Consumers in Australia have already the chance to get their hands on the new Apple Watch at the company's store in Sydney. Apple's next runaway hit was available for pre-order online and to try out in stores - but not take home.

On April 24, consumers will be able to buy it online or by reservation at retail locations including high-end fashion boutiques in Paris, London and Tokyo.

The Apple Watch sport starts at $349 while the standard version comes in at $549 in the U.S. High-end "Edition" watches with 18-karat gold alloys are priced from $10,000 and go as high as $17,000.

Based on recent customer interest at its stores, Apple expects demand for the watch, which allows users to check email, listen to music and make phone calls when paired with an iPhone, to exceed availability at launch, it said on Thursday.

Reviewers this week praised the watch, which also helps users monitor their health and exercise, as "beautiful" and "stylish" but gave it poor marks for relatively low battery life and slow-loading apps.

In the meantime, knock-off versions of Apple's smartwatch are already on sale at Shenzhen's giant tech malls.

The mimic Watches, built on Google's operating system, don't need a separate smartphone to work. At her store, one was retailing for 360 yuan ($58) - around one eighth of the cost of Apple's cheaper Watch models.

One version used a SIM card, could make calls, send messages, browse the Internet and take pictures.