Reply With QuoteDo you reguarly dive to 300m?Originally Posted by D4RW1N
Some people consider the Polished Centre Links on the GMT Master II to be scratch magnets.
I've been looking to buy a sub c for some time and recently had a look and tried on a GMT master 2 BLNR out of curiosity…
Also seen a number of pics on here recently.
I've always discounted GMT watches on the basis that I don't travel any more than the average brit (holidays mainly within europe once or twice a year) an don't think I'd get much use out of the functionality. I do actually like to use the functions on a watch so I get to twist the bezel about a bit :-)
However, I love the look of the BLNR to the extent that I'm considering it instead of the sub.
This would be my only "really nice watch" so I'm unlikely to own more than one rolex (or any other expensive/ premium automatic) at a time.
Just wondering for those that actually own a GMT watch - do you own it because you travel a fair bit and wear it when you do - or did you just like the look of it, or to have a watch with a different complication to others?
My head is telling me the sub is the better all round watch but the BLNR - well - it's just so shiny!
Do you reguarly dive to 300m?
Some people consider the Polished Centre Links on the GMT Master II to be scratch magnets.
In my own case I must admit that I just liked the looks of the GMTs that I've got. However, although I don't travel outside the UK much, I do communicate which people in other countries quite a bit and so I still find the GMT function genuinely useful.
(That said, the world clock function on my phone is even more useful since it copes with multiple time zones).
I'd want the GMT with the Sub clasp - the Sub clasp means you can achieve an almost perfect fit, which might make the difference for some - I really like the BLNR
It's just a matter of time...
I travel a fair bit for work, and when going away normally strap on a GMT. I do set it when I get there, but don't use it.
Don't know what I'm playing at really. I think I'm going to have a sit down and rethink my life.
I prefer the BLNR over any ceramic sub. If you find it too shiny then you could put it on a different bracelet. I am in uni so am away from my family, so I would be using a GMT function if I had one. I'd much prefer a second time dial like the JLC master geographic though.
Yes, your situation may be very different.
For actual travelling a "proper" GMT is nice, so you can keep the 2nd zone
Hand to home time and change the hands in departures, so you can start adjusting
to minimise jet lag.
The ETA versions that syncs the GMT hand with the main time is great if you
are dealing with people in a different time zone and want to avoid calling them in the middle of the night, otherwise a bit of faff to set back/forth regularly. Quite handy to avoid using the quickset date if it has one between 9pm and 3am.
If it was just for a holiday, I wouldn't buy one, unless you like the look (nothing wrong with that). For European trips back/forth in the same day a 12hr bezel works really well.
A gmtII is a fine looking watch with strong residuals, buy carefully & you could try one out and sell it on if you didn't like it at minimal loss.
Good luck choosing.
Had the Subc and the GMTc, never used the time zone function but the GMTc is much more comfortable to wear and to me is the better watch. Both long gone in favour of vintage!
I always set my gmt hand to "Zulu". Hopefully a few people here will know what that is...
Yes! Aviation works on "Zulu" so that's what the GMT is set for.
A fair question - to which the answer is no! I do regularly find use for a dive bezel though, even for more mundane things - I used the one currently on my wrist to time a pizza in the oven this very evening :-)
I agree. Time to rethink your priorities in lifeI travel a fair bit for work, and when going away normally strap on a GMT. I do set it when I get there, but don't use it.
Don't know what I'm playing at really. I think I'm going to have a sit down and rethink my life.You've just got things all wrong
Yes, I have a GMT, the Omega equivalent of the Rolex. Used to travel a fair bit on business and used it a lot. Rarely travel now but like having the feature.
I think Rolex now have a 24 click bezel? This is a shame as I use the bezel a lot for general timing.
I'd hazard a guess that most buyers value the aesthetics and/or the movement equally as much as the functionality of the watch but of course there will be exceptions, particularly amongst enthusiasts.
I have several diving watches and a very nice world time watch but don't dive nor fly abroad enough to justify it.
Last edited by Corrado; 17th May 2015 at 20:03.
Yep. I think the BLNR had 1 click per hour setting, which seems to make sense for the GMT function, having not used one before.
Useful summary.
I travel out of zone for short periods but have to track other time zones all the while - neither way around is optimal, as the best thing would be quickset 12 and 24 hour hands! A 24h bezel helps though. It's also useful for going further afield, which does mean changing the 12h hands, but it doesn't happen often enough for it to be an inconvenience (insert bonding/interaction/contemplation/life's-pleasures reference here).
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
Voyager. I bought mine as a cost effective way to have a Dreadnought, and the GMT function is a bonus if/when needed. Given current used prices probably the best used buy in the world.
F.T.F.A.
I tend to have the GMT/UTC hand set to home time when travelling, and it can be a useful quick reminder, but in practice I can normally do the calculation just as quickly in my head. One of the places I travel to most regularly is Venezuela, which has a Time Zone offset from GMT at -4:30, so a dual time zone watch is more useful there.
Famously, in India you can turn your watch upside down to find GMT.
I use the GMT function of my Voyager quite a lot when travelling.
One or two hours difference isn’t such a big deal, but anything more and it’s essential: I have a mental blank as to whether it is +/- x hours back home and having the function overcomes the potential for contacting people at the ‘wrong' time of day - SWMBO in particular.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
The GMT function on my Explorer II will be getting its first proper use in Vegas next week (assuming I can still see the dial that is)!
I do use mine to an extent. I deal
a lot with a Japanese company so I put Tokyo time in.
It makes sense if you only use it for GMT zones. I use my bezel for general timing far more often than I use it for GMT, I must say.
GMT owners, what time zone do you set the extra hand to if not travelling?
GMT :)
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I travel a lot through work, and always travel with my Explorer II. Whilst away it's great for tracking the UK time, and when I'm home in the UK I use it to track the office I work out of which is on the West Coast of the US. In short, I use mine a lot, and have even thought of getting a second... The question is, which one? If only the Planet Ocean GMT wasn't so bloody thick...
Me too, which is partly why I like a dive bezel so much - for general timing, oddly more so than a chronograph?? I do like a twisty bezel on a watch. don't really know why
I bought my GMT because I like the look of but I also find it very useful to quickly see what the time is in the UK now that I live abroad
I bought my BLNR because j liked it and as its a bit different to the sub while sharing the same DNA(slightly) I've it set to +1 as my dad lives in France and I'd have no idea what time to set it too otherwise :) but I could work that out without thinking so yeah I bought mine for how it looks. Lovely watches and you can't got wrong with either.
This is it next to my mates sub
GMT in winter and BST in summer!
(Or whatever timezone my wife is in when she's out of the country.)
I do use it. The GMT hand is on Zulu, as it should be, the local time hands show the local time, which is nearly always Cornish Mean Time, and the bezel shows the time zone of whomever I'm talking to on Skype. Usually Pacific time.
I also use the bezel for timing (2 clicks per five minutes means you can time things more or less to the nearest minute).
Not really the primary reason for having the watch, of course, so much as it being an iconic tool watch for aviators, astronauts, and soldiers. If you only had one Rolex, I think the GMT would be the one to have, and the BLNR is a really nice colourway.
does the sub clasp have a wider range of adjustability or is it in finer increments (or both)? I noticed the sub clasp looks longer, but didn't get to fiddle with the adjustment mechanisms.
Thanks all for your comments so far.
Me too. In my cases (300M GMT, Explorer II) I just love the splash of red. When the minute hand obscures the GMT (a polar eclipse?) the watch looks dull by comparison.
eye candy for me
Yes. It my travel watch, can't live without GMT function. GMT hand is set to home time. (When to call kids good night etc.)
-OD
I don't use the GMT feature, I bought it because I like the looks of the BLNR and the history of the Rolex GMT model.
Last edited by Guitarfan; 18th May 2015 at 11:39.
I've got a Dreadnought Voyager.
I find the GMT feature great on overseas dive trips...
It'll be coming to Indonesia with me in April next year and probably to Gozo in June this...
If I'm not diving I tend to take my Breitling B-1 and set the second timezone to home (or just use the UTC one if it's not BST)
M.
Last edited by snowman; 18th May 2015 at 12:35.
I use the GMT function when travelling to see what my home-time is, so I know what time to contact friends and family at home. Quite useful and handy once you have and use it.
Mine has 2 pushers on the side of the case to move the GMT hand forward or backward, so no fiddling with the crown for me.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned it, but -having owned an old style GMT and Exp II at one time or other - I actually found the fourth hand a distraction on occasion, made it a tiny bit more difficult to tell the time at a glance. Might sound silly, but I was enough to convince me never to buy another GMT regardless of how useful it can be for travelling.
Same for me. Of course, this only really applies if you have a rotatable Bezel (e.g. GMT Master 2). If you have a fixed bezel (like the Exp 2), I would set mine to my home time.
That's one of the main reasons I love the JLC Master Hometime as you can park the other timezone under the hour hand when not in use.(in response to two posts above)
I always wear my GMT GS when I travel abroad. Whatever time zone I am in (particularly in the USA) the GMT hand is always on UK time.
I do set them sometimes, usually to EST but TBH it is just as easy to mentally add or subtract a few hours.
Cheers,
Neil.
I hardly travel at all but I have a sister in China and my wife travels very frequently so it is set to one of their timezones, and then GMT when I travel myself.
You're not wrong; it's an observation which makes me realise that I reckon I more often look at a given watch to think "aw, you're so purdy" than actually to find out the time.
I do use it when travelling but I certainly don't travel enough to spend that much on a GMT watch and it is usually as quick to work it out in my head. I do use that functionality more than I use any dive watch functionality however...
I had a GMTIIC and found the third hand (what was that song from Rolf Harris - rather ironic now, another story) very useful. In combination with the bezel I could tell a time in any office with a 1/2h adjustment for the Hyderabad guys. And travelling you could tell the time in 3 TZ.
i may have to pick up the BLNR sometime.
I guess they're useful if you travel a lot, but even then I`d question it. Adding or subtracting X hours isn`t too taxing!
As for the aesthetics, I've never found them appealing at all; I`ve yet to see one that I`d like to own. A big thumbs-down from me.
Paul
I live in Singapore, and have the GMT hand on my Explorer set to UK time. It's only a -7hr difference to figure out each time, but I have to say it's much more convenient having it right there in front of me when I want to know what UK time is.
I have my SBIII GMT set to PD time. Useful when you need to work out if you can call you colleges in sunny California
I travel quite a lot and find a GMT function very useful. Typically I will set the GMT hand to home (UK) time when travelling.
The ergonomics of how you change the GMT hand are quite important - I prefer those that adjust independently.
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