Is the Apple Watch worth the cash?

Already wearing a Switzerland import, a Tissot mechanical watch worth more than $1,500, 29-year-old Li Xiyuan is impatient to trade it for one of Apple's new products, the Apple Watch, in stores next month. 

"I plan to buy one in black, with stainless steel casing and a sapphire crystal display," Li said. The cheapest design costs 7,888 yuan ($1,260), according to Apple's website. "It is a lot more expensive than other smart watches on the market, but I like its design and material."

Li, who works in the aerospace industry in Beijing, said he also likes the watch because it allows him to see his text messages without taking out his phone. It additionally serves as a fitness monitor. 

Apple's smart watch collection will hit the stores on April 24 in nine countries and regions, including the Chinese mainland. The collection features aluminum and stainless steel casings paired with various watch straps. One of the designs has a case made of 18k gold, and will set consumers back more than 126,800 yuan in China, an amount of cash that could purchase a high-end watch from just about any world-renowned watch manufacturer with hundreds of years history.

While the public is skeptical about whether Apple's new smart watch will be popular among Chinese consumers, South China Morning Post quoted the Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey released in February this year that showed Apple has overtaken Hermes as the top luxury brand Chinese people choose for gifts.

The South China Morning Post also said the high-end smart watch is specifically designed for emerging markets like China. In the report, Scott Galloway, a luxury goods expert from a think tank called L2 in the US, said Apple has become a brand that stands for ultimate self-expression, and that wealthy Chinese consumers purchase them to show off their riches and personality.

Xu Peng, the CEO of the Wearable Smart Gear Department at GERK, an electronics company based in Shanghai, said that he thinks Apple's smart watch is a successful attempt to combine the electronics industry with the traditional watchmaking industry. 

"Apple is providing different designs of straps and watch faces, aiming to meet their consumers' tastes," he said. "What Apples sells are watches, not just smart gear that all looks the same."

The price, Xu said, reflects the combination of an already high value product - the watch - with cutting edge technology.  

"Just like a 100,000-yuan Hermes purse's function and appearance is just the same as a 1,000-yuan bag, the brand behind the products is what makes a high price," he said.

However, Miao Hongbo, the general manager of Beijing Watch Factory, founded in 1958, said that he doesn't think of Apple's smart watch as a real watch, but as a mobile smart terminal. 

"The design of the Apple watch is awful," Miao said. "Watches are supposed to have a round face, instead of a square one like Apple's." 

Miao said it's the elaborate design, the mechanical movement and the centuries of history behind a brand that are part of the charm when the Chinese consumers show off their wealth during social occasions. He added that Apple's watches also don't have the collectible and long-lasting qualities that are inherent in luxury watches. 

"Electronics update very fast. When did you see anyone using an electronic product for more than three years?" he said. "I don't think the wealthy are foolish enough to buy an expensive watch that won't last long."

Li, however, looks at it differently.

"I don't think of the Apple Watch as a luxury watch that will show off my taste and personality like the mechanical watch," he said. "It is a cross-industry product. I want to give it a try."