Included in Bloomberg’s big story this morning on Apple’s iWatch was a small paragraph that said Jony Ive and his team ordered a bunch of watches made by Nike in the mid-2000s.
Maybe Ive and his design team just liked the Nike watches, but according to Scott Wilson, who was Nike’s Creative Director at the time, Ive might have ordered the watches so his team could study them for inspiration on the iWatch.
Business Insider asked Wilson for more information on the types of watches Jony Ive order, and this is what he told them:
Well, he didn’t buy them. We just gave them to them as designer bro deals. He and others in the design group just requested them and we sent them a ton of Nike Presto Digital Bracelets and the aluminum Oregon Series Alti-Compass watches. Was flattered that they were requesting them. Thought they were only personal requests but their materials guy followed up with many questions on the materials and processes. This meshes up with their research in watch manufacturing during that timeframe which has been documented in previous stories. They definitely drew upon watch industry techniques and manufacturing in their products since the first iPhone. Interesting that it may come full circle to an actual iWatch at some point.
These Nike designs were circa 2002-2004.
Jony Ive has had an interest in watches for a long time, so it’s interesting that he and his team have probably been thinking about creating an Apple iWatch, even though the project seems like it’s come out of nowhere to the public.
To check out the watches that Jony Ive and his team requested, head over to Business Insider.
Source: Business Insider
