Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

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Amor Vincit Omnia
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Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Another stage in my watch metamorphosis?

I have always been a bit anti the Trident, mainly because I have always been a self professed disliker of dive watches, and I don’t like the hands.

But, come on, I wear one of my cheap Orient divers most of the time when I am on holiday. So, what am I getting at here?

Well, on my recent holidays I have been wearing either the Tank or the Speedy on the plane and locking it in my room safe for wearing in the evening. Meaning I have to have at least one more watch in my hand luggage, and make sure it is away from magnets and so on. Then there’s the question of security.

So, I wondered about moving to a one watch scenario for travel and holidays, and have slowly begun to think about this. Advantages: automatic, stays on the wrist 24/7, GMT function, excellent WR for jumping into pools and the sea, should take normal holiday abuse as well as being smart enough to wear in the usual restaurants and bars in the evening! Good quality watch but not as obvious (or expensive) as certain Rolex or Omega offerings.

Disadvantages: If only I could convince myself I could get to like the hands! :problem:

Thoughts, anyone?

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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by albionphoto »

It's an interesting dilemma isn't it. On my last holiday I wore an Aquis during the day and the Speedy at night. No one noticed or cared about the Speedy (thanks Turks and Caicos isles) so I could have worn the Oris and saved myself the worry. If you're an active scuba diver will the Trident meet your needs as a second watch. If you're just splashing about then save yourself the angst and leave the good 'uns at home and let the Trident get wet.
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by Mikkei4 »

In contrast to yourself I've always loved the C60 600 Trident and have no issue with the hands. I have standard black dial/black bezel and white dial/black bezel and I want a GMT watch but I haven't bought a CW Trident GMT (yet).

So why not ?

Sorry to start off with this but I would want 1 with the previous logo so wouldn't buy new so that immediately reduces my chance of getting what I'd want.
I'd want a black dial/black bezel version so again further reducing chances.
I'd want a 38mm so again less chance.
Secondly I'd prefer a full GMT bezel that shows the hours from 2 through to 22 not one that starts at 8. CW doesn't do this. Could I live with it? This is my version of you not liking the hands so maybe/maybe not.
I'd prefer a red GMT hand to the orangey yellow hand on the CW GMT C60 600. Could I live with it? Another my version of you not liking the hands so maybe/maybe not.

However IMO Your thought process is spot on - great specs, still a smart looking watch for evening wear although I think the black/black is smarter than the black/red version, sturdy enough for holiday day use, saves the concern about having an expensive watch in a holiday environment. Only you can decide if you can get over the Trident hands though. I think there's a couple of GMTs on eBay if you'd prefer not to pay full price to find out or with 60/60 you could at least see a new one in the flesh before making a final decision. So why not do it?

Oh and if anybody has an old logo black dial, black bezel, 38mm C60 600 GMT that they want to sell I'll be willing to try to get over my own issues with the CW GMT.
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by Thermexman »

The Trident, in any form I should imagine, should have no problem with, as you put it, "holiday abuse." I wore my first Trident, a black on black with bracelet, exclusively for a full two years come rain, shine or holidays. It still looks as good as new and performs as it should. You can even change the look, dramatically, with a simple change of strap. But you know that. :thumbup:
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by gaf1958 »

My thoughts are that I love the hands... I must admit that early on, I had some reservations, based purely on seeing them in photos. In real life however, I think the hands are one of the defining features of the Trident. Even if CW were to change their logo every two years for the next decade, IMO they could make no smarter move than to retain those hands as to me, they are part of the personality, even the "DNA" (if such a thing should ever be said) of the Trident.

No other thoughts, just saying I love the hands you hate. Maybe you'll grow to love them.... :)
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by DISJT »

I personally hate the onion hour hand that CW uses but it didn't for one second stop me buying numerous tridents including 2 GMT's. In real life it's a very small part of the overall watch design so goes completely un noticed when wearing the watch. (I know that sounds incorrect as obviously you have to look at it to tell the time but the shape isn't noticed, not by me anyway.
The orange GMT hand compliments the bit of orange writing on the dial and is completely different so never gets confused with standard time.

I'd have to agree, as a one watch solution, the black on black would be my choice. It also suits the orange hand better I think.
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by STodd »

+1 for the Trident GMT.

My MkI GMT has been my regular 'all seasons' holiday watch for some time, and it's only recently (with the inevitable expansion of my collection having joined this forum - Enablers Anonymous) that it has been worn less than before. It's 6+ years old, has not yet needed a service (probably does soon, and the GMT hand needs some subtle adjusting) and still runs beautifully at -5s or -6s/day (when I can be bothered to check it). Yes there is the odd mark, and the ceramic bezel should be slightly more robust than the aluminium bezel if you're really trying, but mine has been worn a lot and (to my eye) it's still in reasonable condition as my CWOTD pics will hopefully attest to:

Image

There is a reason this range has stayed in production for so long - they are great watches for the money - and I think you would get past your concerns around the hands in time, as Gary already pointed out.

I think the only way I'd part with mine now is if CW were to bring out a GMT version of the Titanium variation #2 - but I can't see that any time soon...
C60 GMT MkI¦C11 Elite,Pro¦C700 Grande Rapide¦C8 Pilot MkII¦C8 UTC¦C10 FLE#13¦C4 'Phoenix'¦Speedhawk¦Bluebird LE#319¦IRR LE#129¦C1000 FGR4
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by TigerChris »

I love my Trident GMT. Last time I was abroad I didn’t own it, but it will be my one watch for holidays in the future, together with a strap change (rubber for day, steel for evening). It handles anything that you can throw at it. The only slight disadvantage is how the GMT function works on the ETA, its a little ar5e about t!t, but thats only a very minor issue. I personally like the hands and the ‘mixed bezel’. I don’t think that there is anything that you can’t learn to live with for a one watch holiday solution, it ticks all the boxes for me. Try it, you might just like it! :)
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by FloridaPhil »

I agree with TigerChris. It's very useful when in a different time zone and is genuinely a one watch to do it all.

The ETA GMT hand is a faff but there is a quick workaround for it - just turn the bezel until the GMT hand points to the correct hour - at least until you get the time to set it correctly.
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by golfjunky »

It is almost the perfect travel watch, only the bezel holding it back. If that’s not an issue for you then go for it.
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by TigerChris »

golfjunky wrote:It is almost the perfect travel watch, only the bezel holding it back. If that’s not an issue for you then go for it.
Or if the bezel is an issue, a MK1 could be the answer - there was a nice orange bezel one in SC recently if i remember correctly.
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by KevinB »

I absolutely love my Trident GMT. I travel a lot for work, frequently internationally. My regular hands always stay on the time at home (Chicago) and the GMT hand stays on GMT and I just rotate the bezel to wherever I'm at. Right now, New York. Tuesday it will be Budapest. The GMT hand is something very very practical for me.

I have the white face and red bezel which is just quirky enough for a holiday, but given I'm a technology development guy I can wear it with a suit like I am this morning. With the white face, the onion hand I think looks sharp, though I am not fussy about hand-design particularly but more the overall aesthetic of the watch. I'll never get it below 10 feet below water, but knowing that it can go to ridiculous depths, I don't hesitate to just keep it on my wrist and I'm not terribly worried if it gets a scratch here or there.

The alternative for me would be a 12 hour bezel and I'm going to try that on the Halios I ordered, but for now, the build-quality and overall look of the Trident GMT is perfect for me. It is a keeper.

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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by nbg »

Steve my tuppence worth:

Wearing decent watches whilst on holiday is part of my holiday. With that in mind I wouldn’t be prepared to go on holiday with just one watch, that I wouldn’t ordinarily wear for days on end. The exception to that is if I was going to a country where personal security may be an issue, in which case a cheap and cheerful nondescript 100m WR watch of any sort would do.

I like most Tridents and have a few - but you don’t and there is a reason for that and you are now trying to rationalise otherwise! :)

I also like watches with a GMT function - because I like the look of them, not because I think the function is particularly useful! I fail to see the difficulty in sitting on the plane and moving the time forwards to the correct time for my destination. Like you, I also have no difficulty in retaining in my shell like, the number of hours difference to home time (albeit that is of zero interest to me whilst on holiday).

Back to the question of security - two watches, each in a separate pouch in jacket pocket. Remove jacket and place in scanner tray with other stuff. Afterwards put one back on and leave the other in your pocket.

If on the beach or by the pool, non swimming watch would be in the same bag as my wallet, neither of which would be going anywhere near a room safe.

The alternative is of course to add a 100m WR Speedy to the stable, then job done! :)

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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by FloridaPhil »

nbg wrote:Like you, I also have no difficulty in retaining in my shell like, the number of hours difference to home time (albeit that is of zero interest to me whilst on holiday).

Neil
If only all of us could disengage from our businesses while away! I've made the mistake, more than once, of adding time on when I should have deducted it and ended up calling someone back home at some ungodly hour. I'll take the GMT, ta.
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Re: Trident GMT - perfect travel/holiday watch?

Post by nbg »

^^^^ Having joined the ranks of the no longer gainfully employed in 2015 I do feel your pain Phil! :lol:

I do still remember the hassle of taking calls or doing emails on holiday, albeit there was supposed to be a policy of no office or client contact, whilst away on main holidays. :thumbdown:

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