Devon Tread 1 Watch Review

Scott Devon sure shook up the high-end watch world when people got word of the Tread 1. Divorced from all the "tradition" in Switzerland, this California made watch relies instead on suppliers to outfit the aerospace industry. The basic theme of this electro-mechanical timepiece is that time is told on belts (the treads) and read through windows placed over segments of those belts.It doesn't take long to figure out how to tell the time when looking at the dial - even though you see a lot going on. This isn't the first watch to tell the time via belts, but certainly is one of the coolest to do so. In a nutshell, the Devon Tread 1 offers a totally unique wearing experience that is?? much more akin to a electronic gadget that a traditional timepiece. It transcends both the watchmaking world and the gadget world, but borrows heavily from each. It is the Tread 1 one, and it is certainly worth knowing about.My first hands-on experience with the Tread 1 watch was outlined here. The video I took of a prototype got a surge of views (and was pretty cool I have to admit - you can click on the link to check it out ). People never saw anything like it, and it goes without saying that the watch has a significant "gee whiz" factor to it. For many, it is the ultimate watch gadget - and in many ways it is.While the Tread 1 is large, Devon did a good job with the design to ensure wearing comfort. The case is 53.3mm wide by 47mm tall and 19mm thick. I have small wrists, so the watch will likely not look at large on your arm. As you can tell, the lug structures that the rubber strap is attached to slope down considerably in order to have the watch wrap around the wrist. This helps the watch be more stable and comfortable.The watch case is steel, but the back of it is DLC black coated steel. There you will also find the unique serial number of the watch. It is also where the watch sits when you are charging it. The crystal is polycarbonate - the same material used for bullet-proof glass. It is also AR coated for clarity. Inside the watch is a complex assortment of microstep motors, belts, and a processor. It is a quartz regulation based device, and according to Devon it is thermo-compensated which means it should be more accurate. The processor controls the functions and all the small motors. Rather than have a crown, the watch has a controller. You sort of operate it like a crown though, and is placed at the bottom parts of the case.Looking inside of the watch is a treat. What is really special - especially for seasoned watch lovers is just how different it is. It looks more like a machine than something you'd see in a Swiss watch. There are screws and belts, and plates. It looks like some was playing with the world's most complex Erector set. Seeing everything work together helps you appreciate how difficult it was to design from scratch. Few people in the mechanical watch world ever design things totally from scratch as there is generations of knowledge to build off of. For Devon, no one had ever done anything like this - so they have little to guide them.