It will come as no surprise that I’m a fan of the Pebble Smartwatch.

I was a Kickstarter backer and I’ve been amazed at how this tiny watch has changed my life in the past 7 months.
There were a few issues for me with the Pebble when it launched, but these were to be expected considering the size of the company and the breadth of their ambition.
Up to this point though, all most all of my issues have been addressed:

• More notifications – Check
• Watch faces with data drawn from you smartphone – Check

But there was one thing that was holding the Pebble back a bit and that was the hardware’s look. The plastic Pebble has a certain level of Geek Chic to it. People who know what they are, ask about it. People who don’t, ask if it’s an Apple watch (oddly).

At CES 2014 though, Pebble have announced a new, Steel version of the original Pebble.

It’s available in three finishes and with different straps (not interchangeable like the plastic one). The internals are almost identical and the only main addition is a small LED on the front to indicate that the watch is charging. These changes raise the price to $249 US with international shipping and you can pre-order now.

I really like the look of the new Pebble Steel, but, I don’t think I’d part with my Kickstarter edition, I’d have to consider this to be a full new purchase (I.E. Not offsetted with the sale of the original). Would I buy another smartwatch, given that I fully expect Apple to launch one by the end of the year? Sorry Pebble, but no. Let someone else buy mine and enjoy the feeling of living in the future.