Some Apple Watch orders originally scheduled for delivery between May 13th and May 27th have had their status changed to "Preparing to Ship." Credit cards have also been charged, indicating these orders might ship well ahead of their expected delivery times.
In Apple's system, a change from "Processing Items" to "Preparing to Ship" usually means the device has been made, packaged, and is being processed for international shipping. In the order shown below, however, while the status has changed and the customer's credit card was charged, the delivery estimate remains unchanged.
Whether that means those customers will get shipments earlier than expected remains to be seen.
Apple Watch Order Obtained by TMO
(Click for a larger image)
Making things more interesting is the fact that not all orders scheduled for that delivery window have changed to "Preparing to Ship." Mine is one of those. My card hasn't been charged, and my status remains at "Processing Items."
The fact that only some of these later delivery times have been changed and charged argues that Apple is getting ahead of its demand, and will ship some orders early.