In a few weeks California-based Devon will unveil the follow-up version to their now famous Devon Tread 1 watch. It was originally explained to me that the Tread 2 watch would be a more simple and inexpensive model. It looks as though a lot of that has changed, but what I do think is still part of the Tread 2 based on early information is that it will have two treads versus three. The Tread 1 has a constantly running belt for the seconds which was cool, but was also a bit loud and consumed a lot of power. The new model will have two tread as I understand it, and a whole lot more.

The Tread 2 will have a lot of material upgrades and a more sophisticated design. It will also be very accurate and come in a smaller package. I reviewed the very cool Tread 1 here, and you can see that it is a large timepiece. The Tread 2 will have a 38mm wide case that is 42mm tall and 14.5mm thick. That is a lot smaller than the Tread 1. The Tread 2 will initially be in steel, but DLC black versions could easily follow. It will again have a rubber strap.

One new feature is an “articulating arm.” As you can see in the preview picture, it looks like there is an arm or lever system on the case side and possibly a new type of crown that is similar to the original “joystick” crown of the Tread 1. The case is going to be more complicated versus the original and it will now feature a sapphire crystal. The original has a polycarbonate crystal because of how it curved around the entire case. The crystal on the Tread 2 looks more flat. The case will be water resistant to 10 meters (read, don’t do much more than wash your hands with it).

Inside the Tread 2 will be a similar quartz-based timing system that uses small one-step motors to move the “tread” belts made of reinforced nylon specially done for this watch. The quartz movement is thermo-compensated for ultimate accuracy of a few seconds a year. Inside the watch is a rechargeable lithium battery that uses contact based induction battery charging without wires as the watch sits on a cradle.

Aside from that I will wait a few weeks to see what Devon has in store for us. It looks like the Tread 2 is going to be more sophisticated and more simple at the same time – compared to the Tread 1. Because of that I can’t predict pricing, but the original Tread 1 is about $15,000. Look for more soon.