part of the design of apple watch is directly derived from the japanese watch brand ikepod ikebao, such as the system toad theme, strap buckle, strap and watch interspersed, connection and so on.

The Ikepod series of watches are designed by Mark Newson, and he is also a shareholder of lkepod. Apple watch, as the first work of Mark Newsom after joining Apple, is also reasonable to refer to ikepod design. However, compared with ikepod's strong retro futuristic design style, apple watch's industrial design is much more rational. It only uses the most reasonable and reliable parts of ikepod series watches in terms of structural and material design, such as the soft strap interspersed with inner buttons, and the structural design of hiding or even directly eliminating thim.

As for the similar "toad theme", it seems to be a coincidence. Apple watch did not intentionally imitate ikepod when designing system UI interaction. The toad theme is very ugly, and people with dense phobia will feel uncomfortable when watching it, but this is a reasonable design, which solves the contradiction between the multi-icon placement on the desktop and the small-sized screen. The operation method is intuitive and fast, and it is very neat. As for the dense round dial on the ikepod, I prefer to think that this design is to show tension on the flat dial. At the same time, this is also Mark Newson's classic design symbol, which is often seen in other works.

due to the non-mainstream design style (compared with mainstream mechanical watches), weak marketing brand promotion and channel construction, and the japanese brand, ikepod has a very low sense of existence among many traditional brands. Compared with Swiss watches at the same price, advanced structural design cannot conceal the fact that materials and craftsmanship are mediocre. Although the movement is mostly observatory level, due to the improvement of the overall manufacturing level of the industry, the lowest price of observatory-level watches has fallen to within 10,000 yuan. In contrast, the price of tens of thousands to 100,000 yuan of Aikebao is too expensive. Therefore, the goal of every Ikebao watch owner is very clear: to buy it because he appreciates his unique design. For example, Jonathan wears an ikepod watch all the year round (in fact, it was given by good friend Mark Newson).

Apple watch's processing level of watch case steel and aluminum is far higher than that of ikepod, and so is the series of watchbands.
The structural design of the series of watchbands is very advanced and innovative. The silicone tape has been further optimized on the basis of ikepod. The structural design of steel tape and nylon tape is the first in the history of clocks and watches for more than 100 years, and the wearing experience is outstanding. It is by no means a gimmick.
However, the price of apple watch is only one tenth or even one tenth of that of ikepod, which is not a great value.