Former Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive’s LoveFrom x Balmuda Sailing Lantern was Built for the Waves

Before we get into it, know that Jony Ive, the founder of LoveFrom, spent two years getting every joint and curve just right so the thing in front of him could withstand the salt and wobble of open ocean without flinching. This is the Sailing Lantern, born from Ive’s frustration with the options available for his yacht.

Ive’s team worked with Balmuda, a Japanese company that turns everyday tools into quiet masterpieces of engineering. Balmuda’s president, Gen Terao, remembers the day Ive walked into their Tokyo office, sketches in hand. What started as a casual pitch turned into a full partnership, with both parties poring over prototypes late into the night. Terao saw romance in the idea: a light like the old Fresnel lamps sailors used for navigation, but made modern. Ive, a sailor at heart, wanted elements of his childhood boats—the GP14 he used to race as a kid and the bigger one he now commands.

Steel is the backbone here, machined to a mirror finish that resists rust and can take a beating. Glass lenses are ground flat and polished smooth to wrap around the body, with two embedded LEDs inside. Turn the dial and the lights change from a sharp cold tone for reading charts to a softer amber that simulates flame. No switches or apps, just a mechanical click that gradually dims the light, as if it were breathing out. The internal battery can be recharged via USB-C and lasts 150 hours on the lowest setting and four hours when fully charged. Drop it in the water? The IP67 rating can handle submersion up to a metre deep for half an hour and the whole thing wipes clean from spray or spills.


It weighs 1.54 kg and is balanced such that it can be noticed without exertion. The dimensions are 11.4 by 11.4 by 17.5 centimeters—small enough to fit inside a locker but tall enough to throw shadows on a deck. A polyester strap in a sandy color loops through the top, textured to hold salt without fraying and soft to your palm. Hang it on a beam, place it on a rail or carry it like a lantern should be: steady and unhurried. Inside, 0.4mm pins hold components in place, invisible until you disassemble for repair. Balmuda says repairs will be easy – no proprietary screws or bonded seams. When the time comes, recycling will separate it cleanly: steel to steel and glass to glass.


The lantern is limited to 1,000 pieces and will go into production soon with delivery in March 2026. Preorders are open now on the Balmuda website for $4,800 each plus shipping and customs.