A behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of the Moto 360

Motorola shows off several could've-been smartwatches—many nothing like the Moto 360 that just went on sale. 

 

It wasn't always destined to be a round smartwatch

During a tour of Motorola's striking new downtown Chicago headquarters, which is stationed in a large chunk of the monolithic Merchandise Mart, I was whisked from lab to lab to see how the company creates its devices, such as the new Moto X and Moto G, and of course, the Moto 360.

But the most interesting part of the experience was seeing the Moto 360 that could've been—with a rounded square face, a racing stripe along the strap, or even the blacked-out screen section on top rather than the bottom. Here are some photos of the prototypes and processes that helped lead to the watch you can buy today.

Rounded square prototypes

A non-circular face? Say it isn't so! Indeed, Motorola experimented with a wide array of possible Android Wear watch designs, including these rounded square shapes. They had numerous working prototypes prepared before deciding to pursue the Moto 360's circular design.

Early band designs

This is a look at some of the other square-ish prototype watches developed in the early days of Android Wear design at Motorola. You can see a slimmer band on the rightmost model—perhaps a female-targeted version—along with an interesting oval clasp design on a couple of them.

 

 

 

A matter of bezel

Here we see a member of the hardware team explaining that once they settled on a circular watch unit, they had to decide whether to keep the bezel slim and have the black bar on the bottom, or deliver a chunkier watch that's fully circular. It's pretty clear what they ultimately decided for the Moto 360.

A smaller, fully-circular screen

We got a closer look at the proposed fully rounded face, and while that would have been great, it's clear that the trade-off would have been significant in terms of bulk and feel (plus a smaller overall display). We'll soon find out how well LG's G Watch R handles that challenge.

The body's build

Here we can see the circular watch body coming together, from what looks to be the initial plastic prototype into its eventual stainless steel consumer version. There's a much heavier-looking metal attempt seemingly shown in there as well.

Flashy and sporty

Motorola initially considered a circular watch that really popped, featuring a yellow leather band adorned with a racing stripe, but decided it was a little too sporty for their intentions. It makes sense, but I also can't help but want that version as an eventual variant of sorts. How about Moto Maker for watches?

 

 

 

Impressive industrial design

As we wandered the lab, the employees pulled up 3D renders of the watch and rotated them—a likely facade of "working" so we didn't see what they're actually tinkering with these days, but it served as an introduction for the next part of the building, which showed how they can quickly generate physical prototypes.