After being sold at a few high-end boutiques around the United Kingdom in the Spring, it was recently announced that the Apple Watch would begin hitting some more mainstream UK-based department stores, including John Lewis (via Wareable) and Currys. Besides the high-end locations, prior to this announcement the only place for UK customers to purchase an Apple Watch was in an Apple Store.
Currys' impending sale of the Apple Watch was discovered in late August, but no specific date was known at the time. With the announcement of the Apple Watch coming to John Lewis department stores, it appears that Apple's new wearable will launch at both locations on the same day, September 18. Thirty-seven of John Lewis' forty-four stores in the UK will be getting the Apple Watch, with four more confirming availability by Christmas.
"We believe Apple Watch will be one of the most sought after gifts this Christmas," said Will Jones, head of buying communication technology at John Lewis. We expect a couple more British retailers to follow but Apple isn't going to rush to remove the air of exclusivity around the Watch it is still just about maintaining.
Currys is a bit more proliferated in the UK than John Lewis, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores located in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Both John Lewis and Currys will also provide online support for Apple Watch sales, with Currys letting customers put in a pre-order for the device on their website right now. As of writing, the John Lewis website just has a simple placeholder page with information for customers about the new device.
The expansion of the Apple Watch has been growing since its launch in April, with Best Buy stores now widely selling the device -- and even AppleCare and a few of its accessories -- in the United States and Canada. Fnac locations in France also began selling the Apple Watch in late August. The recent confirmation of John Lewis and Currys locations joining in the support of selling the wearable device on September 18 will come just two days after the release of watchOS 2, as well.
