Apple Watch pre-orders live: sales open as customers pile in to Selfridges for first look at new smartwatch

The world is watching: how many people want Apple's new device?

Boss Tim Cook says it’s time for the Apple Watch. But what can it do that we can’t do without? (Getty Images)

Apple fans are streaming into stores today to try on the company's new smartwatch for the first time. While the Watch doesn't actually go on sale for two weeks — and they can only be pre-ordered online — fans were still waiting outside from before shops opened to try it out.

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The Watch represents the first major product launch since the iPad, and the first since Steve Jobs died. It's also the launch of a new strategy for Apple, which is pitching itself as a fashion brand as well as a technology one and took over a large part of the floor in Selfridges as part of that plan.

As well as the special store in London, Paris and elsewhere in the world, customers can also head to any Apple Store to look at the smartwatch. But for most the watches will be kept safe beneath a glass table, and customers must book online to actually get a go on the Watch with an Apple employee.