Transparent aluminum. It’s a central plot element in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and now the same stuff may be used for elements of Microsoft’s upcoming smart watch. According to a report by The Verge, Microsoft is currently prototyping just such a device as it enters the middle stages of the development process.

Development is being carried out by the Surface team, who were of course also responsible for the design of the Surface RT and Surface Pro and their accessories – and all of these have been well received.

Earlier this year we’d heard, from The Verge and confirmed by Wall Street Journal, that the Microsoft smart watch would use the same magnetic power connector used in the Surface tablets and a 1.5-inch display. Additionally, AmongTech reported that the prototypes utilized a variety of removable wrist bands coming in blue, red, yellow, black, white and grey.

Now, we’re hearing from the same source that oxynitride aluminium, an expensive ceramic sometimes known as transparent or translucent aluminum, will be used for the housing of the device. The substance is three times harder than glass, which should make for a suitably rugged yet lightweight chassis.

AmongTech are also reporting that some prototypes are running a (heavily modified) version of Windows 8, with 6 GB of storage and LTE connectivity. That relatively low storage capacity would point to Skydrive integration being key here for media storage.

The smart watch race is definitely shaping up to be an interesting one, and I hope we’ll continue to see more leaks and releases from the other big players, particularly Samsung and Google. With pretty much everyone in the smartphone game getting involved, the smart watches produced in such a competitive environment should be quite impressive.

What do you think of the transparent aluminum Surface wrist watch outlined above? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading the article and have a great afternoon!