Are you thinking the Apple Watch is a bit pricey? Well head over to the Chinese city of Shenzhen and pick one up for £37 (after you fly there, of course).

In the teeming electronics district Shenzhen, dozens of unofficial retailers are offering local replicas of the soon-to-be launched Apple Watch.

The new Apple Watch will go on sale in China on 24 April, the same day as the United States - unlike the iPhone 6, which hit Chinese stores almost a month after the US. But in various shops these fake Apple watches are already on display in glass cabinets beside copies of other smartphone watch brands.

Selling for around £37 ($55), they promise a range of functions including messaging, phone calls and video, and also have popular Chinese apps such as WeChat and QQ.

Unlike the genuine Apple products, however, new apps cannot be downloaded.

Zhang Chaoren, a sales person for an Apple retailer, said the high price of the real Apple watch could affect its sales in China and make the fake ones popular.

"For some people, yes, people who are not making a lot of money they definitely might go for the fake one. But I think generally if you want an Apple product you would definitely buy the real one," Zhang said, speaking on 9 April.

Even in the Apple-crazed country - the second-biggest iPhone market after the US - it seems too early to say whether the curved timepieces from Cupertino will command that "must-have" cachet for millions of middle-upper-class Chinese.

Beyond the is-it-fashion-or-is-it-a-gadget argument, the Apple Watch carries a hefty price tag in China. The cheapest Sport model will sell at a little below 3,000 yuan (£323, $479), including tax, versus $349 in the United States, while the top-end luxury Edition will set buyers back more than 145,000 yuan, against $17,000 in the US.

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