The Apple Watch was released in 2015, right? Not exactly.
Twenty years before the (smart) Apple Watch, Apple offered a product they referred to as an Apple Watch as a “FREE gift” for customers who updated their operating system to System 7.5. From May 1 to July 31, 1995, Apple allowed customers who paid $134.99 for System 7.5 to select between two gifts, the software application Conflict Catcher 3 (by Norton to resolve Mac system extension problems) or this Apple Watch. An article written in 1994 that is (surprisingly) still available online (as of February 2020) outlined all the methods to upgrade to System 7.5.
The Apple Watch (1995) was not a smart watch, but it was high-style for the mid-1990s. The watch followed the “Memphis” design aesthetic that originated in Milan, Italy. In an article presenting ten iconic examples of Memphis design, the origin of the style is reported as, “The Memphis Group…a collaborative design group founded by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass” (Creative Bloq). This Apple Watch is included among ten designs in the article. The style itself is “characterized by ephemeral design featuring colorful and abstract decoration as well as asymmetrical shapes, sometimes arbitrarily alluding to exotic or earlier styles” (Wikipedia).
The Memphis Design group is still represented online at www.memphis-milano.com. Even a cursory look at the designs on the site reveals an unmistakable connection to the look of the 1995 Apple Watch.
As an Apple collector, I have been searching for this Apple Watch for many years. I was able to acquire an example from a friend of mine from Minnesota.
If you wish to see the original print advertisement for this Apple Watch offer, I found a version published in the June 1995 MacWorld magazine. The vintageapple.org website has digitized past MacWorld issues and a PDF is available here. Please see magazine page 82 for the full-page ad.
One year while visiting a Chicago-area Apple Store coincidentally on Halloween, I noticed that Apple Store employees were giving away Apple-logo items to Trick-or-Treaters. I waited until after designated Trick-or-Treat hours were over, spoke to an employee, let him know I was a collector, and asked for one of the “treats.” The first year I discovered this Apple-logo item giveaway, they were giving plastic Apple-logo flashlights. I have since visited Apple Stores on a few other Halloweens and, for at least two years in a row, they were giving these LIVESTRONG-style wristbands.
These Apple wristbands were from approximately 2015, and I got them at the Northbrook Court Apple Store. They are child-size rubber bracelets in either orange or white with an embossed Apple logo. They measure approximately 60 mm in diameter and are 12 mm wide.
In the early- to mid-1990s, Apple included a Registration Card in the box that came with every Macintosh (in the brown box labeled “Macintosh Essentials”). In my experience setting up these early Macintosh computers, Apple allowed users who filled out these “official” registration cards to choose from a subscription to MacWorld magazine or a free mousepad. In our school computer labs, we usually opted for the free mousepads.
This is an example of the free mousepad Apple sent. It is 8.75×7 inches, light gray (to match the platinum color of Apple computers of the time). The mousepad is in two layers, light gray plastic on top and black textured foamy rubber on the bottom, approximately 0.125 inches thick. The design is the word Apple® in black type nearly 3 inches tall in the font Apple Garamond, Apple’s corporate identity font of the time.
This thin plastic mousepad made from materials by the company Microthin features the blueberry Apple logo printed in a manner to simulate the translucent plastic Apple used in the iMac line of computers at the time. This mousepad is blue to match the blueberry iMac. Other versions of this design were available in the other five iMac colors: tangerine, lime, strawberry, grape, and graphite.
The bottom of the mousepad is covered in printed dots that provide traction to prevent slippage. The stickiness (tackiness) of the material is still viable after about 20 years and can be reactivated by rinsing any accumulated dust with water. However, the entire mousepad is beginning to show signs of yellowing.
Source: No official sources found, additional colors confirmed on eBay
This rectangular Think Different mousepad measures 7.5×8.5 inches with a solid black background. The design features the original multicolor Apple logo and the words Think Different (in white).
The bottom of the mousepad is covered in printed dots that provide traction to prevent slippage. The stickiness (tackiness) of the material is still viable after about 20 years and can be reactivated by rinsing any accumulated dust with water. However, the tacky substance on the bottom is beginning to show signs of yellowing.
The Think Different logo is a part of Apple’s now iconic ad campaign that played a major role in restoring Apple’s reputation and put the company on track to become the trillion-dollar company it became by 2018. The Think Different campaign was created by TBWA\Chiat\Day and officially ran from 1997–2002, however, Apple has occasionally hinted at the concept several times over the years on occasions such as when Al Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize (2007); when Steve Jobs died (2011); when the Macintosh turned 30 on January 24, 2014; and as recently as 2016 to commemorate the death of Muhammad Ali.
When I first visited the Apple Park Visitor Center in December 2017, one of several displays caught my eye. The Visitor Center includes an Apple Store, one of only two Apple Stores that sells Apple logo items to the public. (The other Apple Store that sells Apple logo items is the Infinite Loop Apple Store; each location has a different selection of logo items.)
I was quite enamored by the Apple Memory Cards display at the Apple Park Visitor Center. The Memory Cards feature six colors with four designs, each with a white silhouette of an Apple product. All cards have a black back. There are two of each design, for a total of 48 cards. In the Apple Park Visitor Center store, they are arranged as a wreath floating on the wall. I took several photos showing how the wreath is constructed. In Apple’s display, they use a perfectly initiated wood ring with each card affixed with black doubled-sided tape.
Somewhat oddly, the display at the Apple Visitor Center (and the one I made to replicate it) includes 30 cards; however, the deck only includes 24 different designs. Thus, each color displays four unique designs and one duplicate. Since I was creating a near-reproduction of the display, I went with 30 cards.
Since I do not have the facilities or expertise to construct a perfect oak ring with angled cuts, I put my creativity and problem-solving skills to work to find a relatively inexpensive and widely available substitute that I could construct. For a while, I considered designing a 3-D printed ring in pieces, but a far lower-tech solution hit me one day: binder clips. Standing in for angled cuts in a custom oak ring, I decided to use binder clips affixed with foam tape. Since I didn’t want to permanently damage the Memory Cards, I affixed each card to the metal binder clip with rare earth neodymium magnets. (I used one of my sets of Buckycube magnets. Even though this product is no longer available in the USA, other neodymium magnets can still be purchased on Amazon and elsewhere.)
I began by making a template using the drawing features in Pages. I have included the template, materials/supplies list, and directions here if you wish to make your own version. I’m guessing most people could complete the project for $30–60, depending on many factors. The Apple Memory Cards cost $10 and the IKEA frame is $14.99, but the neodymium magnets can be expensive. If you are willing to use foam adhesive or some other adhesion method, your cost could come in far lower since the 2 main elements here are binder clips and the Memory Cards.
Remove the clear plastic front from the IKEA frame. You will not use it for this project.
Cut a strong backing for the frame on which you will mount the binder clips and cards. I used black foam core board from Staples, cut to size with an X-acto blade and metal ruler.
Print the template. I used 11×17 paper, but you could also print it on 2 sheets of any size paper and tape it together.
Cut out each rectangle with an X-acto blade. The template is used as a guide and will be discarded so the rectangle cuts do not need to be perfect—you just need to get the angles right so you can align the binder clips precisely.
Remove the silver wires from 30 small binder clips. (I used black binder clips on my black background, but if I could have found 30 small white binder clips, I’d have used a white background.)
Using a ruler and Post-It tabs, position the template exactly in the center of the backing. (You could use any removable tape for this, I had Post-It tabs on hand.)
Using double-sided foam adhesive, stick each binder clip to the backing using the holes cut from the template. Make sure the angles and placement are precise. I used an X-acto blade to trim the double-sided foam adhesive to match the size of each binder clip.
Assemble the frame with the binder clips facing up. (The front plastic/glass is not used.)
Attach one card to each binder clip using a small neodymium magnet. The angle of the binder clips and the overlap of the cards will cover the binder clips when viewed from the front. (You could stick the Memory Cards to the binder clips with other methods; I chose magnets to not potentially destroy the cards.)
