Meet Bjørn Kartomten | Founder YES watch

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bjørn Kartomten and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bjørn, every day, we hear about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Back in the mid-90’s, I did quite a bit of traveling and the Rolex on my wrist was my time keeper. Landing in a foreign place I often wished it would tell me the time for sunrise and sunset, so I could plan accordingly. Simple enough, right? After all, what is a more essential time event than the beginning of the day? I did some street wise research and realized there wasn’t a single watch on the planet that could give this information. Strange. How come? So I decided to make my own, Couldn’t be that hard? Oh boy was I wrong. A lesson in perseverance was about to be given

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We incorporated in Marin County in 1999. Even though I had quite a bit of work and life experience, I was a total rookie when it came to watch making. All I had was the idea, and this is what sets us apart. A wristwatch that combines the natural time cycles of the sun and the moon with the ticking of hours, minutes and seconds. Insights into time keeping that your regular watch simply cannot capture.

At the time I worked with the Sundance group up in Utah producing their catalog. When Harry, their CFO, heard I was getting into the business of manufacturing, he deadpanned: Are you completely crazy? Don’t you know that manufacturing is just an endless headache?

Unfazed I pushed ahead, but manufacturing such a complex time machine half way across the world out of Hong Kong, did indeed prove to be a hardcore exersize in wing clipping. Only one thing needs to go wrong and all is ruthlessly judged thereby. You quickly learn that without quality you got nothing, except for a pile of expenses. Harry’s words came to mind more than once, but the soul of our time keeper was pure. Giving up was never an option, so we just pushed even harder. Took everything we had and then some.

In 2004 I sent our latest Zulu watch to the Chief Astronomer with the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, UK. This is the true cradle of time keeping, the home of the prime meridian and the museum where John Harrisons H4 is on display. He saw immediately what I was trying to do and included our watch in the museum collection. That is when I knew my instincts were legit.
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The YES WoldWatch V7 brings together natures time and man-made time. At a glance it gives you times for sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset. Quite a bit went into the making of this one of a kind movement. I remember having dinner with Buck and he jokingly asked: Did you really think it was going to be easy? We laughed. Check out this link for the making of the V7: www.yeswatch.com/V7movement
Check out this video to see how it switches between locations:

The time information kept in the V7 offers practical applications not found in any other watch. Pilots, astronomers, photographers, outdoorsmen, military and travelers have all found it most useful.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Not sure I would be much of a tourist guide. A bit of a hermit you might say. 🙂

I have worked out of a home office since 1994 and spend half of my time in Thailand, but I am sure we would have a great time in lovely San Diego. We’d definitely visit Sushi OTA for a fiest. Tour the Midway battle ship, a fascinating insight into military might. Spend some time on the beach and a day trip to TJ.

Invite them late summer, when the SoCal climate coddles us with a string of perfectly sunny days. I lived for 25 years in the beautiful Bay Area. What happens in San Diego is that the climate completely corrupts you, haha.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
For sure, inspiration and the people you work with are essential to make things happen.

The idea for a time keeper began to formulate in the early to mid 90’s. A different era altogether now it seems. Nothing happens without funding. Through work I came to know Buck. He along with two buddies, arranged for the first round of financing of $375K back in 1999. He ultimately got the ball rolling.
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To put our watch collection together two dozen suppliers were needed. At the time 2 existed in USA, 6 existed in Switzerland and Hong Kong served them all up like a smørgåsbord. The choice was easy, there was none. Which brings me to Ms. Yang, our programmer and project manager. Still with us and instrumental in making it happen. Our rock in Hong Kong and Chinese manufacturing.

In 1993 I stumbled upon a lecture by Joe Arguello at the Open Secret book store. He spoke with great insight about natural time and how it engulfs everything we do. That one hour of listening made me think perhaps there also was a business here. I didn’t quite know what form it would take yet, but it resonated.

A latent inspiration is growing up in Norway while during winters we had the shortest of days and in summer time long bright evenings until midnight. The variations that far north is extreme, the experience insightful about how time is counted.

Finally I must mention traveling. I think without the experience of traveling worldwide across time zones this watch might never have seen the light of day.

Website: www.yeswatch.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/yeswatch_official

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/bjorn-kartomten-0498a618

Twitter: www.twitter.com/yeswatch

Facebook: www.facebook.com/yeswatch

Image Credits
All images taken and owned by YES watch Inc.