Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Apple releases new International Collection bands and faces for Apple Watch

From Apple’s press release:

The soft, breathable, and lightweight International Collection Sport Loop bands are available representing the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the US.

It’s a really neat way to market these new additions to the Apple Watch Sport Loop band lineup with the Summer Olympics coming up soon in Tokyo. Interestingly enough, Apple only references the Olympics in the context of a profile in its press release on former U.S. Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken. In reference to the theme of the bands themselves they only mention “the indescribable drive and competitive spirit of all athletes and fans.” I’m sure it’s an intellectual property issue the same way companies have to say “big game” instead of Super Bowl in their commercials.

In addition to the bands, they’re also rolling out matching watch faces. But these don’t require a software update to get. They’re customizations of the existing “Stripes” watch face. You could build these yourself in the Watch app on your phone, but if you navigate to the web page for the International Collection from your iPhone, you can download the face that corresponds to the country of your choice. That’s pretty neat! I went ahead and loaded up the U.S. face and opted for the circular design so that I could throw some complications on there.

As with the other Sport Loop bands offered by Apple, prices are $49 per band. Other than the U.S. edition, my favorites are France, Germany, and Japan. It’s amazing how well these simple colors work in this context.