The Ikepod Megapod heralds the return of a cult classic

To new collectors, the return of Ikepod and their new watch on Kickstarter probably isn’t too significant considering the myriad of microbrands out there trying to do the same thing. However, if you have been in the watch sphere since the early 2000s, the return of Ikepod and their new Megapod represents the rebirth of a cult classic.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t anywhere near horology circles during the heyday of Ikepod but looking into their history and the designs of their pieces, I can see why people would gravitate towards them. Ikepod was started by the renowned designer Marc Newson in collaboration with entrepreneur, Oliver Ike. And the watch that stuck was this UFO looking case shape and an innovative lugless concept for attaching the strap.

However, from what I could gather online, the brand went into bankruptcy sometime around 2006 and even though it tried to revive itself back in 2008, it didn’t quite work and the brand went back to being dormant. That is until 2017. Christian-Louis Col a fan of the Ikepod brand since its conception decided to purchase the name and like many modern microbrands took to Kickstarter to get the funding needed to revive it. Today, Ikepod assembles their watches in Hong Kong, use Japanese movements and Taiwanese dials to offer the more casual watch enthusiast a taste of Ikepod without breaking the bank.

Their latest Megapod campaign on Kickstarter represents their return to the mechanical watch sphere. History aside, these watches are still pretty interesting pieces in and of its own. The task of re-imagining the pod watch fell to Alexandre Peraldi, who used to be the design chief of Baume & Mercier. The new Megapod will be available in three different designs, each with its own set of colourways. What’s cool about these watches is the fact that they have a sort of concave dial design which contrasts nicely with the overall pod/UFO shape of the case. And although they are using a large 46mm case, Ikepod claims that it wears more like a 42mm watch, probably because it doesn’t need lugs to hold the strap.

The best part about the new Ikepod is that where in 2012, the last Horizon in Titanium was priced at CHF 12,000 the new Megapod starts at a pledge of CHF 740 on Kickstarter.