Yep I got one. I was able to hold out for about a week or so after the pre orders went live and my gadget addiction got the better of me.
People usually tell how good a device is based on how much they use them, for example in the early weeks of having my iPhone and iPad they were hardly out of my hands. The uses for them compared to what came before were numerous. The Apple Watch is not like this, you are not constantly using it but it is constantly with you.

“a way of triaging notifications”

I’ll explain first why I think I wanted one (not needed, nobody needs this). I use public transport for at least 40 minutes every day and in that I walk around 2.5 miles just getting where I need to go (not for exercise). During this my iPhone earphones are always in for music and podcasts. Now the really lazy bit. I was getting tired of pulling my phone out of my pocket, unwrapping the earphone wire and taking it out of the slip case to see a message, phone call or in some cases a phantom buzz. Yes… such a chore.
But I started to see the watch as a way of triaging notifications, messages that didn’t need a reply just yet, messages that you were waiting for instead of staring at your phone in public and mostly to see who was actually ringing me before I hit answer on my earphones. I also liked the idea of having quick access to a map on my wrist that could be searched and used for directions without needing my phone in my hand.
This paints me to be very lazy and that could be true but the watch is a true gadget, an item of convenience more than a long term use device such as a smartphone.

So that’s all it took for me to order one, really. That and just the carnal lust for the new shiny Apple product. Nearly 7 weeks later my watch arrived, it’s been a week using it. Let’s go.

I can now start to understand how reviewers were having difficulty to write up this product. This is not like the launch of the iPhone where we had a device that changed how we used phones in such extraordinary ways. The watch takes days to see how it works with your lifestyle, it doesn’t instantly change the way you send messages or make calls the way the iPhone did, it just makes your notification life a little easier.
This is even clearer when someone asks you to show them the watch and what it can do. You find yourself telling them you can’t really show them what it does that would instantly impress, rather here are the clock faces, here’s a message, here’s using Siri to show you nearby coffee shops. But most people seem to be impressed just by the look of it.

“the lower your message anxiety gets”

So does the watch cover my initial requirements of quickly looking at a message, doing quick searches and just overall keeping my iPhone tucked away more?
Yes.
But it introduces new, not problems per say, but issues.
At its best you’re walking through town, you feel the pulse on your wrist, raise the watch up and you’re shown the message, hardly any interaction is required unless you need to scroll a long message. Done.
The issue comes in when you want to reply and while the auto replies try their best to give you suggestions along side my own manually added ones, you realise you reply very differently to different people and in most cases tiny few word replies don’t convey your message personality (and no one is going to start dictation when they’re walking down a street). It means you’re back to getting out your phone and it feels like you’ve added time onto this experience.
But then you have to remember the watch is not meant for this level of interaction. It really is just a notification reader and the more you get used to that the lower your message anxiety gets.

“trying to fill those little activity circles is very addictive”

The watch does start to open a lot once you start thinking past it as a message alerter. Just now while typing this I got a pulse, flicked my wrist and it told me a friend liked an Instagram photo I posted. I don’t need my phone to tell me this anymore, that is a glance notification, nothing else required.
The activity app is very interesting. I’ve always been saying I want to get even a little more healthy and, as many have noted before, trying to fill those little activity circles is very addictive. On my first night with the watch I wanted to get something in the shop a bit up the road, I didn’t need it but I had an odd thought “Well, it would fill up some exercise bar on the watch” and off I went. How long that lasts we’ll see but still, that’s a good start.
Checking into places via Swarm (yea, I’m a checker inner) is a complete replacement for the phone. It’s basic at the moment,  it doesn’t allow you to make any comment with the check in for example but it’s a start and I look forward to it being expanded out. It’s these kind of apps I see myself using exclusively on the watch, Foursquare for nearby places, Deliveries for a quick reminder of when a parcel is coming, the remote app instead of launching it on the phone just to hit pause or select a show.
All little conveniences rather that big show off apps like what made the iPhone and iPad so useful.

“The numerous options to the watch face is a whole hour of fun in itself.”

I haven’t used a digital watch since I was a kid, I quickly preferred analogue watches so it was with some trepidation to move from my much remarked on simple black and white hands watch to a digital shiny Apple Watch. Due to the level of customisation available this is all but completely quelled. I did find Apple’s strap offerings to be a bit limited and frankly far too over priced but after trying on the sport strap in store and seeing how nice the matt space grey finish was I was more convinced. It is also nice to see a lot of third parties coming up with their own straps. There’s a nice black nylon one I’ve got my eye on. The numerous options to the watch face is a whole hour of fun in itself. But I’m ever fond of my simple watch designs, I stuck with white hands and dark red second hand. The screen can show several pieces of info such as date, calendar events, weather, battery, sunset and while the battery indictor can be handy, once you realise it lasts past midnight you stop checking so much.

To wrap up, the Apple Watch is something I’m glad I got. It is a handy gadget to have with you at all times and with developers getting to make native apps for it soon it’ll open up in new ways.
The watch does introduce a new social worry. You’re essentially committing yourself to this strapped on device that will keep telling you about your messages unless you strip it all the way back to manual checking but then what would be the point. You’ll also find yourself automatically checking the watch at a pulse while talking with someone. This can come across rude because a watch check still means “Yea, I’ve got somewhere to be”. But could this new trend of smart watches start to change what it means to check your watch in social occasions?
It is a difficult thing to recommend to most people. It is expensive and not many need to spend £339 on a handy gadget that’s also a watch. Just depends if you’re a little bit silly for tech like me.