I would also like the option to just be able to purchase the Watch separately.

Knowing Apple, it won’t make it any cheaper.

Apple's philosophy with primary products at least (aka, not accessories like headphones and chargers), is that the device is ready to use out of the box for 99% of people. That's why most Mac desktops come with keyboards and mice, the mac mini is the one exception to this philosophy.

With the watch you can instantly wear and charge it out of the box, and it eliminates any strange non-techy gift givers buying the cheapest (bandless) one and giving it to someone only for them to be disappointed they have to buy a band separately - and it guarantees a baseline level of quality for that band so a crappy chinesium 50 cent aliexpress band doesn't snap and break the watch within the first week.

The band value is a minimum $50 from Apple, it's very, very easy to find them on sale for substantially less than that, or even cheaper used. After the S8 came out I bought a 45mm S7 Stainless steel, with box, charger, sport band, and 93% battery health for $290.