Cura
We’re proud to present — the Cura.
Our sophomore entry in our Artist Edition Line, the Cura is inspired by old school design, and takes its essence from In Hyeok Choi’s play philosophy that focuses on nostalgia, playfulness and joy.
Designed by In Hyeok Choi and Atmos Projects.
SPECS
Diameter 54.4mm
Width 43.2mm
Weight 66.3g
Material 6061 Aluminium
The Artist Edition is one of our favorite design lines to work on. The initial idea behind the lineup was to work with special players and individuals in the community to co-create designs that represented their unique philosophies, tastes, and ideas.
In December 2024, we released our first Artist Edition model — the Noma., in collaboration with Tsukasa Takatsu. The Noma. was soft, ultralight, and sensitive on the string — a real embodiment of Tsukasa’s philosophy — that is, a deep regard for simplicity, form, and feel.
This year, another name we deeply admired surfaced in team conversations — In Hyeok Choi.
In Hyeok is one of very few players in the community that exudes an extremely effortless style and grace in his play. In our personal opinion, he occupies the rare “your favorite player’s favorite player” air, and holds significant cultural influence despite not participating in the usual competitive circuits. It speaks not only to his tricks, but also to the artistic depth and complexity behind his play style.
We have been big fans of his style, approach and philosophy for years, and naturally we were incredibly excited when he said yes to working on something together.
In Hyeok is a current member of the Aufheben player team — we’re extremely grateful for the blessings Aufheben extended to us to work with In Hyeok on this project.
Right off the bat, In Hyeok dove into his artistic inspirations — and most of them surrounded the art form of pottery. This was an instantaneous point of connection, since form study in pottery had been a key influence in our design approach. In Hyeok sent me many references on textures and tones in porcelain and ceramics, including Helen Frankenthaler’s particular glaze and surface aesthetics.
Another moment of alignment happened early in our conversations, when In Hyeok sent me this:
We’ve always been hesitant about the min-max, meta approach to design.
In an age of complex and complicated design construction, the freedom to pursue simplicity and nostalgia in a physical object was something we were grateful for.
In Hyeok also cited multiple classic designs that he felt were particularly inspiring — amongst them the 2007 YoyoFactory 888, the SPYY Addicton, the Yoyofactory GrindMachine 2, and the Shinwoo Zen Rebuilt.
After multiple conversations, we circled around the idea to create a subtly curved, organic-feeling silhouette with high inner walls. Feel-wise, we wanted to go for a balanced, even-keeled weight distribution, ala the mid-2000s playbook of design and feel.
We would also pay special attention to curvature, lines, gradients and layers — the same way a potter would in giving form to clay.
We drew up four versions of the Cura, and ultimately prototyped three of them.
The first, original design (V1) took inspiration from the Shinwoo Zen Rebuilt, and sported a 54.4mm diameter, 43.2mm width, and we targeted a weight of roughly 66g. The playfeel on this version was very unique — extremely soft and comfortable, and very sensitive.
The third design (V3) had similar specs, but sported a design change that In Hyeok made specifically to the cup and rim design:
This changed the look of the V2, but the changes in mass also gave it a lot more spin power and stability. It added a solidity and smoothness that In Hyeok liked, and became the canvas for the fourth and final version of the Cura.
At In Hyeok’s request, we inserted a subtle countercurve near the inner walls of the Cura. It’s a nice, understated feature that is unique to V4, and adds a little bit of a pop on the spin.
This version — ultimately the one that made it to production — just has a feel about it.
In In Hyeok’s own words,
“The philosophy about Cura is the same as my approach to yoyo. It’s totally for fun. It’s not for competition. I focus on the feeling of being playful in yoyoing. It is necessary for me to take a distance from placing with high scores on stage — the thought somehow makes me feel like I should be recognized in a certain way. Cura comes from this distance. Its old school design and ordinary dimensions will bring you back to the early eras of yoyoing, which was an era of pure joy.”
This is In Hyeok playing the Cura, in a video titled Citations. Aligned to the notion of nostalgia for a time gone by, Citations pays homage to iconic tricks by legendary players that have formed the foundation of modern play.
The name Cura is especially meaningful — Cura is a figure in Roman mythology that formed the first human from clay, and in Latin literally translates to “care” — the fundamental spirit with which we design, craft and create things.
From In Hyeok:
“The name comes from my recent interest in pottery. I had the chance to work on some pottery, and I was captivated by the feeling of clay and forming it into shapes. It did require patience and time, which I think is the same methodology as making tricks. That was when I decided to name this yoyo after this idea — there were a few words that captured this essence, but Cura had a good feeling to me. It has its special echoes.”
The Cura occupies a very unique position in Atmos’ design lineup. It’s not a shape we usually work with, and there are design features in the Cura that aren’t found in any of our other projects. At the same time, it’s such a wonderful embodiment of In Hyeok’s philosophy that we find a deep resonance with.
We’re proud of what we’ve created alongside In Hyeok — we hope the Cura is something you enjoy, too.
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The Cura is equipped with
Stratos Pads by Atmos
Type I Concave Bearings by Atmos
CloudWeave Micro by Atmos
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december 2025
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