Apple Watch e sim without being tied to iPhone

An iPhone is required to initially pair and set up the watch. After that, with cellular service active, having the phone nearby isn’t required.

nolice wrote:

I saw information somewhere that in general the watch, so to speak, imitates your phone when using an e-SIM and they need to receive data from time to time to connect to the operator's network

After initial setup and pairing the only time an Apple Watch cellular *must* contact its parent iPhone is for software updates. Apart from that it “just works” for normal usage with connection over (your home etc) WiFi or cellular.

The Apple Watch shares the iPhone’s number. Carriers that support the Apple Watch charge a monthly fee. The typical U.S. fee is $10 added to the iPhone cellular bill.

While the iPhone does not need to be with you, it should be powered on and able to access the Internet, otherwise some Apple Watch services will not work. For example SMS/MMS depend on the iPhone’s cellular radio, and the SMS/MMS messages are relayed across the Internet between the Apple Watch and the iPhone.

The only way to use the Apple Watch as a semi-stand alone device is to treat it like a child’s watch, with it controlled by a parent’s iPhone. This has serious limitations on what the Apple Watch can do, plus the parent’s iPhone is in control. Not recommended for an adult.

https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/set-up-a-family-members-apple-watch-apd54d0a51fb/watchos

https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/set-up-a-family-members-apple-watch-apd54d0a51fb/watchos

Some limitations: Cannot receive SMS/MMS messages, as that depends on a fully paired iPhone. Messaging is pretty much limited to Apple’s Messages, unless the messaging service provides an Apple Watch app. Alarms, alerts, notifications on the iPhone are not sent to the Apple Watch. Apple Pay via a credit card is not available. Also not available: Medications, respiratory rate, irregular heart rhythm notifications, ECG, AFib History, Cycle Tracking, Sleep, Wrist Temperature, Blood Oxygen, Walking Steadiness, Audiobooks, Camera Remote, News, Shortcuts, and the double tap gesture.