Borrowed Time: Experience Devon Tread 2

The brainchild of Southern California designer Scott Devon, the Devon Tread 1 is a watch I’ve heard a lot of positive comments about over the past few years, but very little actual experience with it. With WatchTime’s emphasis on Swiss-made (yes, some German-made and Japanese-made) mechanical timepieces, the highly unorthodox American-made brand got lost in the shuffle — until recently, when I got the chance to get a new one The Devon Tread 2, the follow-up to the Tread 1, combines several design and technical upgrades with timing features.

What makes the Devon Tread 1 such an intriguing piece of high-tech horology – and a finalist in the Best Design and Concept Watch category at the Geneva Grand Prix, the first American watch brand to do so – is its patented “Time Belt” movement technology, which uses a system of tiny fiberglass-reinforced nylon straps to indicate the time. The technology behind these fiber strips (only 1/1000th of an inch thick) is taken directly from the aviation industry and used to indicate vital statistics like air speed and fluid levels on cockpit dashboards. Reading the time on the belt is easy and intuitive: the hours are scrolled on the horizontal belt, while the minutes are scrolled on the vertical belt.

Devon Tread’s “hybrid” system uses a belt mounted on a central chassis, driven by two tiny stepper motors, which are controlled by a tiny computer called a microcontroller, in addition to all the other functions of the watch. It’s definitely not your traditional mechanical Wholesale watch (no mainspring; energy is stored in a lithium polymer battery pack), but it’s definitely not your average quartz-controlled electronic watch either.

As one might expect, the Devon’s power reserve is impressive — a full 14 days after the high-tech “charging cradle” built into the watch box is fully charged (a dark tower of devices reminiscent of Monolith from 2001: Space roaming). For the Devon Tread 2, its inventors made some minor modifications to the original version – eight industrial-looking screws fastened the bezel to the case, replacing the Tread 1’s complex bracket system, and the hinged rods had a more “look” On the side of the Blade’ case, the more integrated strap connects to the case – and a main one, which adds a chronograph.

It takes a few hours to charge the watch by using electromagnetic induction, but as mentioned, once the battery is fully charged, you can use it for about two weeks – a boon for those who choose to wear the watch for a long time Watch on overseas trips (like me) and don’t want to carry a somewhat bulky case/charging unit with you on the go. In fact, you can extend the power reserve by simply switching the watch to the “off” position: press the button on the right and the belt will cycle from the current time to the default mode showing how many hours are left in the power reserve. When you turn the watch back on, the strap will return to the correct current time. In addition, thanks to the transparent sapphire dial,

Despite the somewhat intimidating size of the tonneau case, this watch is very comfortable on the wrist – the black rubber strap helps – although it looks “sport tech”, I find it works well with dark suits too The same goes for casual wear. (Interestingly, when wearing the Tread 2 in a group of watch enthusiasts, more than one of my peers asked me if I was wearing a Richard Mille fake because I saw the unique shape of the case sticking out of my shirt cuff.)

The Devon Tread 2 is certainly an eye-catching watch because of its size and very unusual appearance. If you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy showing curious strangers how it works, e.g. how the belt switches from battery saver to timekeeping mode at the touch of a button. At times, it’s also a very audible watch: the suggestive click of a time change—say, when 11:59 switches to 12 noon—can serve as a reminder, or a quiet alarm, for those inclined to For wearers who forget the time. time.

But if you plan to use the chronograph function—activated by switching the watch to chronograph mode via the hinged lever, then start and stop by pressing the crown’s center button—be prepared to cause those to be heard right away. The ticking of the chronograph second hand is crisp and loud. It’s best not to start the stopwatch during an important business meeting or church service. Engaging the lever in the opposite direction puts the watch in another mode in which the minute band acts as an indicator of running seconds. Again, this means your watch is ticking very loudly every second (and also draining power faster), so you may want to use this mode sparingly.

All in all, I find the Devon Tread 2 to be both an interesting “novelty” timepiece and one that I’m proud to show off in the watch enthusiast community. Serious gearheads with watch tastes leaning toward the exotic, and aficionados of the steampunk look, might appreciate it even more. While I’m not sure if it’s going to be an everyday watch, I’m very grateful for the time I’ve spent with it – and can’t help but be very intrigued by what the brand has in store for us in its upcoming Devon Tread model.

The Devon Tread 2 model I reviewed has a fully brushed stainless steel case, nicknamed “Shining.” Five other models with increasingly scary nicknames: Starry Night (steel case, black DLC bezel), Nightmare (steel case, black DLC coating, black with grey numerals), Bloody Mary (black DLC case, red numerals and Black belt, black anodized movement) and Murder (steel with black DLC coating and red trim, red numbers on black belt). A white ceramic case version called “Ghost” is also planned. Buy fake watch

Technical Specifications:

• 42mm x 44mm x 14.5m 316L surgical grade stainless steel case with high-tech CNC machining
• 1mm thick sapphire crystal
• Water resistant to 10 meters
• Black rubber strap
• 0.002″ thick glass reinforced, nylon timing strap©
• Lithium-polymer rechargeable battery lasts up to two weeks
• Inductive wireless charging system
• Total weight: 90 grams