The YES Zulu is a sophisticated timepiece. The design allows the wearer to instantly see seven pieces of temporal information at once. From looking at the watch, we can tell it is 8:02 AM. Sunrise was at 5:20AM. High noon is at 1PM. It will set at 8:00PM. The moon will rise a bit before noon and will set around 11PM. The phase of the waxing moon is about 30%.

We have had the YES watch for a few weeks now. Some one has worn it each day. As we all compared notes on our user experience, the one common denominator is how well conceived the interface is on this multi-function watch.

The are four function buttons on the side of the Zulu. The buttons are comfortably rounded and easy to use. We would have preferred if YES had labeled them on the back or the side, but if we were wearing the watch everyday, we probably would remember their functions with no problem. The manual included with the YES Zulu does a good job of explaining the steps in setting up the watch. Once the "HOME" time and location is set, all of the other time functions (sunrise, sunset, moon rise, etc...) are automatically updated.

The close-up photo above gives the five main daily celestrial events. In our FirstUse report, we'll actually see how accurate they really are...the interns are going to love getting up for the Sunrise check:-)

The YES Zulu lets the wearer set an "Away" city from a selection of 583 different ones. For this review, we have ours set for Boston/Paris. We were unsuccessful in convincing our boss to fly us to Paris to check on the accuracy of the "Away" time. Apparently that information is readily available elsewhere :-(

One feature we especially like is the ability to switch off the digital time display...it gave the Zulu an entirely different feel. We suggest our readers try going through a few days knowing only the "approximate" time. It is stressful at first, but strangely liberating once you get into that mindset.

The Zulu has the usual timer and alarm functions. It also has one feature available (as far as we are aware) only in YES watches.. the "sunrise" alarm. For folks who want to catch the first light (photographers, movie directors) or avoid it (vampires), the alarm is worth the price alone.

The onboard computer also has a host of other information which can be accessed. Information such as the Day Of the Year, Week of the Year, Longitude and Latitude of the Home city, etc...

The Zulu has a rotatable outer ring which may be used as a third time zone indicator. There are also other more esoteric timer and time calculators. One such timer is the Personal Elapse Timer (PET).

The PET can be set to countdown to or past from an event up to 9999 days (27 years) either way...good for knowing exactly when you'll retire or the next important planetary alignment :-) Apparently, I can retire in 6333 days, 9 hours, and 13 minutes...from now.

The Chinese proverb below roughly translates as:

"An inch of daylight is worth an inch of gold, but it's difficult to buy an inch of daylight with an inch of gold."

The YES Zulu watch, as designed by Bjorn Kartomten may not let you buy back daylight, but it will certainly let you track it in a variety of ways.

We got interested in YES watches when readers asked us about them after reading our review of the Solunar a year ago.

The Zulu from YES is similar in functions (sunrise/sunset tracking, multiple time zones, etc...), but several orders of magnitude higher in quality (titanium bands, sapphire crystal, presentation case).

In this review, we'll take a look at the various functions. In the FirstUse report we'll give our impressions after wearing the watch for a while.

Reviews:

1. FirstLook

2. Changing Strap

3. Features

4. FirstUse

5. InTheWild

Review Summary:

Initial Impression- Amazing quality

Usability- Well conceived interface

Durability- 2 year warranty

Price- List price: $750