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Culture

Early concepts of the new Pebble Steel (pictures)

Have a look at some of the concepts that were created during the design of the new Pebble Steel.

Tim Stevens

Jan. 6, 2014 11:00 a.m. PT

Tim Stevens

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Pebble Steel early concepts

For the last six months, a small team at Pebble has worked in secret to create a watch that looks as good as it works – thus Pebble Steel. It does exactly the same things as the original Pebble, but looks far nicer on the wrist while doing them.

As with Pebble before, there was no shortage of early concepts. The concept above shows the smartwatch encased in metal with a matte finish.

In the end, only two concepts were good enough for final consideration, with the more traditional of the two getting the nod according to Pebble’s Steven Johns, lead industrial designer responsible for Pebble and Steel. Click through this gallery for a look at more early Steel concepts.

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Widescreen

Some of the watches offered a curiously and distinctly widescreen look, though most offered more traditional layouts.

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Formal wear

Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky describes Steel as a more formal version of Pebble: "I'm going out for dinner, I'm wearing a suit, I've got a position that doesn't allow me to wear a plastic watch on my wrist. How do I benefit from a smartwatch?...We just had to build an aesthetically different Pebble."

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A dark finish

The watches, most of which never made it past a conceptual rendering stage, experimented with different styles, finishes, and even orientations.

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Bianca

Another concept for Steel -- or Bianca, as some Pebble employees prefer to call it. Bianca was Steel's codename, a character from "The Adventures of Tintin" comics. Indeed, Pebble itself was "Tintin" during development.

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All in white

Another early Pebble Steel concept, this time with a sleek white finish.

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Different bands

This concept shows what Steel would look like with a solid black wristband.

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Smaller profile

Reducing the size of the watch was a major consideration as well, the team hoping to add some additional appeal to the fairer sex along the way. "Part of the idea was to bring it to be a little more feminine," said Johns. "I was desperately trying to shrink the overall profile."

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Early concepts for Steel left no detail untouched. This concept shows one style of button that was considered for the smartwartch.

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Paying dues

Pebble's Steven Johns said some of the early Steel concepts were meant to pay homage to "the precursors, the old calculator watches from Casio. Not an inspiration directly, but certainly a precursor with a nice flat screen."

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Notifications

Another view of a Pebble Steel concept, this time with the screen showing a notification.

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Screen durability

A concern for Pebble Steel was durability of the watch face itself. "We were looking at doing a sapphire lens or Gorilla Glass," said Pebble’s Steven Johns. Ultimately the team went with Gorilla Glass, thanks to the cost, thinness, and durability of the material.