It can't be that easy getting people excited by a new smartwatch not made by Google, Motorola, or Samsung these days, but the team behind Blocks were able to muster enough enthusiasm to score an extremely impressive $1.6 million on Kickstarter.

And it's easy to see why, really. The startup's offering a clever, modular take on the space, transforming the watch's band into a modular system that adds functionality to the wearable with every link in the chain. Rather than having to build everything into the watch itself, users add features like heart rate monitoring, GPS, and mobile payment solution bit by bit through the band.

Among other things, the smart build offers a form of future-proofing for the Android (not Android Wear, mind) wearable, making it possible to continually add new hardware elements as their introduced, much like Google's eagerly awaited Project Ara.

While it was still an non-working unit, I have to say I was surprised by the feel of the watch. Based on early images, I'd imagined the Blocks watch to be a lot less comfortable.The unit feels pretty nice on the wrist (if gigantic, compared to, say, the Moto 360).The unit slipped on nicely and lacked together magnetically.

It's a nice first step toward what's sure to be a fascinating addition to the space.