost me over £200 in 1 week with careless handling of parcels and rude drivers!
Please see below a letter I have sent to their CEO, Watchdog and Trading Standards. I'm not expecting a reply from Hermes! I am writing regarding my utter DISGUST in the service you have provided. I am a new business and was very misled by your claims that you deliver parcels.
You don't deliver parcels you smash parcels up and fail to deliver them! 50% of my items have been absolutely destroyed and no one wants to know! Therefore I am writing this letter and email to your CEO Carole Woodhead, Trading Standards, Watchdog, and obviously yourselves. A copy of this will also be put onto the Ebay forums to prevent others suffering the stress and huge financial losses I have incurred! Here is a list of the destruction you have caused despite me carefully packaging all my items the same was as I did with Royal Mail who delivered ALL of my parcels in one piece without ANY problems! DOLTON – 4523465 –SMASHED BEYOND RECOGNITION HOWELL – 4511773 –AGAIN SMASHED INTO PIECES BROOKES – 4433718 –Delivered supposedly to a secure location – The Customer has so far been unable to locate the parcel NEWBERRY – 4512049 –AGAIN SMASHED UP ROBERTS – 4512056 –SMASHED ROBERTS – 4511979 –Parcel stuck at the depot as you damaged the packaging and aren't prepared to repackage it and deliver it despite the fact you damaged it! With Parcel 4511979 (This Customer bought 2 the same from me) I received an email on 23 rd December 6 days after it was sent stating that the parcel was stuck as the packaging was damaged and explaining that the customer could collect it – 1.
I paid you to deliver the item not have the Customer collect it! She lives too far away and secondly I cannot believe that you are unable to place the item in a box and deliver it! I have responded to you 2 emails and have been doing all over Christmas. 14 emails in total but I just get ignored and then I receive the same generic email from another person, I respond but yet again NO REPLY I have tried to ring your 0871 246 1583 number and that has been engaged since 21 st December no matter what time of day you ring it! I have emailed you through your 'Contact Us' on your website – No one bothers to reply I cannot tell you how utterly disgusted I am with the lack of service you have provided me I am over £200 out of pocket because of your ignorance and incompetence.
I have researched your reputation on the internet and I'm clearly not the only person who has gone, and is going through this just Google My Hermes Feedback its terrible I only wish I had looked at that before I decided to use you and end up having to cease trading because of the financial looses I have incurred through yourselves. I could understand if the items are china and breakable but they are chunks of ROCK SALT that are millions of years old and are virtually unbreakable! Just to give you an idea of the type of care you give to my packages I took an exact same salt lamp with an electrical fault and I dropped it from an upstairs bedroom window and it remained intact – SO WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH THESE PACKAGES THAT WERE BOXED, PROTECTED WITH BUBBLE WRAP AND POLYSYRENE TO SMASH THEM UP LIKE YOU HAVE? A breakdown of my costs incurred? Each lamp I have had to replace has cost me £22 - Plus I need to repost at a cost with a courier that might actually deliver the items! Approximate cost to me = £216!!!!
Having to find that amount of money has meant that after just 2 months of what looked like a promising business I have had to stop selling! I don't think you should be allowed to get away with giving such a shambolic service!
I want to know what you are going to do to rectify this position you have put me in as I am pursuing all my options including recovery via the small claims court. I look forward to your PROMPT reply as all this stress is really upsetting me!
Mrs Kathy Wander Here are some customer comments and I also have plenty of pictures and other justified complaints from my extremely annoyed Customers regarding the destroyed items. The item has arrived this morning damaged, parcel soaking wet and damaged plug bulb and plastic holder broke even plug broke beyond repair which is hard to do even the main item is damaged. Can you either arrange for collection and delivery of another but would suggest a different delivery firm as the driver could not careless when I told him said it was your problem. So either pick up and deliver a new one or credit me full amount paid and I will post this item back to you. This was for a Christmas present so im not to happy at the moment.
Hi there here are pics you wanted first one is the state of the box, second you can see the head and the plug have been damaged must of been dropped hard to bend one of the prongs on the plug not easy to do, third pic shows all broken items, fourth shows sides of salt lamp where it has been chipped, the last one is where a chunk had been chipped off. Maybe using bubble rap on such a heavy delicate item might help when posting. Hope this resolves things and sorry once again for going of on one as was very disappointed but I know these things happen and did not help when the delivery driver just shrugged his shoulders and could not careless. I have to say in all fairness that having sent many parcels via Hermes have had no problems.
The lady that collects is very reliable and helpful. But, theres always a but, the items I send via Hermes are low value and not easy to damage. It's the old saying, pay peanuts get monkeys, which is true most of the time.
The only courier I have had no problems with on more expensive and fragile items is UPS. I pay £6.99 up to 10kg. Less than 2kg use RM. I currently have a dispute with DHL over damage and have had problems with other major players, but never with UPS. The driver is really helpful.
I just factor in the cost and use it as a selling point and its next day delivery. I do have a relative who works for a major courier in the wharehouse and I certainly would not use them after what he tells me goes on.
It's a bit risky to say who. Avoid Hermes - they clearly do not give a damn and are not accountable. Package collected 26 January - now the 21 February and the package has not been delivered and appears to be missing. Someone called 'Lou' who lied about a delivery (she claimed the item was refused and no longer required) made such a mess of delivery when we said we were going to complain she sent abusive and threatening text messages which included: 'Perhaps you have mental problems?
Thanks'; 'Freak'; 'If I lose my job due to your complaints I will send a letter to your address informing you of this with a letter of thanks.' (taken as an implied threat).
No wonder so many packages get damaged when Hermes employs malicious thugs. About time ' My Hermes' were shut down - THIS COMPANY IS A DISGRACE. Do not use Hermes or accept delivery from people who use them - THEY MAY THREATEN AND HARASS YOU IF YOU COMPLAIN. If you are lucky, they will only damage your package or make it disappear!
My very first problem with Hermes today I received this email from them? Good afternoon, The depot has advised us that the courier will not deliver to this address due to a dispute with the customer, using abusive behaviour towards the courier. Please advise us of an alternative address where we will be able to make successful delivery or please inform us of an address we can return this item to for you. You have 72 hours to reply otherwise we will be forced to return this to you.
Traceroute mac address windows. I am not happy so I have sent this reply Please return it to our address, I must say we have never had this problem with Royal Mail? And we send hundreds of parcels out to customers. We will send another parcel by them and do hope you will be refunding our delivery cost as you have failed to deliver our order to one of our customers. If there was a problem when we placed our order this should have flashed up unable to deliver to this address? It didn’t and we paid for a service and expected this order to have been received by our customer by now. Hi Don't expect them to reply.
I have emailed them 4 times and they don't bother replying. Yet they state 24hour response time. Ive only tried them for 1 month but their customer service is shocking.
Ive been using Collect Plus for the last 2 years and have had a few problems in that time but at least they have a local number(non-chargeable) that you can call and resolve things even though it can be painstaking. I will stick to Collect Plus even though their prices are going up. Anyone know any good couriers, plz let me know. I agree 100% these arrogant animals at MYHERMES should be banned from ebay. Every delivery I have had from these incompetent muppets has been smashed. Nobody should ever use them, ever!! What level of service and respect can customers expect when they pay these animals 49pence per delivery, you pay peanuts & you know what you get.
Sellers are listing other couriers or Royal Mail & then trying to be clever & save a few quid by sending items that no longer belong to them with MYHERMES MUPPETS. DO NOT USE MYHERMES under any circumstances. When the post went up at the start of the year I changed from Royal Mail to Hermes. Hermes have great prices and the fact they collect in Fermanagh Northern Ireland which many couriers don't they were perfect.
After about 8 weeks of no problems at all a customer asked where the package was and why it was taking so long. I started checking out the problem only to find out his parcel was 1 of 5 to be collected that day and all of them seemed to have disappeared, a week later we sent out 2 replacements and 3 refunds and Hermes are currently processing our claim.
Doesn't sound to bad, right? 3 weeks later a phone call 'any idea how long it's going to take, we are going to Europe in 10 days and need to get the bike finished' (yes we are a motorcycle shop), It was late in the day so I said I would look into it for them in the morning. It was the day after I got a message from one of the previous customers who had a missing package 'did you send out the replacement?' , Uh oh I checked, again 5 parcels had gone missing of which 2 were replacements to the previous losses.
I called Hermes and they are looking into it for me. The claims take 28 days. We have had other customers receiving damaged goods. They never return calls. We have gone back to Royal Mail, Simples!!! (can't do the sound). Since the RM price increases, I have switched to My Hermes.
I send at least 70 parcels a month and the last 2 weeks have been a nightmare!!!!! Not only have they squeezed further monies out of us, it seems that they can not cope with the influx of additional parcels!!!!!!!! Items are being lost,being left in unsure locations and being delivered to the wrong addresses. I know its nly a franchise and the drivers only get.50p a parcel! I suppose you take your chance!!! A further note, a parcel shop is now the same price as a collection!!! Having changed too from Royal Mail when the prices went berserk in April, Hermes have now added to the misery of trying to give sellers good prices and service by changing their pricing structure.
Lightweight parcels band (0 - 1kg) has now disappeared and the convenience of drop off is no longer rewarded. All this is going on when many sellers are struggling and the mandatory free delivery for sellers to retain their top rated status will soon be a reality on ebay. Perhaps all sellers should re-classify themselves as charities as any chance of making a profit from their transactions seems to be becoming remote. MyHermes is a service based company and so your service is only going to be as good as those delivering it, sadly, if you choose a cheap courier then you shouldn't be surprised that they have poor customer service. I factor this in when considering the price - if it's £2.60 per item cheaper than Royal Mail, then over time it's effectively like self insuring.
That said, 90% of my deliveries are via Royal Mail they lose on average 1%, 9.9% is via myHermes (unless £100), so far nothing lost and the service has been great. I do tend to use an extra layer of bubble wrap and usually double wrap in cardboard if sending via myHermes, especially if the weight limit allows it. My Hermes collections are also rock solid between 8.30am and 9.30am, which is a major advantage. I don't use the shops because I don't want to trust another organisation with my parcels before Hermes get them. Of the remainder, I use or have used: UPS (via interparcel), I've sent 5 items, one has been damaged beyond repair, one somehow managed to get a live corn snake in a sealed box, although the box had holes on arrival - the age of the snake meant it must have been picked up on the journey because it would not have survived the storage conditions at my location. Still waiting for a solution/answer for both.
ParcelForce, I use these if the package is more than £100, I feel happier, though they're probably no better than anyone else. I've never had problems. TNT, whilst delivering a package from staples (one of which was broken), I watched the guy literally throw a box with a LCD monitor the entire length of the truck, getting it out of the way to find my goods. City Link, I've been to the depot to collect, I'd never use them seeing the way they treat the packages, although this may be how all packages are treated by all couriers.
Basically if you think any particular courier is worse than the rest, on balance, they probably aren't simply you may have a bad delivery guy or collection guy, it doesn't necessarily reflect on the whole service. I have been waiting for a parcel from MY HERMES.the Greek winged fast messenger.yeh sure!!.for 2 weeks now. There was a problem with despatch so the sender had to go back in to sort out.she was not told the full details when she sent it. Parcel sent again 5 days ago. Still waiting.
Their tracking service is crap.you get into it and it just tells you what you know already.when sent.time.nothing about where it is at present. I am the recipient but would never ever even CONSIDER using this service.
I have read loads of reviews on the web and would say 95% derogatory. My Hermes are not cowboys.
Royal Mail are the cowboys in the field of parcel delivery. I sell lots of old shellac 78rpm Gramophone records, which I always used to send by Royal Mail. Unfortunately, when sorting moved from Barnsley to Sheffield, the amount of breakages were far in excess of what could be reasonably expected.
Half the staff there do not understand a word of English and the drivers who collect the parcels from the post offices do not give a.bleep. They bang the sacks down the steps of the post office and throw them into the back on the van. What's the point of marking the packet 'Fragile'.
If it's in the sack, the driver can't see it. Also with Royal Mail, I have had a number of items disappear without trace. The sooner Royal Mail gets privatised the better. Perhaps they may come up to the high standard of care I receive from My Hermes who have never broken any item I have sent via them or indeed lost any item. If My Hermes was as bad as some people say, I am sure the likes of Next and some of the TV shopping channels would soon ditch them.
I reckon a lot of the problems are caused by bad or inappropriate packaging. My Hermes is far better than many other companies. I can't fault them. My hermes is a disgrace. I sent 3 parcels with them, and 2 weeks later they were not delivered.
One of them was worth £300 another was an iPhone and the other was an old htc worth about £20. As you can imagine, my £300 item and the iPhone went missing but the little cheap HTC was delivered. I asked for a signature for all the parcels, but the courier signed it himself saying 'over back gate' and the other 2 was never received. My hermes and inter-parcel don't want to take responsibility. They decided to mess with the wrong person, I'm working on a website that's going to be caller 'my-hermes, so when people try to find there website they will see all the hundreds of negative comments against them.
I'm also going to launch another called 'inter-parcel which will come up I'm search engines if you try and search for inter parcels normal website. This will also be linked to a blog and forum with all the hundreds of complaints against them. I'm also going to try link this forum to the websites and make sure no one uses them. I'm going to make sure there bunnies don't succeed if its the last thing I do on this earth. I'm in the process of contacting watchdog, I've contacted trading standards and soon will try to get in contact with there CEO and head of the company. I will not let over £400 go down the drain while someone is at home chilling with my parcel. Don't be fooled, they are a terrible company and I would use them to ship poo to a farm.
Click to expand.The pace of the watch upgrades will be faster than the phone. IPhone original to the 4s (arguably 3GS even) was a huge jump. 6s to 8 not so much and the X is really optional at this point for those who want the latest and greatest. A 7 or 6s or even SE works just fine as a smartphone for 80% of people out there. We at MR are the tech obsessed exception. 3 years sounds about right for the expensive watch.
Maybe even 4 if it does all you need. I’m waiting one more year only because LTE isn’t supported where I am so there’s no real point in upgrading. And I really do expect a form factor change next year, however slight. Once that happens I’ll splurge. And more than likely hold onto it for 3 years. I’m too lazy to run the numbers but the cost delta wouldn’t be that high either. Buying a new aluminum or SS every year, selling, upgrading vs just putting down the money upfront and sticking with the same model.
That doesn’t even account for the “want” factor or the fact that you’re essentially paying for design or the Hermes brand not just the tech. Once the tech stabilizes or reaches a plateau where gains are incremental and optional, I’ll jump in for an expensive model. Until then, aluminum sg with a bunch of bands suits me just fine. That swop or upgrade idea is brilliant. Can you imagine? Keep he ceramic or SS casing and a new watch inside.
Buy cases like you buy bands and keep changing out the brains. Never gonna happen.
Apple likes our cash too much. Warning: long post. Here is my take on the Series 3 Edition ceramic in grey: I have been a watch fan for a long while and have over the years invested in watches from Jaeger Le Coultre, Rolex and Breitling. Before Apple came out with the Apple Watch, I was a very happy owner of a Rolex Explorer II with a white face. I loved the utility of the Rolex and at the time the substantial weight of this large 42mm metal watch with its metal bracelet. So when the Apple Watch was announced I wanted to have something in that direction and went for the silver stainless steel with the silver Apple link band.
I really like the similarities ito of weight and the good look for work dress as well as sports. When the Series 2 came out, I just upgraded to the new stainless steel and kept the band. I also originally eyed the White ceramic when it was announced, but felt it was too flashy for my use in the office. At the time I really got into minimalism and essentialism and got rid of a LOT OF stuff in my life. This included selling all my Swiss watches, which I did not use any more, as I preferred my Apple watch as my daily driver. I love the idea of „one device to rule them all“. Fast forward another Apple season and I „had to“ make a choice on series 3.
I was hoping for a new color option for the ceramic model and maybe even a new material like titanium or carbon. So the grey ceramic looked interesting. But I had huge doubts that it might look too dull or not dressy enough vs. The steel model I got used to.
I also like the new Hermes deployment buckle in dark brown Ebene and thought that is the perfect choice: get the Hermes which also includes the orange sport band and get a new link band in silver as my original one looked quite used after two years. So three bands which allow flexibility from dressy (Hermes Ebene) to Rolex-sporty (link) to pure sports (orange sport band).
That is what I ordered with a 3 weeks wait on the Hermes. Buyers remorse set in imidiately and I was wondering if the various band changes in the future (I do sports at least every 2nd day) will be the exact opposite to my new love of minimalism. I also had a chance to see the watch live in an Apple store in London during a trip and did not like how the leather band connects with the watch. That was the moment where all became „ceramic clear“ for me: go with the edition, as it will be the most minimalistic execution while also being the highest quality construction. It will also not scratch so easily as the steel version, where both precious models I owned have very light but visible scratches on the steel. For my regular running (100-150km per month) it would also be lighter and more comfortable to wear than running with the link steel version like I did over the past two years. So I cancelled my Hermes, sent back the Apple link bracelet which had already arrived and bought (at a premium) the edition in grey through ebay, as I did not like to wait till end of October.
It arrived quickly and I could not be happier. Here is why: I love the stealth luxury aspect of this model. I know about all the craftmanship that went into the ceramic casing and I know about the price, but the watch is not showing this of to others like an expensive Swiss watch tends to do. I love how comfortable it wears and that it will look pristine in the months to come, as it does not scratch easily. I especially like the light weight of the package, which is funny as I was always so happy how heavy my Rolex Explorer II felt. People change I guess;-) While the steel version interprets what Rolex and Omega have established on Swiss tool watches, the ceramic edition reminds me of the Swiss Richard Mille watches that Rafael Nadal and other top atheletes wear. They are out of this world ito of price (up to 750k USD), but are the lightest weight complication watches and use cutting edge material combination to achieve this.
Even the rubber bands and how they connect look similar to Apple Watch (see the comparison picture I did). Maybe that is where Jony Ive got his idea for the red dot from, too;-) Any Swiss watch aficionado will probably hate me for this comparison, but as my first two generations of steel apple watches were my equivalent to a tool watch Rolex, my new grey ceramic edition is my equivalent to a Richard Mille.
And while the Richard Milles are way more extravagant, they also are only recognized by watch experts. Just like the ceramic is only recognized by people like us here on this threat. So one watch to rule them all and that for now is the ceramic grey Apple watch edition for me.
Until next year that is. Warning: long post. Here is my take on the Series 3 Edition ceramic in grey: I have been a watch fan for a long while and have over the years invested in watches from Jaeger Le Coultre, Rolex and Breitling. Before Apple came out with the Apple Watch, I was a very happy owner of a Rolex Explorer II with a white face. I loved the utility of the Rolex and at the time the substantial weight of this large 42mm metal watch with its metal bracelet.
So when the Apple Watch was announced I wanted to have something in that direction and went for the silver stainless steel with the silver Apple link band. I really like the similarities ito of weight and the good look for work dress as well as sports. When the Series 2 came out, I just upgraded to the new stainless steel and kept the band. I also originally eyed the White ceramic when it was announced, but felt it was too flashy for my use in the office. At the time I really got into minimalism and essentialism and got rid of a LOT OF stuff in my life. This included selling all my Swiss watches, which I did not use any more, as I preferred my Apple watch as my daily driver. I love the idea of „one device to rule them all“.
Fast forward another Apple season and I „had to“ make a choice on series 3. I was hoping for a new color option for the ceramic model and maybe even a new material like titanium or carbon. So the grey ceramic looked interesting. But I had huge doubts that it might look too dull or not dressy enough vs. The steel model I got used to.
I also like the new Hermes deployment buckle in dark brown Ebene and thought that is the perfect choice: get the Hermes which also includes the orange sport band and get a new link band in silver as my original one looked quite used after two years. So three bands which allow flexibility from dressy (Hermes Ebene) to Rolex-sporty (link) to pure sports (orange sport band). That is what I ordered with a 3 weeks wait on the Hermes. Buyers remorse set in imidiately and I was wondering if the various band changes in the future (I do sports at least every 2nd day) will be the exact opposite to my new love of minimalism. I also had a chance to see the watch live in an Apple store in London during a trip and did not like how the leather band connects with the watch. That was the moment where all became „ceramic clear“ for me: go with the edition, as it will be the most minimalistic execution while also being the highest quality construction. It will also not scratch so easily as the steel version, where both precious models I owned have very light but visible scratches on the steel.
For my regular running (100-150km per month) it would also be lighter and more comfortable to wear than running with the link steel version like I did over the past two years. So I cancelled my Hermes, sent back the Apple link bracelet which had already arrived and bought (at a premium) the edition in grey through ebay, as I did not like to wait till end of October. It arrived quickly and I could not be happier.
Here is why: I love the stealth luxury aspect of this model. I know about all the craftmanship that went into the ceramic casing and I know about the price, but the watch is not showing this of to others like an expensive Swiss watch tends to do. I love how comfortable it wears and that it will look pristine in the months to come, as it does not scratch easily. I especially like the light weight of the package, which is funny as I was always so happy how heavy my Rolex Explorer II felt. People change I guess;-) While the steel version interprets what Rolex and Omega have established on Swiss tool watches, the ceramic edition reminds me of the Swiss Richard Mille watches that Rafael Nadal and other top atheletes wear.
They are out of this world ito of price (up to 750k USD), but are the lightest weight complication watches and use cutting edge material combination to achieve this. Even the rubber bands and how they connect look similar to Apple Watch (see the comparison picture I did). Maybe that is where Jony Ive got his idea for the red dot from, too;-) Any Swiss watch aficionado will probably hate me for this comparison, but as my first two generations of steel apple watches were my equivalent to a tool watch Rolex, my new grey ceramic edition is my equivalent to a Richard Mille. And while the Richard Milles are way more extravagant, they also are only recognized by watch experts. Just like the ceramic is only recognized by people like us here on this threat. So one watch to rule them all and that for now is the ceramic grey Apple watch edition for me.
Until next year that is. Click to expand. But when has Apple always been about competing against other manufactures? There has been many times with many different products that they have not released a product on a competitors timeline.
Apple is about releasing a better product, not releasing something on annual basis that they feel that needs to compete. In the wearable market, those who choose a smart watch, also choose specifically what type of phone they have based on the operating platform.
Obviously the iPhone been most popular Phone in the world, and the Apple Watch being at the top, I don't think Apple is too concerned about the competition as they are about making the Watch a better product for fitness and other capabilities. But it's possible an Apple Watch could launch in 2018. But when has Apple always been about competing against other manufactures? There has been many times with many different products that they have not released a product on a competitors timeline. Apple is about releasing a better product, not releasing something on annual basis that they feel that needs to compete. In the wearable market, those who choose a smart watch, also choose specifically what type of phone they have based on the operating platform. Obviously the iPhone been most popular Phone in the world, and the Apple Watch being at the top, I don't think Apple is too concerned about the competition as they are about making the Watch a better product for fitness and other capabilities.
But it's possible an Apple Watch could launch in 2018. Click to expand.Definitely room for improvement even in the product.
Sleep tracking like someone mentioned, battery innovation (would allow it To shed some weight with more efficient power management ), always on display maybe just for time and date not personal info. I read something about smart bands avtually. Move some battery functionality over to the band. I’d love a slightly less chunky form factor. Contours would be nice so it doesn’t look like a mini tv on the wrist.
That’s really about it. And whatever happens, let us use old bands!!! FaceTime on the wrist is probably inevitable at some point and so is a camera. What use both of them are I’m not sure.
Gets silly to replicate everything the iPhone does. And I’d say about 3 generations from now would be a truly independent watch with no need of a tethered phone. Won’t work for me may work for others for just simple calls and text messaging. Like an old Nokia feature phone except this one sits on the wrist and can do a lot more.
The phone business will eventually plateau. I mean really what more can you do in terms of functionality and design. They all look like slabs of glass now (we have a notch whoopdedoo) and are pretty overpowered anyway.
AR I guess will rise out the next couple of years followed by foldable phones. Thing is every other phone does the same too.
The US business may be good because of iOS. Look at China. Everything, I mean everything is done on wechat.
Why pay the Apple premium if you’re going to simply use it as a wechat terminal. Buy a oneplus or xiaomi instead. It’s good enough. Wearables is where the next innovation is coming.
Airpods, watch etc. That’s actually why I really see more and more updates on the watch. That’s tied into the phone. Want an Apple Watch in China? Better pony up the cash for an iphone, wechat or no wechat. If you’re willing to break away from iOS the iPhone does have plenty of decent competitors. Maybe I’m biased but nothing really compares.
The gear stuff is a joke. Fitbit is a different market. I’d bet you a buck there’s a whole team at Apple trying to optimize wechat or maybe even working with them directly for the Apple Watch. Once that happens and if it’s exclusive to the watch that’s when China sales go through the roof.
That market isn’t about iOS or Android. It’s wechat period. Now I’m curious if wechat avtually works or has an app for the watch. Need to research this.
Warning: long post. Here is my take on the Series 3 Edition ceramic in grey: I have been a watch fan for a long while and have over the years invested in watches from Jaeger Le Coultre, Rolex and Breitling. Before Apple came out with the Apple Watch, I was a very happy owner of a Rolex Explorer II with a white face. I loved the utility of the Rolex and at the time the substantial weight of this large 42mm metal watch with its metal bracelet. So when the Apple Watch was announced I wanted to have something in that direction and went for the silver stainless steel with the silver Apple link band.
I really like the similarities ito of weight and the good look for work dress as well as sports. When the Series 2 came out, I just upgraded to the new stainless steel and kept the band.
I also originally eyed the White ceramic when it was announced, but felt it was too flashy for my use in the office. At the time I really got into minimalism and essentialism and got rid of a LOT OF stuff in my life. This included selling all my Swiss watches, which I did not use any more, as I preferred my Apple watch as my daily driver.
I love the idea of „one device to rule them all“. Fast forward another Apple season and I „had to“ make a choice on series 3.
I was hoping for a new color option for the ceramic model and maybe even a new material like titanium or carbon. So the grey ceramic looked interesting. But I had huge doubts that it might look too dull or not dressy enough vs. The steel model I got used to.
I also like the new Hermes deployment buckle in dark brown Ebene and thought that is the perfect choice: get the Hermes which also includes the orange sport band and get a new link band in silver as my original one looked quite used after two years. So three bands which allow flexibility from dressy (Hermes Ebene) to Rolex-sporty (link) to pure sports (orange sport band). That is what I ordered with a 3 weeks wait on the Hermes.
Buyers remorse set in imidiately and I was wondering if the various band changes in the future (I do sports at least every 2nd day) will be the exact opposite to my new love of minimalism. I also had a chance to see the watch live in an Apple store in London during a trip and did not like how the leather band connects with the watch. That was the moment where all became „ceramic clear“ for me: go with the edition, as it will be the most minimalistic execution while also being the highest quality construction. It will also not scratch so easily as the steel version, where both precious models I owned have very light but visible scratches on the steel.
For my regular running (100-150km per month) it would also be lighter and more comfortable to wear than running with the link steel version like I did over the past two years. So I cancelled my Hermes, sent back the Apple link bracelet which had already arrived and bought (at a premium) the edition in grey through ebay, as I did not like to wait till end of October. It arrived quickly and I could not be happier. Here is why: I love the stealth luxury aspect of this model.
I know about all the craftmanship that went into the ceramic casing and I know about the price, but the watch is not showing this of to others like an expensive Swiss watch tends to do. I love how comfortable it wears and that it will look pristine in the months to come, as it does not scratch easily. I especially like the light weight of the package, which is funny as I was always so happy how heavy my Rolex Explorer II felt. People change I guess;-) While the steel version interprets what Rolex and Omega have established on Swiss tool watches, the ceramic edition reminds me of the Swiss Richard Mille watches that Rafael Nadal and other top atheletes wear. They are out of this world ito of price (up to 750k USD), but are the lightest weight complication watches and use cutting edge material combination to achieve this. Even the rubber bands and how they connect look similar to Apple Watch (see the comparison picture I did). Maybe that is where Jony Ive got his idea for the red dot from, too;-) Any Swiss watch aficionado will probably hate me for this comparison, but as my first two generations of steel apple watches were my equivalent to a tool watch Rolex, my new grey ceramic edition is my equivalent to a Richard Mille.
And while the Richard Milles are way more extravagant, they also are only recognized by watch experts. Just like the ceramic is only recognized by people like us here on this threat. So one watch to rule them all and that for now is the ceramic grey Apple watch edition for me. Until next year that is. Click to expand.I love the Richard Mille comparison. I am a high Nadal fan, and have followed him for years.
When he started wearing Richard Mille watches, I tried to figure out what they were. Always wanted one, but I don’t have anywhere else to $750,000 for the one he wears. I owned the OG AW and loved it, but then the white ceramic cane out. It looked more like the Richard Mille then any AW before it IMO. I still believe that it does. Like you said, it’s not the same craftsmanship, but it looks very good.
Click to expand.That’s the only watch face id pay money for. Apple, make a Richard Mille ceramic edition! Hasn’t really heard of these watches before and just read this article.
2.2 million dollars for a WATCH “designed like a formula one car “??? I’ll stick with a ceramic watch and put the rest toward a Bugatti veyron instead. Interesting hobby.
I personally don’t get it. It’s a watch! Tells the time. Sits on your wrist. But if intricate mechanical movements make someone happy I guess there’s a market.
Obviously Rolex and omega etc sell well. To be honest if I ever bought a Rolex it’s probably to show others I CAN buy a Rolex and has nothing to do with how I value that item.
A car or motorcycle. Different story. I can appreciate the engineering and design and genuinely enjoy the power and driving capabilities of sports cars and luxury models. I guess we all lust after different things in life. The same guy who buys a Richard Mille might be perfectly happy in a Honda Civic.
And there’s nothing wrong with that! That’s the only watch face id pay money for. Apple, make a Richard Mille ceramic edition!
Hasn’t really heard of these watches before and just read this article. 2.2 million dollars for a WATCH “designed like a formula one car “??? I’ll stick with a ceramic watch and put the rest toward a Bugatti veyron instead.
Interesting hobby. I personally don’t get it. It’s a watch! Tells the time. Sits on your wrist. But if intricate mechanical movements make someone happy I guess there’s a market. Obviously Rolex and omega etc sell well.
To be honest if I ever bought a Rolex it’s probably to show others I CAN buy a Rolex and has nothing to do with how I value that item. A car or motorcycle. Different story. I can appreciate the engineering and design and genuinely enjoy the power and driving capabilities of sports cars and luxury models. I guess we all lust after different things in life. The same guy who buys a Richard Mille might be perfectly happy in a Honda Civic.
And there’s nothing wrong with that! I made the switch from a S3 white ceramic to a S3 Hermes Indigo Swift Leather after having the ceramic for a week. I bought an additional Hermes Fauve Barenia leather band. Was always deciding between the two and the Hermes watch faces, the super soft leather band and exclusive orange band, easier to match stainless steel case and the whole Hermes experience sold it for me.
The white ceramic is a gorgeous watch but it just seems too flashy for me personally and it’s very hard to pair with bands or dress it up for a more formal occasion. I made the switch from a S3 white ceramic to a S3 Hermes Indigo Swift Leather after having the ceramic for a week. I bought an additional Hermes Fauve Barenia leather band. Was always deciding between the two and the Hermes watch faces, the super soft leather band and exclusive orange band, easier to match stainless steel case and the whole Hermes experience sold it for me. The white ceramic is a gorgeous watch but it just seems too flashy for me personally and it’s very hard to pair with bands or dress it up for a more formal occasion. I made the switch from a S3 white ceramic to a S3 Hermes Indigo Swift Leather after having the ceramic for a week.
I bought an additional Hermes Fauve Barenia leather band. Was always deciding between the two and the Hermes watch faces, the super soft leather band and exclusive orange band, easier to match stainless steel case and the whole Hermes experience sold it for me. The white ceramic is a gorgeous watch but it just seems too flashy for me personally and it’s very hard to pair with bands or dress it up for a more formal occasion. Fun and interesting discussion. Whether it's worth it and has enough value to justify going Hermes or ceramic depends on how much you like ceramic or Hermes. Do you think ceramic is cool?
I never heard of Hermes until Apple teamed up with them. And even now I don't feel the Hermes prestige. I guess their marketing hasn't worked on me yet. But I did explore and experiment and recommend that you do the same. Try out one of the 'luxury' choices for a year or so, and see how it goes. You got the money as you have sort of told us your money situation.
Not taking on one of the 'upgrades' and you would be left wondering. The best way to answer your question is to experiment.
Sounds like you're seriously leaning the Hermes way. I tried the band with the deployant buckle and thought it was great as it was fast to put on and lengthens the life of the leather. But the deployment has to lay on the bottom of your wrist and that depends on your wrist size. I read others who owned the Hermes got their kicks and decided to just get the steel for their next AW since they really only valued the leather bands and not so much the Hermes faces. In my short time with both the Hermes and the Apple bands, I thought they were both excellent.
My Hermes Europe
Hermes had the much prettier buckle and softer leather, but the Apple leather I thought was a good value in comparison. I'm sure there are even better values in 3rd party leather bands, but I stopped my exploration of leather bands as I felt it was too much effort to keep them dry. Btw, AW is essentially my first watch, so I didn't know and was told that leather bands can get smelly after a year or two of wear. So, leather bands only have a life expectancy of a couple of years.
I advocate for just taking the plunge because there always seems to be some surprise and whether it bothers you or not, you can only know by living with it. Click to expand.That video just gave me extra incentive to put down the money for either a grey or white ceramic, or a stainless steel with nice band. Let’s say 4 years from now the tech is outdated. It’ll still work at least as a watch! You can change up watch faces to replicate famous mechanicals. I mean if you buy a Rolex for 1500 all it really does is show the time on ONE watch face right?
Buy the high end one that talks to your heart and later use it just as a dress up special occasion watch with a nice face. Upgrade the the cheapest aluminum whenever you like for the tech. Thanks for that link. Now to decide which “premium” watch I want to keep for a while.
That’s the only watch face id pay money for. Apple, make a Richard Mille ceramic edition! Hasn’t really heard of these watches before and just read this article. 2.2 million dollars for a WATCH “designed like a formula one car “??? I’ll stick with a ceramic watch and put the rest toward a Bugatti veyron instead. Interesting hobby.
I personally don’t get it. It’s a watch! Tells the time. Sits on your wrist.
But if intricate mechanical movements make someone happy I guess there’s a market. Obviously Rolex and omega etc sell well. To be honest if I ever bought a Rolex it’s probably to show others I CAN buy a Rolex and has nothing to do with how I value that item. A car or motorcycle. Different story. I can appreciate the engineering and design and genuinely enjoy the power and driving capabilities of sports cars and luxury models. I guess we all lust after different things in life.
The same guy who buys a Richard Mille might be perfectly happy in a Honda Civic. And there’s nothing wrong with that! Click to expand.People who buy these watches have the cars, too. But you can not carry a Porsche into a restaurant or a business meeting, so you buy a Rolex to have around. And if you drive a Bugatti or a Ferrari you weart a Richard Mille next to your other watches. Showing of plays a role here, but also the appreciation that these watches are pieces of art with lots of man hours going not only into the design but also in constructing each piece individually.
Apple invest also heavily on the design side, but way less on the production ito of man hours - hence the Edition as well as the bands of the Hermes versions bring back a bit of that craftsmenship to an otherwise robotic production process. Coming from Swiss watches I like this fusion of both worlds. I have had a SSSB series 1 and 2 and now a SG aluminium for series 3 and this is my personal opinion. I loved the look and feel of the SSSB but I lose to much money upgrading each time because the resell value is not great and I’ve come to realise that as much as Apple want to sell these as a luxury timepiece, they’re not. They are tech items with a constantly degrading screen, battery and processor so it makes no sense to pay more for and item when a cheaper version is available with the exact same innards. I see Apple now pushing the health and sport features more and more because they must now know that’s what it needs to be.
Now that I have an aluminium version it makes sense because it’s lighter and the haptic feedback is far more pronounced because of it. Trust me, the SS body and sapphire screen are not worth the premium price over the aluminium version. Personally I would prefer the next version to morph into something similar to a sport band like the Microsoft Band. People who buy these watches have the cars, too. But you can not carry a Porsche into a restaurant or a business meeting, so you buy a Rolex to have around. And if you drive a Bugatti or a Ferrari you weart a Richard Mille next to your other watches. Showing of plays a role here, but also the appreciation that these watches are pieces of art with lots of man hours going not only into the design but also in constructing each piece individually.
Apple invest also heavily on the design side, but way less on the production ito of man hours - hence the Edition as well as the bands of the Hermes versions bring back a bit of that craftsmenship to an otherwise robotic production process. Coming from Swiss watches I like this fusion of both worlds.