Would You Pay $800 for an iPhone Accessory?

Retail chains don’t just make money on the handset you buy, they make a killing from selling accessories too. If you have ever purchased any type of portable electronic, particularly a smartphone, you know what the clerk’s first comment is: “You’re going to need a case.” And he’s usually right.

I would generally recommend a case for the iPhone, screen protectors are a good buy too. There are also a lot of accessories that you don’t necessarily need. But if they make themselves appear to be a necessity, you as the customer are more apt to buy. That being said, one look at the new i’m, and you’ll see why your iPhone needs this new accessory…

In the past there has been several attempts at combining technology with wrist wear, going all the way back to the calculator watch. We later saw TV remotes and PDAs get embedded into watch designs, but nothing ever really took off. While there has even been watches with cell phones integrated into them, there has never been anything like the i’m.

This handmade Italian watch goes far beyond the realms of time and date. Conceived in one of the jewelry capitals of Italy, Vicenza, this luxury accessory promises to be your iPhone’s best friend. It houses its own high resolution, 2 inch multitouch screen, which is protected under a curved Sapphire glass.

Although they may look similar, the i’m is everything you wish your iPod Nano in a Griffin watch band was. It has bluetooth capabilities for transferring data and even phone calls to its built-in speakerphone. You also have the option to dial directly off the watch face, but I can imagine that being difficult.

Outside of taking phone calls the i’m will also let you scan through text messages, appointment notifications, and of course social network updates. You can also view stock market data and photos on the device’s touch screen.

The creators of i’m aren’t just looking to get into the accessory game, they seem to be after their own empire. Launching right along side their accessory is an i’m music download service and even an i’m store for apps. I’m not sure I need another music service or app store, but they may prove me wrong.

It’s not like I’ll be purchasing one of these right away anyways. They are currently taking pre orders for about 599 euros. That roughly translates to about $844 US dollars, and that’s just for the basic Titanium model. The price is triple that if you want the Yellow Gold edition, and gets ridiculous for the i’m made of white gold and diamonds.

The makers claim it will currently support the iPhone only, and they will expand to other devices in the future. While a very cool accessory, the i’m may just be a tad bit expensive to really take off in America.

What do you think? Would you pay $800 for an iPhone accessory?