$15,000 Devon Tread 1 Watch Shows its Guts

The Devon Tread 1's unique features? A belt-driven time-keeping mechanism, and transparent casing designed to show it off. Other special features include an onboard microprocessor, "bulletproof" polycarbonate construction, and a rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery cell that runs up to two weeks on a single charge.

Reflecting the current time's hour, minute, second, and hundredth of a second are four belts driven by tiny microprocessor-managed motors. Fiber-reinforced glass nylon construction allows for a belt thickness of just two-thousandths of an inch, and a "proprietary optical recognition system" ensures accurate movements.

Whether all that's worth 150 benjamins is definitely a matter of debate. Devon however claims that no other watch does a better job of showcasing its configuration as it moves real-time, with the special construction leaving the impression that the parts are floating mid-air.

Currently no retail information is available, save for the reported price of $15,000. Personally, it's unclear why anyone with money would settle for this, instead of more classic luxury brands like Rolex and Omega.

Devon Tread 1

Rico Mossesgeld
Contributing writer

Rico was a contributing writer at Tom's Guide. Based in the Philippines, Rico was plugged into the latest tech news to cover the latest future-gazing products and industry announcements. Rico no longer actively writes for Tom's Guide, and now works as a systems engineer. During his time at the site, he covered topics such as robotics, home office products and retro video games.

  • u-nip
    lol 2 weeks battery life
    Reply
  • icepick314
    should have used solar recharge system instead...that would have been quite a feature....
    Reply
  • mlopinto2k1
    They should have incorporated a usb charging system that synced to Internet time automatically. Having to charge it if it dies and then setting the time EVERY SINGLE TIME would suck big hairy goat balls. Otherwise I think it looks pretty bad ass. 15k? No way.
    Reply
  • Marco925
    Two weeks battery life? I've owned watches that have lasted YEARS to the point where i'd forget them and still work. 2 weeks between charges, geez, i might make a shelf for all the things i have to recharge nowadays.

    At least make a 24hr version!

    Not worth $15000.

    But at least it's not gold.
    Reply
  • ukgooey
    I can tell you with some authority, that neither Rolex or Omega make a watch that has a complication this awesome. You can easily spend much more on either brand and end up with much less watch.

    And why would you want it instead of one of these brands? Because every unoriginal 'watch enthusiast' buys an Omega or Rolex (or Breitling, Cartier etc.). Like the kind of 'car enthusiast' that buys a Porsche in fact. You see ten a week.

    If I could (even remotely) afford it, I'd have this any day over those brands.

    For anyone interested, here is the link:

    http://www.devonworks.com/
    Reply
  • deweycd
    The whole point of owning a watch like this is not to be the most fashionalble brand but rather to have something unique that people are going to notice.
    Reply
  • Pei-chen
    Not bad a concept. If they could sell themselves to Seiko, Seiko could put a Kinetic Perpetual movement behind it solve the battery and accuracy problem.
    Reply
  • kalogagatya
    or you could buy a car :D
    Reply
  • 7amood
    Robot Porn
    Reply
  • sliem
    F-ing useless. Waste of money.
    Reply