Independents

Tim_M
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A Consensus of Sorts.. or Not...

Thanks to all for the kind words and for reading my thoughts above. The feedback elicited by this watch has been striking.

It seems like most here harbor a similar sense that the Devon is "interesting" but ultimately not sufficiently fulfilling from an artistic or technical standpoint. I feel that a timepiece must appeal to one of these sensibilities in order to have lasting connoisseur appeal.

I certainly don't intend to posit that an electronic component automatically renders a watch soulless or relegates it to emotional irrelevance. Some hybrid electro-mechanical systems have proved to be enduring and endearing to this community; the Seiko Spring Drive and original Bulova Accutron movement come to mind.

However, while those systems glorified the movement as such and were marketed on the basis of true mechanical innovation, the Devon seems to be entirely given to style. The outlandish size combined with the unconventional time display betray the watch's total focus on visual impact by means of novelty. This is quite a different visual impact than the kind that draws a viewer to look ever deeper; I can't imagine an aficionado pouring over the Devon for any significant time with a loupe or viewer. The level of finish and relatively mundane spec of the electronic components don't invite or reward closer examination.

That's my position, but....

...I certainly don't intend to silence or belittle any opinions to the contrary. Indeed, Bernard offered a vigorous and cogent defense of the Devon in his initial overview, and I'm sure that he and others of the same mind are ready to press the pro-Devon case with gusto and eloquence to match anything I can muster. Tastes are highly individual, and definitive verdicts often are anything but. Perhaps, if this Devon has served to inspire such controversy thus far, there may be more to it than we grasped? It strikes us, moves us, and seems to elicit true love/hate reactions. But we can't articulate *precisely* why.

Is this the "Catcher in the Rye" of haute horology?