The U-Play name for the collection that includes the YA129402 conjures up the image of something more than the product delivers. No MP3 player shoved into this watch, nor will it serve as a phone or a two-way radio. The Play referred to is simply the ability to change the strap and the coloured ring on the bezel. Gucci isn’t about geek, but about chic.

Seen with Black set mounted.

Not that that is a useless feature. One could argue that it provides two watches for the price of one as the watch itself is a nice neutral stainless steel housing with a silver dial and silver-tone hands. There are no obnoxious markings on the dial–only an interesting symmetric  double G pattern. Consequently, with sufficiently different bands and bezel ring, you can coordinate your watch to match outfits that a single watchband wouldn’t be able to straddle.

Of course, when one of those bands is a basic black leather strap, and one of those rings is a simple black ring, you’ve matched an awful lot of wardrobe. The other band is rubber and pink, so clearly has a much more niche wardrobe to match. But still, for those outfits where pink and rubber are what are needed, it will be there to satisfy that need.

My main complaint though, is that the attraction of this line is the novelty of customization, and that the novelty of changing out straps isn’t all that striking. Any watch can have a replacement strap, though some are harder to find matching sizes for. The real attraction then would be the ring on the bezel, and I’m just not that impressed. It looks like little more than a washer and the more parts you have that are meant to be easily swapped around, the more parts you can readily lose. This is especially true for those of us with restless fingers that will absentmindedly destroy every paperclip they come across. Such hands will latch on to the promise of the U-Play and play with that removable ring, removing and replacing it over and over until it is either so worn it drops out and is lost, or tears and falls apart.

If you want versatility in your watch for the purpose of accessorizing across outfits, I would say you are better served by finding a watch with a common band width, that has a neutral watch housing, face, and bezel design, and shopping for multiple bands.

Specs:

• Model YA129402
• Scratch-resistant Sapphire Crystal face
• Water Resistant to 30 meters
• Stainless Steel Housing
• Black Patent leather band with matching Bezel Ring
• Pink Rubber band with matching Bezel Ring