GMT potential unpopular opinion

Trs1982 · Post by **Trs1982** » Fri Aug 18, 2023 4:44 pm

Lots of interesting comments, thanks to all so far! Interesting to see other opinions on a subject.

iain · Post by **iain** » Fri Aug 18, 2023 5:06 pm

I find a GMT hand useful when setting a stopped watch. I immediately know if it stopped at AM or PM so it saves me moving the hands round the dial a few times to find out.

thomcat00 · Post by **thomcat00** » Fri Aug 18, 2023 6:36 pm

I’ve always liked the idea of knowing the time in both 24 hour format and in different places around the world. Even going back to my digital watches as a teen in the eighties I kept them on 24 hr time.

When I embraced analog watches later in the eighties I liked the notion of the fourth hand and what it could display, but I was also leaning into dressier watches, so I kept the LCD watches for their travel convenience and stuck with the two- or three-handers for daily wear.

A handful of my watches are GMT. I like the look and the convenience. For a chunk of my working life I’ve traveled extensively. The fourth hand has been quite a help, and still quite suiting my tastes.

Everyone has their preferences. I don’t much care for blue dials. I have some anyway. And they look good on others. I don’t like NATO type straps for me. Again they look good, but only on others; I gave away the couple I had to others who are happy with them.

ProFide · Post by **ProFide** » Fri Aug 18, 2023 9:25 pm

I love the GMT dial overall.

Chris GB · Post by **Chris GB** » Fri Aug 18, 2023 10:45 pm

Trs1982 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 1:28 pm Does anyone else think that the GMT complication is unsightly and spoils what would be a perfect watch without that additional hand waving around the dial?

Probably not, but there’s just something about it that doesn’t sit right with me. I know why it’s there and I appreciate the complication for the use that it was designed for but there have been a good proportion of prospective purchases that have completely put me off buying because they’re a GMT.

Friday moan over

I'm with you on this one!

CBMVic20 · Post by **CBMVic20** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 12:09 am

NationOfLaws wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 3:16 pm What I've come to realize about wearing a GMT watch or a world timer watch is that my brain can't process the information fast enough to be useful since I don't think in 24 hour time and because my eye is not accustomed to looking at a different hour hand. In the time it takes me to look at the watch, remember that I'm looking for the orange hour hand instead of the other hour hand, refer to the bezel instead of the dial, and convert whatever the post-12 hour is back to 12 hour time I could've just looked at the regular time and added six to see what time it is for my coworkers in London.

This +1.

I had a Trident GMT and was forever reading the wrong time because I just couldn't get used to the extra hour hand. Sold it, thought maybe I was too hasty and then bought the C8 UTC World Timer to give it another try. Didn't work for me the second time either so flipped the C8 and several months later had one last bash with a Seiko 5. Brain still refused to accept so it's the one complication I don't bother with any more.

There's another reason too though. I use the rotating bezel many times during the day as it's quicker and simpler to time stuff than digging out a phone or stopwatch. With a GMT, you can't do that as the bezel is is used for the 24 hour clock or showing cities. I'd rather a rotating bezel over a GMT every day of the week and twice on Sundays

Leon O · Post by **Leon O** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 1:10 am

I think an appropriately designed GMT can be quite attractive.

Functionally, I have difficulty reading a GMT when the hour and 24 hour hand are too similar in appearance.

Noush · Post by **Noush** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 1:49 am

I have a Sealander GMT and I like the pop of colour it gives the dial, which is different to my other watches. All good.
And it HAD to be a CW.
Functionally, for here in Australia, it tells me what the time is on the forum. More good.

As for messing up a perfectly nice dial, I will leave that to open hearts and tourbillons which do a much 'better' job of it

ProFide · Post by **ProFide** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 7:59 pm

Leon O wrote: ↑Sat Aug 19, 2023 1:10 am I think an appropriately designed GMT can be quite attractive.

Functionally, I have difficulty reading a GMT when the hour and 24 hour hand are too similar in appearance.

Agreed, I think this is why it's so important that they are distinguishable enough to avoid this error. Classic GMT watches like the Rolex GMT Master are a great example that have done this well.

Post by **Amor Vincit Omnia** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 8:22 pm

@ProFide

This one ain’t bad…

ProFide · Post by **ProFide** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 8:50 pm

Agreed. The GMT hand is clearly distinguished from the others, which is exactly how it should be.

nbg · Post by **nbg** » Sat Aug 19, 2023 9:46 pm

I don’t have 20:20 vision.

I have worn glasses since I was about 18. Decided I needed better eyesight to see the top of my float about 20-30 metres away when fishing.

I have never had any difficulty distinguishing the hands on a watch.

I assume that those that do have given up getting behind the wheel of a car, due to safety concerns!

Neil

geokarbou7 · Post by **geokarbou7** » Sun Aug 20, 2023 11:52 am

I would say it really depends on the implementation. There are lots of different ways to depict a second timezone. Some can feel busy and cluttered. Personally, I use the GMT function every day, as I work with the US (Chicago) and am always tracking that timezone on my GMT watches. It's super convenient taking a peek at my wrist before sending an email/a chat message to know what time it is across the pond.

I think the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda GMT Rattrapant is a worthy mention here - if any brand has mastered the GMT function and making it completely hide away when you don't need it, it's PM:

Now I just need to find £26k

Post by **Amor Vincit Omnia** » Sun Aug 20, 2023 12:15 pm

geokarbou7 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 20, 2023 11:52 am Now I just need to find £26k

Beautiful! But in the real world…

I find that any GMT or other complication tends to disappear if I’m looking for the local time (I reckon about 99% of glances). It’s still there, obviously, but I have trained my mind not to see it. If I’m away and want to see the time at home (I don’t, usually) I know how to find it.

Leon O · Post by **Leon O** » Mon Aug 21, 2023 12:34 am

nbg wrote: ↑Sat Aug 19, 2023 9:46 pm I don’t have 20:20 vision.

I have worn glasses since I was about 18. Decided I needed better eyesight to see the top of my float about 20-30 metres away when fishing.

I have never had any difficulty distinguishing the hands on a watch.

I assume that those that do have given up getting behind the wheel of a car, due to safety concerns!

Neil

I have difficulty differentiating the hour hand and the 24 hour hand on this dial when I glance at it quickly.

I have a deficiency that causes me to misinterpret sensory information when it is out of context. After a second or two, I can digest and understand the information on this Tribus dial. However, it feels like an eternity when l can tell time at a glance on a GMT like the Sealander shown above.

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