"Same quality, same design, new prices." Ikepod, the vintage watch from the future, is back in automatic version on Kickstarter. The watch brand once had two good fairies above its watchmaking cradle in 1994: Oliver Ike and the legendary designer Marc Newson. Yes, the one who, in 2005, designed the Apple Watch for the giant of Cupertino ... Between them, they dynamite the habits of the watchmaking seraglio, between a Solaris with rectangular dial and a perfectly round Hemipod with a rubber strap. Ikepod had in fact laid the foundations for what was to become the Watch concept, with creations that appealed to both Jeff Koons and Kanye West, an absolute fan of his Hemipod. This brand has literally laid the groundwork for contemporary watchmaking, paving the way for a new watchmaking path, which many independent designers have followed since.
The new Ikepod Megapod, with its sober and curved design. Ikepod
Always renowned designers
Las, the brand had almost disappeared in 2006, and ended up being put to sleep in 2012. In 2016, Christian Louis Col, fan of the first hour, sought to afford a watch. Finally, he will devote his personal money to buy and relaunch the brand. A first collection with quartz movements was launched in 2018, and will generate nearly $ 400,000 in pre-orders on the collaborative funding platform Kickstarter. It must be said that to relaunch IkePod, its new owner did not hesitate to divide their average price by ten. And when we talk about a company co-founded by Mark Newson, no question of missing his style: Christian Louis Col then called on Emmanuel Gueit (creator of the Royal Oak Offshore of Audemars Piguet and having redesigned the Rolex Celini). But if the design remained Swiss, Ikepod watches were now assembled in a workshop located in Hong Kong, while the dials came from Taiwan and the Miyota movements from Japan. The color is displayed, the style and the legend will be there, between the Chronopod and its three sub-dials, and the very sober Duopod.
Modern and vintage elegance for an iconic watch revisited. Ikepod
Assembled in Hong Kong, Japanese automatic movement
This time, the Megapod is making a comeback, and with an automatic movement. Fans were impatiently awaiting her, who in 1997 had been behind the brand's success. This time, its sober and refined design is signed Alexandre Peraldi, ex-artistic director at Baume & Mercier within the Richemont group. Pre-orders were launched on March 24 on Kickstarter. Fans of beautiful watch design will have the right to a 316L steel case, a 46 mm dial and a Japanese Miyota 9039 automatic three-hand movement with 42 hours of power reserve. As with the quartz versions, these parts are assembled in Hong Kong, within one of the main watchmaking subcontractors of the major European watch brands. The three types of dials (M 000 Series, M 100 Series and M 200 Series) and the hands come from Taiwan. We find on this model a silicone bracelet in tribute to the first Ikepod. All this once again allows Ikepod to divide its prices by ten compared to the past: when a Megapod cost 12,500 Swiss Francs (11,815 €) in 2012, the new models are offered at 1,250 Swiss Francs (1,181 €). Hurry up to pre-order one of these Ikepod vintage 2020 on Kickstarter: the first contributors will benefit from a reduction of up to 41%, or a price of only 740 CHF (700 €).