Most watch brands try to look like they’ve been around forever, borrowing shapes and details from old military watches or classic dress pieces from the 1950s. IKEPOD did the opposite. When it launched in 1994, it built watches that looked like they had landed from another planet, with smooth curved cases and no lugs at all. That strange, sculptural approach earned it a small but devoted following of designers, artists, and collectors, and it’s why the brand keeps getting talked about decades later even though it went bankrupt more than once along the way.
IKEPOD’s Origin Story
IKEPOD was founded in 1994 by Swiss entrepreneur Oliver Ike and Australian designer Marc Newson. Newson had already designed his own experimental wristwatch back in 1986, called the “Pod,” and Ike wanted him to build a full watch brand around that same idea. Ike was a Swiss businessman who also worked in furniture and had gotten to know Newson through his furniture design work before asking him to create watches for a new, unconventional brand.
The name IKEPOD is a mashup of “Ike” and “Pod,” combining the co-founder’s name with the shape that would define everything the brand made. This wasn’t meant to be a traditional watchmaker chasing mechanical prestige. It was meant to be a design object first, a watch second, and that mindset shaped every decision the company made for the next thirty years.
Newson wasn’t part of the traditional watch industry when he started designing timepieces, and that outsider position mattered. He wasn’t trying to please collectors who cared about column-wheel chronographs or in-house calibers. He was trying to make an object that looked right, the same way he’d approach a chair or a bottle, and that’s a genuinely different starting point than almost every other watch brand on the market at the time.
Newson has said that a customer walking into a watch shop and dismissing his designs on sight simply wasn’t the audience IKEPOD was built for.
The Seaslug: IKEPOD’s First Watch
The Seaslug was IKEPOD’s very first model, released in 1994, and it set the tone for everything that followed. Its rounded, upward-curving bezel sat on top of a case shaped roughly like a shallow bowl, spanning about 39mm across, which was actually fairly modest compared to what came next. The name itself gives away the design philosophy — this was a watch shaped like something from nature, not a rectangle or a circle copied from a pocket watch.
Because IKEPOD’s early production runs were small, original Seaslug pieces from the mid-1990s are genuinely hard to find in good condition today, and buyers usually need to go through a watch specialist rather than a general marketplace. The Seaslug also matters historically because it proved IKEPOD’s core idea worked at all — that a watch case could be treated like a piece of sculpture and still function as a wearable object.
The Hemipode: IKEPOD’s Most Famous Watch
The Hemipode is the model most people picture when they think of IKEPOD, and it arrived in 1997 as what the brand itself called its “masterpiece.” It had a large, round 44 to 47mm case with absolutely no lugs, meaning the strap attached directly to the case body instead of poking out from little metal arms. That lugless build made the watch look like one continuous curved shape wrapping around the wrist.
The Hemipode also introduced the bird that became IKEPOD’s logo — a hemipode, which despite the name is actually a real bird species, a small ground-dwelling type of buttonquail that can’t fly. It appeared stamped on the crown of early models before later generations added it to the crystal too. This watch arrived right as oversized watches were starting to trend in the late 1990s, back when most men’s watches were still built well under 40mm, and IKEPOD ended up being one of the brands that pushed that shift forward before it became mainstream.
The Hemipode also became a pop culture moment decades after its release. In May 2020, musician Kanye West wore a vintage gold Hemipode on the cover of American GQ, and he had previously called the IKEPOD his favorite watch, pointing to its bold circular case as the reason he liked it. That kind of visibility helps explain why a solid-gold Hemipode Chronograph from 1998 later sold at auction for close to $20,000, well above what the brand’s original owners likely paid for it new.
The Megapode: IKEPOD’s Biggest Watch
If the Hemipode was bold, the Megapode was extreme. Launched in 1999, the Megapode Chrono measured 47mm across, making it the largest watch IKEPOD produced during its first era. It was built from titanium using a monocoque case, meaning the case was machined from a single solid block of metal rather than assembled from separate pieces, which was an unusual and expensive way to build a watch case at the time.
Inside, the Megapode Chrono ran on an automatic ETA Valjoux 7750 movement, ticking at 4 Hz with a 40-hour power reserve, and it carried C.O.S.C. chronometer certification for accuracy. It was designed with a pilot’s watch in mind, complete with unit conversion markings on the dial, but it kept IKEPOD’s signature lugless, sculptural shape instead of looking like a typical aviation watch.
The Horizon and Solaris: IKEPOD’s New Shapes
By the mid-2000s, IKEPOD had narrowed its lineup and introduced two new shapes alongside the Hemipode and Megapode carryovers. The Horizon had a rounder, more compact 44mm case that people often compared to a golf ball, while the Solaris was a double-sided, oblong ceramic watch worn on a mesh bracelet with a quartz movement. Both kept the lugless philosophy but pushed the sculptural language in a slightly different direction than the original 1990s pieces.
These two shapes became the canvas for IKEPOD’s most talked-about chapter: its collaborations with contemporary artists.
IKEPOD’s Art Collaborations: KAWS and Jeff Koons
Between 2008 and 2012, IKEPOD was owned by an art-focused investor, and the brand leaned hard into limited pieces made with well-known contemporary artists rather than chasing mass-market sales. This is the period that gave IKEPOD a second identity as much a design-collector object as a watch brand.
Artist KAWS designed a Horizon model with his signature “Chomper” teeth motif across the dial and his crossed-line “X” graphic used for the hour and minute hands. It retailed for around $14,000 through the retailer Westime, and less than 120 pieces including prototypes were ever produced. Years later, that scarcity paid off for collectors: a KAWS x IKEPOD Horizon sold at a Phillips Hong Kong auction in 2020 for HK$300,000, well above its original estimate, and another example went to auction for close to $40,000.
Jeff Koons created an even more elaborate collaboration called the Horizon “Cannonballs,” inspired by his own sculpture of stacked cannonballs representing the Incredible Hulk broken down into its color components. The Cannonballs watch was produced in titanium, priced from roughly $12,000 to $19,000, and in a platinum version limited to just 10 pieces that retailed near $57,000. A portion of sales from the Koons collaboration went to the Koons Family Institute, which works on issues related to missing and exploited children.
IKEPOD has continued this pattern even after its 2018 relaunch, releasing a more accessible collaboration with artist Tom Christopher called the Megapod “Skaters in the Sky,” priced at a far more attainable CHF 1,500. It’s a good example of how the brand’s art-collaboration instinct survived even after the ownership and price point changed dramatically.
Why IKEPOD Went Bankrupt Twice
IKEPOD’s designs earned critical praise almost immediately, but praise doesn’t always translate into steady sales. The brand filed for bankruptcy protection in the mid-2000s, came back afterward as a smaller, more exclusive luxury label carried by a handful of high-end retailers, including The Hour Glass and Westime, and then went quiet again in 2012 when Marc Newson left the company for good.
Distribution, more than design, is usually pointed to as the core problem. Selling a genuinely strange, expensive object requires the right retail partners and the right customers finding it at the right time, and IKEPOD struggled to build that network consistently across its ownership changes. A brand can have devoted fans and critical acclaim and still fail commercially if it can’t get its watches in front of enough buyers, and IKEPOD’s history is a fairly clear demonstration of that gap.
How IKEPOD Made a Comeback in 2018
After sitting dormant for six years, IKEPOD was purchased in April 2017 by a group of investors led by Christian-Louis Col, a longtime fan of the brand with a background at Richemont and in the fine jewelry trade through Golay Buchel. Rather than trying to recreate the original luxury pricing, Col set out to make IKEPOD affordable again, since he felt the original watches had always been priced out of reach for most of the people who actually loved the brand.
The relaunch happened through Kickstarter on September 18, 2018, and it worked. The campaign drew more than 700 backers and raised roughly $385,000, making it one of the notable success stories in the Kickstarter watch category — though reported totals vary slightly depending on the source and how currency conversions were counted. The new models were designed by Swiss watch designer Emmanuel Gueit, best known for creating the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore, and production moved from Switzerland to Hong Kong using Japanese Miyota quartz movements to keep prices down, while some later automatic models remained Swiss-made.
That first Kickstarter wave introduced two models:
- Duopod — a 42mm two-hand watch inspired by the older Horizon model
- Chronopod — a 44mm chronograph inspired by the classic Hemipode
Both kept the elliptical, lugless case shape and the original silicone strap design that Newson had developed back in 1996 to help the watches sit evenly on the wrist.
The Best IKEPOD Watches You Can Buy Today
The current lineup has grown well beyond the two models that launched on Kickstarter in 2018. Alongside the Duopod and Chronopod, IKEPOD now makes the Seapod, Horopod, Skypod, and Minipod, and it keeps releasing small limited runs, including a 30th-anniversary Seapod and a Hello Kitty 50th-anniversary edition. The brand has clearly settled into a rhythm of frequent, smaller releases rather than a handful of flagship models, which is a very different approach from its original 1990s era.
Chronopod
The Chronopod is the modern chronograph version of the Hemipode’s DNA, built at 44mm with a 316L stainless steel case and a Japanese quartz movement. At launch on Kickstarter it carried early-bird pricing under $450, making it one of the most affordable chronographs to carry real design pedigree. It’s the closest current-production link to the watch that made IKEPOD famous in the first place, and it’s a sensible starting point for anyone curious about the brand without wanting to hunt down a 1990s original.
Duopod
The Duopod is the simpler, two-hand sibling at 42mm, and it launched with early-bird Kickstarter pricing under $350. It works well as an everyday piece rather than a statement watch, and because it skips the chronograph complications, it remains the most affordable entry point into the current IKEPOD lineup.
Megapod (Reissue)
In March 2020, IKEPOD brought back the Megapode name as the “Megapod,” a modern remake of the 1997 original, built around a 46mm case that wears smaller than that number suggests thanks to its lugless profile. Former Baume & Mercier artistic director Alexandre Peraldi worked on the redesign, and the mechanical version launched with a Miyota 9039 automatic movement priced at roughly $755, sitting above the quartz Duopod and Chronopod but still far below what dealers typically ask for an original 1990s Megapode today. This one appeals most to people who want the historically important shape with updated internals.
Buying Vintage IKEPOD Watches
For collectors chasing history rather than a new purchase, original Hemipode and Megapode pieces from the 1990s are the ones worth tracking down, along with any surviving KAWS or Jeff Koons collaboration pieces from the 2008-to-2012 era. Because IKEPOD changed hands several times and its early paperwork wasn’t always well kept, buying vintage usually means working with a watch specialist who can confirm the case, movement, and box match up rather than relying on a listing alone.
| Model | Era | Case Size | What It’s Known For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seaslug | 1994 (original) | 39mm | The brand’s first watch |
| Hemipode | 1997 (original) | 44-47mm | Lugless “masterpiece,” worn by Kanye West |
| Megapode | 1999 (original) | 47mm | Largest original IKEPOD, titanium monocoque case |
| Horizon | Mid-2000s (original) | 44mm | Rounder case, canvas for the KAWS and Koons collaborations |
| Solaris | Mid-2000s (original) | Oblong | Double-sided ceramic case on a mesh bracelet |
| Duopod | 2018 (relaunch) | 42mm | Affordable two-hand entry model |
| Chronopod | 2018 (relaunch) | 44mm | Modern chronograph, Hemipode-inspired |
| Megapod | 2020 (reissue) | 46mm | Automatic remake of the Megapode |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is IKEPOD still in business today?
Yes. After being bought by Christian-Louis Col and a group of investors in 2017, IKEPOD relaunched through Kickstarter in 2018 and continues to produce watches, now made with a mix of Hong Kong-based quartz models and pricier Swiss automatic pieces.
Did Marc Newson design the Apple Watch too?
Yes. After leaving IKEPOD in 2012, Newson joined Apple in 2014 and worked on the Apple Watch alongside design chief Jony Ive. Many people consider the Apple Watch a spiritual successor to the smooth, minimal shapes he first explored with IKEPOD, and some auction listings for the Horizon specifically note its influence on the Apple Watch’s design.
Why don’t IKEPOD watches have lugs?
The lugless design was a deliberate choice to make the case flow directly into the strap without interruption, creating that rounded, pod-like silhouette. It also meant the strap needed a custom design, which led Newson to create IKEPOD’s signature molded rubber and silicone straps starting in 1996.
Are vintage IKEPOD watches a good investment?
Original 1990s and 2000s pieces, especially early Hemipode, Megapode, and the KAWS and Koons collaboration watches, have seen rising prices at auction as design-focused collectors take interest in the brand’s history. That said, watch values can be unpredictable, and buyers should treat any purchase as a piece they want to own rather than a guaranteed investment.
What movements do current IKEPOD watches use?
The 2018 relaunch models primarily use Japanese Miyota quartz movements to keep costs down, while later releases like the Megapod reissue moved to automatic movements for buyers who want traditional mechanical watchmaking inside the sculptural case.
The Bottom Line
IKEPOD’s story is really a story about what happens when someone designs a watch without caring how watches are supposed to look. Marc Newson and Oliver Ike built something so different that it struggled to find a stable business model, going bankrupt more than once and passing through art-world ownership and a Kickstarter revival before landing where it is today. What’s kept IKEPOD relevant through all of that turbulence is simple: the Hemipode, the Megapode, the KAWS Horizon, and the newer reissues still look genuinely unlike anything else on a watch counter, whether you’re looking at a 1997 original or a watch built under Christian-Louis Col’s ownership today.
