e got talking online about watches in general, and one day he suddenly asked me if we wanted to update the Ikepod Megapod,” recalled Eero Koivisto, who together with Mårten Claesson and Ola Rune founded multidisciplinary architect and design office Claesson Koivisto Rune based on Södermalm, Stockholm, in 1995.

The Swedish designer was talking about online exchanges with Ikepod’s owner Christian-Louis Col that resulted in an unexpected commission. “The 1999 Megapod designed by Marc Newson is so packed with information and different scales, but it has such an amazing balance in the design,” Mr. Koivisto continued. “We were super happy at first, but it turned out to be really difficult. There is an insane amount of work behind what is our first watch.”

“Thanks to having no lugs the 46 millimeter watch feels like 43,” said Eero Koivisto about the Ikepod Skypod, here in the SK02 Mårten version.

Mr. Koivisto was seated next to large windows opposite a wall packed with the office’s design awards (around 100 to date). Outside, fine flakes of snow were singling down, reminiscent of the white dots on the Skypod dial.

At first glance, the dial on the watch released in October 2022 could seem organic like a starry sky. “But the dots are super organised, and we removed a few on the outer subdial edges to calm it down. The dot is one of the oldest patterns in history; for instance we worked with it on that chair, the world’s first wooden chair with laser cut dots,” he said, pointing to one of the chairs in the meeting room, the trio’s design of a Ton 822 chair which has 92 holes.

Scandinavian functionalism

“We moved the date to seven o’clock. And our typeface is rounder and more legible – and all numbers are placed in radial lines,” Mr. Koivisto said. Claesson Koivisto Rune also moved Swiss Made to 06.30 and Skypod sits by the right crown which operates the slide rule; a function that had to be kept. “It is great for counting gallons to litres and so on. But I also think a slide rule is like complications in general – many people like them, but few use them,” he said of the watch, which also features GMT and a chronograph operated with curved pusher heads placed on the left side of the curved case.

“If the original was more decorative, this is cleaner. Perhaps it is a Scandinavian, functional version?” he asked rhetorically. “I am very happy, we worked so hard for 2.5 years – it takes time to do good things.” The UFO-shaped original was 47 millimetres, and the Skypod measures 46 “But because it has no lugs, it feels like 43,” said Mr. Koivisto.

Eero Koivisto, Mårten Claesson, and Ola Rune met at art school while studying to become architects and designers. Their studio has won around 100 awards to date.

Ikepod’s owner Christian-Louis Col also opted for a greyer, harder titanium alloy compared to the original. And he was amazed by all the suggestions he received from the trio. “We could make eight different watches if we wanted – but I only needed one,” said Mr. Col during a phone call in which he described the Swedish designers with words like “exigent” and “a never-ending extreme attention to detail”.

“It was not in the brief, but in the end the changes were so substantial that the watch was given a new name,” he continued, referring to the Skypod, which is priced at €8,900 and comes in three iterations limited to 25 pieces each: the black SK01 Eero, the blue SK02 Mårten, and the brown SK03 Ola.

“Like playing chess”

According to Mr. Koivisto, all three founders love watches, but with different starting points. “We are extremely different as human beings, and that is why we work so well together. When it comes to watches, Mårten likes minimalistic and austere, I like complexity, and Ola is really shape-driven.”

He said the big difference from designing a house or a chair is the scale. “On other designs you work with drawings that are smaller than the object, but with watches it is the other way around. This makes all design aspects more concentrated.”

Mr. Koivisto pointed out that all design commissions have a lot in common: to respect the history of a brand. “You can’t take a Ferrari and make a Lamborghini,” he said. “The public has this vision of a designer being somebody creating something new every 15 minutes – that is simply not the case. It is never about doing what you want, it is always about respecting the DNA – especially with watches. It is like playing chess, there are only 8 by 8 squares, but the possibilities are infinite.”

The Italian job

A decade ago, Italian freelancing designer Giovanno Moro was asked to help a friend in the marble industry. The friend had had his driving licence suspended, and he needed a driver for a couple of days as he was hosting a Swedish design trio. That’s how Mr. Moro first met, and subsequently became friends with, Mr. Claesson, Mr. Koivisto, and Mr. Rune.

Eight years later, Mr. Moro, who co-founded and has been at the wheel of Italian watch brand Unimatic since 2015, asked Claesson Koivisto Rune if they wanted to design its flagship store in the centre of Milan, a few minutes away from Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Not only that: the brand, which had started collaborating with different designers already in 2016, also wanted watches in the military-inspired U4S series.

Unimatic’s flagship store — and three of its watches – are designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune.

“We made one model in three different materials: steel (€825), bronze (€925), and solid 18-karat gold (€15,000),” said Mr. Koivisto of the 40-millimetre watches that are only available in the flagship store – a minimalistic marble dream with a silver-leaf ceiling which opened in April 2023.

“We kept everything of the Unimatic DNA, and then we stripped it as far as possible and made each of the watches in a single material – by reducing as much as possible, they are all about pure materials,” he said about the timepieces that have circular graining on the bezel and dial, and are powered by Sellita movements.

The Unimatic Ore Gold is only available in the Milan Flagship store.

The Unimatic Ore Steel clearly shows that this design’s “raison d’etre” is to highlight one single material.

“The store is a landmark modern architecture by Claesson Koivisto Rune. For me to have the opportunity to work together with them on the store and the watches is a dream come true,” said Mr. Moro.

“What is so fun about designing watches is that it is difficult. And the three of us are very happy that we are now in discussions with Louis Erard and another couple of brands about future watches,” concluded Mr. Koivisto.