View the Yes Tati photo gallery.

I'm a big fan of Yes watches. I reviewed the Yes Zulu two years ago, and I have the black Kundalini which never fails to draw attention. So when I heard some time ago that Yes was working on an all-digital watch, the project piqued my interest. The Zulu and the Kundalini are stunning watches, but somewhat overpower my narrow wrist, so I hoped a digital Yes watch would give me the unique and innovative perspective on time that is the signature of Yes watches, but in a more appropriately sized package.

The Yes Tati is precisely that. By replacing the analog 24-hour hand that distinguishes the rest of the lineup with an LCD, Yes was able to remove an entire quartz movement and extra battery. The result is a much smaller watch which is just as unique as the other pieces, and with all the same functionality.

Although the Tati is designed for narrower wrists, I wouldn't go so far as to classify it as a ladies watch. While it certainly looks at home on a woman's wrist, the wide leather cuff (easily removable), especially on the black version, makes it appropriate for men, as well -- especially those of us who were cursed with a combination of watch lust and skinny wrists. The soft leather strap makes the Tati both light weight, and very comfortable against the skin.

Yes watches have some of the most interesting and expressive names of any watch brand, and the Tati is no exception. I expected Tati to refer to a distant mountain range, or perhaps the name of an ancient sun goddess, but it turns out that the origins of the name are even more interesting. Tati is short for Tatiana, Yes Watches CEO Bjørn Kartomten's daughter, and judging from my conversations with Bjørn, the inspiration for much of what he does.

If you are new to Yes watches, it's important to realize that they are not all about aesthetics. In fact, Yes watches were specifically born out of a desire to present a more complete picture of time by bringing together manmade horological concepts like hours, minutes, and seconds with nature's concepts of time like sunrise, sunset, and moon phases. It turns out that integrating these two words means cramming an incredible number of features into a relatively small case.

I haven't been a fan of Swiss Army watches since I paid $100 for an original Swiss Army watch back in high school, wore it on the construction site where I was working, and had it quit on me after filling up with sawdust after only a week. It's been a long time since I earned beer money as a laborer, however, and John over at The Wrist Watch Review has recently posted twice about Swiss Army watches being good values, so I've decided to give them another look. They have some interesting chronographs and divers which I'm now intrigued by, but what really caught my eye was the Night Vision line. The Swiss Army Night Vision watches are simple, inexpensive, decent looking quartz pieces with date windows and built-in LED flashlights above the 12 o'clock position. The flashlight is powered by a second battery, and activated by a button on the left side of the case, between the 8 and 9 o'clock positions. There is also an LED dial light to illuminate the dial in the dark, and just in case the flashlight's battery is dead, luminous hands, as well.

Flashlights built into watches are surprisingly useful. I wrote about the MTM Special Ops Watch some time ago which has LEDs so bright that you are warned not to look directly into them (they are meant to be used for reading maps at night). I also often use the two LEDs in the dial of my Casio G-Shock GW-1310 (my all time favorite G-Shock) to navigate my bedroom late at night after getting up with one of my kids. In fact, I've been known to trip over laundry baskets on nights when I've been wearing digital watches with electroluminescent backlights, or mechanical watches with nothing but a little luminescent paint. Of course, LEDs bright enough to light your path through your bedroom in the dark are a little overkill for illuminating your watch dial, so squinting into them while half asleep can be a rude awakening if you are not prepared. Consider yourself warned.