[Interview] Ikepod Co-Owner and Managing Director "Christian-Louis Coll"

Ikepod makes a comeback at an affordable price

　After being dormant since 2012, Ikepod has made a comeback. The driving force behind this is Christian-Louis Colle, co-owner and managing director. He unveiled two models at Baselworld this year: the two-hand "Duopod" and the chronograph "Chronopod." This time, he came to Japan with these new models.

Co-owner and Managing Director of Ikepod.
Born in France in 1968. After graduating from Cartier's MBA program "sup de luxe," he gained experience in marketing and sales at Baume & Mercier and Piaget, both part of the Richemont Group. From 2009 to 2012, he consulted for numerous brands. In 2017, he jointly acquired Ikepod, and achieved success through crowdfunding, raising 700 orders from around the world and 400,000 Swiss francs in just 88 minutes. In 2019, he unveiled his new collection at Baselworld, with sales beginning in August.

"To be honest, the Ikepods were too expensive for me. I had just started working at Richemont at the time. The first watch I bought was a vintage Rolex Explorer, and the Ikepods were twice the price in Paris at the time. I liked the Ikepods, but I wasn't a collector."

　The turning point came in 16. While working as a consultant, he met the owner of Ikepod and learned that it was for sale.
"I offered to relaunch the brand at an affordable price if I could afford it. As a result, I ended up acquiring the brand, as well as the round and manatee designs. The original Ikepod was priced at about 1.5 million yen, but the model I relaunched can be purchased for 92,000 yen. Of course, the former has an ETA7753 movement, while my watch has a Miyota quartz movement, so it's not an exact comparison, but I wanted to create a watch with good cost performance. My idea was to make it look exactly the same, but simpler."

　The previous Ikepod could only be opened with a special tool. Moreover, the movement had to be removed from the dial side, making maintenance difficult. "The idea was to make it simple and affordable, but maintain the essence and originality of the watch. We also used the original logo that Ikepod has used since the beginning. We changed the case so that it opens from the back cover, but you can still use the old strap. In other words, even though the structure has changed, we've maintained the same design."

　Finally, he revealed some information about his new work.
"Next year we will release a 46mm model with an automatic movement. The dial will be designed by Alexandre Peraldi, not by Emmanuel Guillet, who designed the Duopod and Chronopod."

　Peraldi is a leading designer who worked for Baume & Mercier. If you're a design lover, you'll want to keep an eye on how Ikepod develops in the future.