i had a problem with my iPhone and they had to swap it out at the apple store. Now i cant get my watch to pair with the new phone

Hi ...

See: "What if I didn’t unpair my Apple Watch before setting up my new iPhone?"

Here > Switch your Apple Watch to a new iPhone

If you have your old iPhone, but you erased it

You should erase your Apple Watch, then pair it with your new iPhone. If you restored your new iPhone from a backup, you can restore your watch from a backup when you pair. You might lose Activity, Workouts, or settings on your watch that changed between the last backup and now.

If you don't have your old iPhone or a backup

You should erase your Apple Watch, then pair it with your new iPhone. If you’re asked to restore from a watch backup, select the most recent backup. You will lose Activity, Workouts, or settings on your watch that changed between the last backup and now.

Without an iPhone backup, you’ll need to set up your Apple Watch as new. You will lose any previous Activity, Workouts, or settings, but your other content will sync from the new iPhone to your Apple Watch.

If nothing above helps, best to make a trip back to the Apple Store and let hem pair your Apple Watch.

Did you unpair your Apple Watch from the first phone before you switched to your new phone?

The Apple Watch does require an iPhone 5 or newer and i believe at least iOS 8.2. I'm not 100% sire about the iOS version but I do know it ends on of the iOS 8 updates.

Hope this helps!

Rylee M.

Something else... see if there's an update available for the iPhone. Tap Settings > General > Software Update

Latest iOS version available is 9.3.2.

The device may have sat in inventory and may need an update in order to pair your watch.