[Goldtop 57]

Hey watch freaks from all over the world!

I am not a big watch enthusiast per se, but I dig unique timepieces. Unique as in NOT another copy of a famous watch by one of the big players. But unique as in standing on its own - be it designwise, in a sense of functionality or other. There are quite a number of manufacturers that make watches to which that applies, but most don't just spark my interest.

Ever on the lookout for something special in the above sense, I was surfing around some years ago and happened to come across the microbrand Yeswatch, run by a team of four Norwegians based in La Jolla, CA. They made watches I've never seen before, and to my modest knowledge there are simply no other watches on that planet that look similar or do the same, all in one package. My interest was keen, and I decided to go for one of the now discontinued models, the KUNDALINI. I was scraping together the money when an anouncement on their website came - they were going to step up the beat and construct an all-new solunar watch, the EQUILIBRIUM. Wow. I wanted that, so I presently signed up for their campaign on Indiegogo to help them fund that masterpiece.

By that time, only computer renderings were available, by I liked what I saw.....Couldn't wait.
Well, as it goes with kickstarter-funded projects by minute companies, the EQ was delayed again and again - mostly due to some minor problems showing up during the course of bringing the idea into physical reality. The team kept all funders updated about what was the problem and how it was to be fixed. Nice. The contact to the founder was personal and friendly, just as I hoped from a small brand.

One day mid March, the EQ arrived from the US and got customs clearance. Since then, I wear it proudly and enjoy it immensely - it draws comments, because such a watch was never seen by almost everyone.

Here are some specs that could be of interest.

• the watch is big - 48*17mm, all titanium, bracelet included. Weighing in at only 124gr, wristsize 17,5cm. Can be ordered in polished (mine) or matte, also black polished or matte
• analog and digital time. Digital can be switched off.
• anti-reflexive sapphire glas
• 25 tritium 100 tubes in two colours that make reading it in the night easy (see below for nightshot)
• water proof to 10 atm
• analog 24 hour hand, midnight at the classical 6 o'clock, noon at 12.
• moon phase plus indicator of waning of waxing moon
• two rings of yellow and orange LCD - the outer orange showing the times when the sun rises and sets, the inner yellow doing the same for the moon.
• 5 alarms
• compass
• 10 cities can be selected and saved for locations often travelled to
• exact dates for sunrise and -set, moonrise and -set can be shown
• important feature: the quartz movement can be adjusted to +/- 100 seconds per month to make the watch go exact.
• a selection of altogether 4 straps/bracelets comes with the watch. The attached titanium one (available in 3- or 5-link), and a leather, silicone and nato one in colours of your choice.
• 5 different bezels can be chosen from: roman symbols (the one I have), 24hr arabic, 12/12 arabic, solunar and symbols.
• the battery on which the EQ runs can be charged by an included USB clip.

It's been 4 months now that I wear the EQ almost every day, and I am really happy with it. I charged the battery once, after exactly 4 months after shipping it to Germany, where I live. Mostly, I have the digital time off. This is really a timepiece that doesn't have its equals anywhere in the watch world. The craftmanship is of a high quality, everything is smooth and nice to the touch. There are tools to adjust of exchange the bracelets to fit your arm.

And now, let pictures speak!!!

I hope you like what you see!!!

Take care and best regards from

Oliver, Germany

#1: The EQ looked from the noon position with digital time off

#2: Waxing half moon, time is about 5:10 pm. The dashed parts of the orange dial indicate dusk and dawn, resp. As you can see, time of sunrise is about 6 am, sunset ca 06:40 pm. Moonrise is ca 10:40 am , moonset 01:40 am.

#3+4: Back and clasp. The little black oval spot is the port to charge the battery, protected by a piece of rubber. A sheet of such thin rubber is provided with the watch to cut new pieces from after charging to keep the pols protected.

'5+6: More EQ. Pic 6 has digital time ON. The numbers appear defocused because the seconds were changing during exposure and due to the angle from which the pic was taken.

#7+8: Wristshots

#9: Night shot. Orange tubes are daytime, the green one in the middle is obviously noon. As you can see, time can be read quite easily.

#10: The EQ has a white light to illuminate the dial.

 

[Goldtop 57]

Hi again!

To be honest, I am a bit surprised by the lack of answers to this thread.....

I know that Yeswatch is probably an unknown brand, but this watch is unique, as well in its desgin as in its functionality.

What I forgot to mention is that the Equilibrium displays 8 points throughout the year in a special way. These 8 points are the

two equinoxes,
two solstices,
and the 4 points halfway between one solstice and the following equinox.

In olden times, mostly 4 of these dates were celebrated in many societies throughout the world, and even we know some of them by name:

summer solstice 21.6.
hallowe'en 31.10.
harvest home 23.9.
jul 21.12

The other four are probably less known:

Beltane 30.4.
Lammas 1.8.
Imbolc 1.2.
Ostara 21.3. (the name is disputed, but you may substitute Easter for it)

On each of these dates, the inner yellow LCD ring changes to a checkered pattern and the watch displays the name of the date.

All the best from a too hot summer in Germany....

Oliver

 

[ned-ludd]

To be honest, I am a bit surprised by the lack of answers to this thread.....

To be honest, I've never visited the Review subforum before now.

The EQ has been discussed at some length in several threads in the 24 Hour subforum.

What I forgot to mention is that the Equilibrium displays 8 points throughout the year in a special way.

You may be interested to hear that the seasonal festival notifications on the EQ are shifted by six months if you're in the southern hemisphere. Yet another instance of the designers at Yes really putting thought into the EQ.

 

[berni29]

Hi

That is a crazy watch! So interesting. How much do they cost? I liked the review. Many thanks

Berni

 

[Goldtop 57]

Ah, answers at last

You can find the prices on their website, yeswatch.com

Take care and have a good time.
Oliver

 

[dannyking]

Interesting watch!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Apollo83]

Nice review and pictures - Danke schoen.

I have the previous version of this watch and love the awareness of diurnal and seasonal variation it gives you.
The main improvement I would have liked to see was size reduced to ~45mm x 16mm
Also I am not sure about the lume markers - it seems to make the dial a little too cluttered for my taste.

How are you finding the battery life? In general I don't like watches you have to plug in, but maybe if it lasts a month I could live with it.

My previous version salutes you

 

[ronalddheld]

nice review. I have not visited this forum until now.

 

[Goldtop 57]

Hello once more!

I had to charge the battery after exactly 4 months after shipping. That is totally ok for me. Charging took about 5 hrs till full. I always have the digital time display off and I don't play around with the EQ much, I guess that helps prolong battery life.

Cheers,
Oliver

 

[davudvl]

Thank you for the review. I like this watch and was considering it, but I am fraid I will never be able to learn all of its functions and utilize them. 99 percent of the time , I will be just checking the time of day

 

[Rodentman]

I have had one for several months now. It is definitely a niche piece but it has an impressive number of features. I like it.

My only issue is that I feel goaded into buying it on the Indiegogo site since it was supposed to be less than the $1,295 MSRP. Well, it was less but the MSRP is not that high, so a little baiting there.

The wait was way longer than projected which surprised me for an established company; I have one of their earlier models too.

Anyway I like it a lot but my Rolexes get more wrist time.