Creating a functional user interface for tiny wrist-worn wearables is a formidable challenge; Apple's concept of navigating apps and features with just one button, and a pushable, multi-function digital crown coupled with a touch screen works well once you get used to it.
There are multiple, customisable watch faces available, some of which are animated, with digital and analogue style clocks - they're tastefully done and present information quite well.
It's early days and I'm still figuring out what the watch can do - apart from checking time and date, and getting notifications from apps (you want to dial these down and not have too many buzzing your wrist when you set up the watch), the remote control for the iPhone camera is useful, ditto the activity app which keeps tabs on how much you stand, walk, exercise, and counts calories.
Using the watch as a not quite hands-free device for calls and navigation works well too, although I'm not sure what the cops would say if they spot you talking to your wrist in the car. Or watching your heart rate spike while avoiding Auckland's kamikaze drivers on the motorway, with the built-in sensor in the watch.
I know only one other person with an Apple Watch so wasn't able to test things like sending a recording of your heartbeat to be played back on a remote device. That's probably a good thing, actually, as the person in question is quite a strange character.
Siri, Apple's personal digital assistant, is available on the watch. It can do quite a bit like make phone calls and fire up apps on the iPhone like maps, but I'm still trying to persuade it to successfully send texts and iMessages instead of saying it will do that and then stop. I'm obviously poking at the watch a lot to start with, but even then it goes through two days before needing to be attached to the magnetic charger.
Two days is fine and much better than the competition, and the watch charges fast (Apple's being straight up with the battery performance http://www.apple.com/watch/battery.html), but I had hoped for a bit more power innovation from Apple, so to speak. It's a pity that the photovoltaic technology isn't good and small enough to charge the battery, for instance.
That said, the Apple Watch is a first-generation device and work in progress, but nevertheless polished and a tribute to the company's engineers as the best overall wearable out there. It'll be interesting to see how far - and where - Apple takes the wearable concept in the future with different display technologies, improved batteries and charging and user interface tweaks.
Watch this space (OK, I apologise for that one.)
