Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote today that Apple is planning a return of the much-beloved ceramic Apple Watch. In fact, Gurman says a new ceramic Watch could go on sale as soon as this year.

The ceramic watch option was last offered in 2019 as the ‘Apple Watch Edition Series 5’, back when it still used the Edition branding for its more premium watches featuring higher-end materials.

Almost seven years since it was last available in the lineup, the ceramic Apple Watch has become a bit of a rare collector’s item. The case material featured a strikingly rich deep-gloss look, and it was highly resistant to scratches.

Apple first offered a white ceramic option with Apple Watch Series 2, added a black ceramic variant with the Series 3, dropped both ceramic colors entirely for the Series 4, only to bring a white ceramic option only with the Series 5. It was discontinued alongside the launch of the Series 6 in 2020.

Here’s what Mark said in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter about its return:

And Apple has been working on an addition for styles, with the company plotting the return of a ceramic case option either this year or next. 

As a reminder, the current Watch Series 11 is available in aluminum or titanium, with the Apple Watch Ultra being titanium exclusively. The titanium watches start at $699 compared to the $399 starting price for the cheapest Series 11.

We would expect ceramic to be offered as an even more high-end premium material option. For reference, the Series 5 ceramic Apple Watch started at a $1299 price point.