Ikepod Duopod 'Staying Alive 005'

Overall Condition: Outstanding condition overall. Case shows only faint signs of wear consistent with gentle handling. Dial and handset are excellent. Factory strap and pin buckle are in excellent condition as well.

If some Ikepods are designed to make you look twice, the Duopod Staying Alive 005 takes the opposite approach. This is Ikepod at its most restrained: the familiar pebble-shaped case, stripped-back two-hand display, and an almost entirely monochromatic palette that lets Marc Newson’s original design language do most of the talking.

The dial is particularly good. Finished in silvery grey with a circular brushed effect, it uses simple applied baton markers and a crisp railroad-style minute track around its perimeter. The signature Ikepod hands provide just enough contrast, while the absence of a running seconds hand makes the whole thing feel unusually calm. It’s minimalism without becoming anonymous; that bulbous, lugless profile ensures that.

Like the other modern Duopods, the brushed stainless-steel case measures 42mm, yet wears considerably smaller thanks to the complete absence of traditional lugs. The integrated black silicone strap disappears neatly beneath the case, emphasizing its smooth UFO-like form, while a curved sapphire crystal continues the rounded architecture. Inside, a Japanese Miyota quartz movement keeps things deliberately simple and dependable.

This example comes with its original recycled Ikepod box and papers. Named Staying Alive, it’s an amusingly appropriate watch for the reborn Ikepod: proof that one of the most distinctive designs of the 1990s didn’t need to be reinvented. It just needed to keep on going.