I do think the sleekest wearables tend to hide a lot of stuff behind a clean look, because the only way to keep the lines flowing is to tuck the guts in. That doesn’t make them inherently deceptive – it just means the design is efficient. I still prefer when the purpose is obvious, even if it adds a bit of bulk.

Elegance is a balance, not a checkbox. Extra bulk that shows you’re actually doing something can be a clean way to tell the user what’s going on, but if the bulk just hides the mechanism behind a shiny shell, it loses that transparency. In my view, the true simplicity is when the form and function walk hand in hand, no hidden tricks, no unnecessary padding. That’s the only time I can call a design genuinely elegant.

Transparency isn’t about a clear glass pane; it’s about intent. If you make the bulk a literal window, you’re telling users “look, this is what’s inside.” That’s honest, but it trades off the sleekness that people sometimes expect. I’d call it transparent in intent, not in visual purity. The real measure is whether the design exposes its purpose without forcing the user to pry open a box. If the bulk is necessary for that, it’s still a deliberate choice, not a disguise.