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.
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.
Story goes that this unique Cloud Sport Band would've originally come with a Ceramic 42mm Series 2 Watch as a gift to Jony Ive for his 50th birthday, hence the "I50" engraved on the pin. Allegedly around 10 or so exist, most are a test batch with the finalized one given to Ive pic.twitter.com/pfPPfcSRUT — Stella - Fudge (@StellaFudge) January 17, 2024
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.
