Why The Best Travel Watch Isn't Always A GMT

Use my world time on my G-Shock Tough Solar while in transit, enough said. Diver watch set to local time, so I can tell time at the destination, and follows me in the water. Ritual to set my watches back to home time, is something to do while on the plane.

Never bring a expensive watch to travel , bring a Casio

Best travel watch is a GMT + an Apple watch / or Garmin - double wrist!

I have a GMT II and explorer but I strap on my g shock metal square in certain countries ... Bulletproof but smart enough to wear slightly dressed up

Simple answer whether in London, Mexico City or Hong Kong.
Casio Oceanus.
Solar powered..accuracy monitored by Bluetooth and/or atomic clock….time change by a simple move of the crown…lightweight titanium…great lume…..world timer…day/date complication…ten bar water resistant….looks great …..less than 2 grand….and nobody wants to jump out of an alley and cut your arm off to steal it.
The Omegas, Breitlings and Rolex’s stay home.

A great set of travel watches is anything from Omega the last 12-15 years with the 8400,8500,8900s series movements with the jumping hour hand. I can hop on a plane from NYC to LA or London with my Seamaster 300mc or my Globemaster and pop the hour hand to the right time and I’m ready to go.

Personally I always travel with a G-Shock and a simple 3 hander watch. I recently got my first GMT so I am looking forward to bringing that with my G-Shock for my next trip

Rolex Explorer II is great for travel.

Timex GMT. A trained thief won't be interested.

Just tavel with a G-shock. Built in world timer, rugged, no big loss if someone jumps your tourist looking ass in the streets.

I think the Glycine is far and above the champ among the mechanical watches. It’s approach to a secondary timezone feature is a solution so obvious that it feels Soviet. This is bolstered by the fact that it displays time in a superior format.

Yeah it;s a good point at the end. A lot of watch people talk about exactly how easy or not it is to reset the time on travel-related watches, but for most of us 'watch people' we don't mind the time, and in fact setting the time is an enjoyable experience so to reduce that to the simplest possible method would remove an enjoyable experience.

I also travel to dive. The ultimate watch for me would be a dive watch, elapsed time bezel, and a gmt hand. The Marathon GSAR with a gmt hand would be my ideal. Mido has a watch like this, but way too big for my wrist. And everyone seems to think an elapsed time bezel on a gmt is a waste, but for a person that dives and travels all around the world as a profession AND I have small wrists.....there is nothing that ticks all those boxes that I have found yet.

I just flew back from Bali and took 2 watches with me. Beater Casio SGW-600H Dual Time under $120 AUD and affordable luxury Longines Spirit Zulu Time GMT under $3,500 AUD. 😊

My go to travel watch is my Omega seamaster GMT. It is under the radar, goes well with business or casual style, I don’t need to take it off when swimming in the pool and it has quick hour hand adjustment which allow me to set to local time easily when the plane touchdown at my destination. It’s 24hrs rotating bezel can also serve as a 3rd timezone.

Glad to see Glycine featured here. Their Airman GMT has heritage and unique. A good affordable option.
I only have one GMT (caller), Glycine Combat Sub GMT. Diver, GMT and thin enough to wear under a cuff. covers all the basics!

As an airline pilot and owning multiple gmt watches, true and caller, the most usable for me has been the glycine airman. I set GMT on the bezel, keep local time set and do the math when I switch time zones. I never transit more than 3 so not much to calculate. The 24 hour time is really great, the whole day is right there. The model I have is the DC-4 which I got from ashford years ago for $329. For me that’s an astonishing value.

I’ll take 2, sometimes 3

Sinn U2 2000m and GMT
Rolex Explorer
G-Shock Mudnaster
IWC Aquatiner 2000 3536

Ask Siri instead

Great vid with lots of great thoughts - but if I can say one thing - if ya'll ditched the hats we could actually see more of your faces. Thomas your hiding behind yours!

Before pandemic I used to wear: protrek 3100 (digital screen) or protrek prw 60y (dual analog digital screen), both solar battery, beside 2 timezones setting I can play with compass, altitude, barometer and temperature in each country I stayed including when I am in flight (to kill boring time). In late 2022 just bought Steinhart gmt 39mm coke ceramic bezel, will give it a try for my first 2023 overseas trip. My backup? Always bring GW m5610 GShock square. Easy life and less worrying about 😁

When I used to travel for work, it was in another time zone for 4 months at a time. It was also essential that I knew what UTC time it was, & handy for me to know Eastern time, too. A “caller” GMT (in my case a Squale 1545 GMT with a Sellita SW 330 movement), was perfect for me. I could tell local time, UTC, & Eastern by using the rotating bezel. Of course, I also had a G-Shock that worked equally well & woke me up every morning, too…

Great episode. Two misses: Easiest - Longines VHP Conquest GMT (Quartz) Affordable: The afforementioned & True GMT - Mido Ocean Star 43mm & New Hodinkee Collab 40.5mm

My favourite travel watch is the CWC RN Diver, it‘s rugged, stylish, accurate and not that expensive to be worried all the time.

Oh man Glycine is what i take and there is one with 200m water resistant version not this model though

As a very frequent business traveller, I have been looking for watches with second or more timezones all the time. Have experimented a lot, purchased, sold, collected, etc. I ran into issues like second timezone not visible on the fly, too complicated to adjust, the difference between office versus traveller GMT's etc. One of my best experiences was with the Oris world timer. Having two dials and pushbuttons for hour jumping. Fantastic! But the version I had was not waterproof as it was a dresser watch. And THEN comes the other issue. When travelling, you actually want ONE watch which can do it all. Easy time setting, waterproof for that (unexpected?) jump in the pool or ocean. Then time is just ONE issue, but the watch being all-round and practical a second issue. That is the moment when I decided to sell all my watches and move to a single watch for most purposes. The final two candidates were the Oris ProPilot Worldtimer. A fantastic watch, but a bit on the big side (almost 45mm I believe - though wearing was OK) and the Tudor BB GMT, which eventually became the winner. So the Tudor on steel is my all-in-one travel mate. Sometimes I find the load of steel a bit too much, and I take it on rubber (with a Tudor clasp). So still capable of doing it all, but with a twist. For me the best solution so far. But the Oris a very good runner-up with all the necessary functionality. My 5 cents.

Reverso Duoface is crazy useful when traveling. Its second time zone is much easier to set than most GMT's I've seen, including Rolex GMT II. And no, you really shouldn't travel with a recognizable Rolex these days.

I love the Breitling choronomat gmt 40mm as the weekend warrior, travel, do it all watch. It’s marketed as a GMT buts low key a diver.

Good heavens guys..... I just put on the watch I want to wear for the trip. Take my Nomos Ahoi 200m WR in 36mm..... I set the time to the local time when I arrive, I commit to memory if home is ahead or behind and how much, and I just do the do. The watch is a proper GADA, it's unobtrusive and comfortable. Nuffsaid.

One unsung hero: The GS SBGP011. The 9F quartz is super accurate, the watch works in casual, beach and professional settings, it's 100m WR and you can move the hour hand independently from the minutes and seconds.

Boom. Like I said: try committing your home time to memory. It works.

GMT Bezel usage only makes sense if there is a 24hr scale in the rehaut too.

The Longines VHP GMT, I would say is unbeatable, unless you are down on quartz

When I have to go on travels, I prefer to go just with one watch, so I do not need to worry about where to keep the other one(s). Esp. when travelling abroad, I prefer watches with GMT functions, such as the GMT-Master II, the Longines Spirit Zulu Time or the Oris Worldtimer. They all offer 2nd timezone, date and a decent water resistance. The Zulu Time can also quickly change between strap and bracelet, which makes it even more versatile. It also is a bit more below the radar than a i.e. the Rolex, which offers some peace of mind when wearing it in certain areas.

Ulysse Nardin +/- GMT function is awesome and I take that with me when I travel for business. For summer vacation I do bring a diver and another watch on a metal or a rubber strap which I can wear off the beach when I am out and about the town.

I haven't had the pleasure of owning a "travel watch" per say yet BUT I have my eyes on the MIDO Oceanstar GMT in black and orange. My wife and I travel a few times a year and I do not have a great everyday watch that can be useful when I travel. I love that watch due to its true GMT nature and it's a hidden gem to me as not a lot of people seem to talk about it. Usually what I travel with is a Citizen Eco Drive watch with a blue dial and brown leather strap that was a gift from family. The MIDO seems to be the best fit for dressing up or down and I look forward to owning it

As you said, it depends where you’re going, and the time difference between there and home. Home for me is eastern time, so my recent and upcoming trips:

1. A month ago to Costa Rica - my brain can handle the one hour time change so my quick change Omega 300 on rubber strap. Perfect go anywhere, do anything watch.
2. Last week in London (5 hour time difference) - Grand Seiko SBGM221 - fantastic.
3. Next month in Africa (7 hour time difference) - 221 and my new yellow Casioak with Bluetooth!

My Batgirl is now a safe queen because I don’t want to get mugged for it when travelling!

I am always travel with my explorer2 polar

Rolex Gmt Master ii

I never understood why a big chunky diver with a GMT function would make a good travel watch. But it’s a Rolex, so the sheep eat it up.

I always travel with a polar explorer 2 due to the GMT function and a 36mm Explorer as my understated watch. Never had any issues.

Rolex Explorer II

Are you really traveling if not with a Pepsi ? I guess a Rootbeer is fine too.

Curious what it is about world timers that makes them impractical for travel in your view?

"What watches do you bring when you go travel? "
G-shock.....i wanna enjoy my holiday, i dont wanna get rob 😆😂

My perfect travel watch is the Omega Spectre Seamaster which had quickset hour hand, and a 12 hour rotating bezel. No date, so it’s a bit more simplified.

Fun episode. Thanks guys. I travel for work and while I’d appreciate a jumping hour hand, my Explorer 214270 Mk2 is my favorite. It’s usually on a NATO so it doesn’t attract attention and I carry the bracelet in case I want to dress it up. I’m not particularly sharp but I can still do fast math to get the time at home which is generally 8 or 9 hours behind me.

I travel to Europe and Asia for work and love my Purists Gycine Airman for my casual options. The 24 hour dial, intuitive layout and history make it my go to travel watch.

I love the bracelet on your Airman! Where'd you find it?

keep up the great content, fellows :)

Lately, I'm traveling with a Citizen World Chronograph "WR200 - Blue Angel" combined with a Baltic Titanium Aquascaphe.

I travel with a Pagani Design GMT so my trip isn’t ruined if it gets lost or stolen 😉

I used to travel quite a bit since my mom was working for United Airlines. I'd say at least 2-3 times a year to another country. In all that time, I never used a GMT. Back then, I didn't even know there was such a watch. As such, all I needed was 1 watch of my choice and I'd simply set the new local time when I got to my destination. The airline will announce it shortly after landing at the airport as we approach the gates. And, I'd set my watch while still on the plane. And, that was that. When I'm on vacation, and that's always when I travel to somewhere else, never for business, all I care about is the local time where I'm at and forget about home or anywhere else.

These days, and for the last maybe 4 years, I've definitely become interested in GMT watches. I just like the look of them, more than I have any practical use for them. I have to say, if I were to go to another place out of my time zone and take a GMT watch with me, it would simply be for an excuse to use it. I still wouldn't care about any other time zone other than the one I would be currently spending my time at.
I'd say, for ease of setting a new time zone, I'd greatly welcome a watch that had jump hours to quickly facilitate that. I know Omega has a number of watches that are not GMT that have this feature. Perhaps one of those some day. I feel like I'd lean towards one of the newer Speedmasters that has this jump hour feature.