This fall Apple has added two new finishes to the Apple Watch Sport case collection: anodized gold and rose gold. Not to be confused with the 18K yellow and rose gold casings of the Apple Watch Edition collection, these are less intense, closer to champagne and rosé, and meant to match the finishes of the iPhone 6s. I've been testing the new rose gold Apple Watch Sport for a few days now, and pairing it with a variety of bands. Here's how it looks so far.
So, yes, rose gold comes off as metallic pink in most lighting conditions. Sometimes sliver, sometimes gold, sometimes copper, mostly pink. Know that going in. Otherwise, the finish is great up close. It carries through every detail, including the watch face and digital crown, the back of the casing around the heart rate sensor, and even the pin on the stone-colored sport band it came paired with.
The stone sport band is the standard pairing for the 42mm rose gold Apple Watch Sport. (The 38mm comes with a lavender sport band). While there's no special clock face the way there is for the Apple Watch Hermès, there is a special color for the clock face: rose gold, of course. It's most apparent on the Modular and Color faces.
Midnight blue is another new sport band color this fall. The one available separately comes with a stainless steel pin, not the gold pin of the paired version, but it still looks great. Not quite as great as the 18k rose gold and midnight blue classic leather buckle that's new to the Edition collection, but more than close enough given the difference in price.
If sport bands aren't your thing, the leather loop bands look terrific as well. That's because the color goes all the way over the lugs, there's no concern of stainless steel clashing with the rose gold. Although there's a new midnight blue leather loop that I'm sure would look terrific, the original blue leather loop looks pretty great as well.
If you prefer black to blue, the ridges and texture of the black leather loop really sets off the smoother grain of rose gold Apple Watch Sport as well.
The same holds true with the space black steel link bracelet. But this time you're setting off the rose gold with something that looks akin to dragon scales.
If you have a rose gold iPhone 6s, or iPhone 6s Plus like I do, then the colors match really well. Because the shapes are different, the light doesn't always hit them the same, so the exact coloration and reflection patterns can vary, but not by much.
Overall I like the look more than I expected too. The 18k rose gold Apple Watch Edition has always been stunning. The anodized rose gold Apple Watch Sport is that not, but it doesn't pale completely by comparison either.
Instead the rose gold Apple Watch Sport manages to be its own things, matches the new iPhone 6s look, and otherwise prides an incredible amount of sophistication at a far more affordable price.
