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Images of Ultra-Rare Apple Watch Band Designed for Sir Jony Ive Surface Online

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Images of an Apple Watch band designed to celebrate former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive's 50th birthday have emerged online, providing a look at what could be one of the rarest official Apple Watch bands ever made.

jony ive 50 apple watch band
The images come from "Stella Fudge" on X (formerly Twitter), who claims that the unit is one of just ten prototypes made to test the unusual product before the finalized one was given to Ive with a 42mm Ceramic Apple Watch Series 2 "Edition" model in February 2017. The Apple Watch band itself is "Cloud" white and features a personalized "J50" monogram engraved on the ceramic pin in silver lettering. Ive departed Apple in June 2019 and now runs an independent design firm called LoveFrom.

While the Sport Band has been a ubiquitous style for the Apple Watch since its introduction in 2014, only some models feature engraved pins, such as the Apple Watch Hermès and Black Unity band. These are invisible when the band is worn on the wrist but provide a subtle indication of the model's special nature to the owner.

The white ceramic ‌Apple Watch Series 2‌ was the first of its kind, expanding to a new gray version with the Series 3. While there was no ceramic Apple Watch Edition for Series 4 models, Apple revived the high-end white ceramic Edition model for the Series 5 in 2019 – the last time we've seen the material used on the device. The ceramic Apple Watch Edition was markedly cheaper than its 24K gold predecessor, but it remains one of the most striking and beloved casings ever offered by Apple.

Tags: Jony Ive, Prototypes

Top Rated Comments

springsup Avatar
springsup
29 months ago
It’s like if you work at McDonald’s and for your 50th birthday, they give you a Big Mac with your name on the box
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krspkbl Avatar
krspkbl
29 months ago

Honestly, I'm not sure I'd have wanted a product I designed as a birthday gift. We sell scientific gadgets and if someone bought me one of our science kits with my initials monogrammed, I'd be like "gee thanks, something different." Would be pretty sick of it by then.

Rare as hell, yes... I'd probably donate the watch to Apple's visitor center museum and they could put it in a glass case.
You don't work for Apple. I think it'd be pretty cool to get a unique/rare version of their products even if I did work for them.

It doesn't sound like it's a gift from all of Apple/Tim Cook. It could be something one of his close work mates did for him. If you worked for Apple and could make a custom part wouldn't you do it? It doesn't really matter that Johnny worked for Apple. I'm sure Johnny appreciated it.

To be honest I don't know what I'd buy for someone who could have pretty much anything they wanted. Presents don't need to be expensive or anything. It's enough for a small thoughtful gift.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krspkbl Avatar
krspkbl
29 months ago
What a crappy birthday gift. He'll need a new band when this years model comes out, right? :D
edit: yes i did read the article. for future reference this is a joke ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke').
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikedis Avatar
mikedis
29 months ago
Shows how much attention the “journalists” here pay attention to their own website.

I posted photos of this band over a year ago in your own forums. Keep up!
@Hartley


42mm Apple Watch Series 2 White Ceramic "Jony Ive" Edition

This one-of-a-kind Apple Watch was intended as a 50th birthday gift to Jony Ive from the Apple engineering team and featured a specially engraved pin combining his initials, J and I, with the number 50. This band also uniquely features space black buttons on the underside of the connectors, unlike any retail version of the cloud sport band!


Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Blackstick Avatar
Blackstick
29 months ago

You don't work for Apple.
Been there, done that -- 17 years ago 💚

We'll agree to disagree. I think it's a nice gesture from his team, but I'm also fairly sure he tossed it in a cabinet.

Attachment Image
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G5isAlive Avatar
G5isAlive
29 months ago
Got to wonder with those expensive casings, why they didnt have a way to update the internal electronics. As for the gift, well, it's the thought that counts. Exclusivity is one sign of thoughtfulness. But as far as this needing to go into a museum because it's so rare? nope. I have a rare watchband too, I wrote my initials on it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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