Can Someone Give Me a Lesson in GMT’s?

[davidj54]

Gentlemen. So, inching towards getting a GMT in the new year; nothing fancy or expensive, most likely the Steinhart Ocean GMT39 Pepsi. We’ll see. Got a few trips planned next year that will involve water, so tracking time zones and 300m WR both have plenty of appeal!

In doing my research, it transpires to me that there are different types of GMT function. So a Rolex GMT will have a smooth moving GMT hand? And an independent hour hand, is that right? And a bi-directional bezel that has 24 or 48 clicks? Meaning that you set the GMT to local time, and keep the watch on your own home time?

Whereas a cheaper GMT like the ETA 2893 in the Steinhart has a GMT hand that jumps from bezel point to point. And the bezel itself is uni-directional, 120 click - like a diver. And the hour hand doesn’t move independently. So you set the GMT to your own time, and the watch to local time (may have got those the wrong way round?!). Finally, there’s a way of tracking 3 times zones simultaneously on a GMT right?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to understand them more and where better to enquire?! I had a Timex Navi before which had 12 hour markers on the bezel, making it very easy to track another time zone.

Cheers 👍

(Also, probably a stupid question but what does BLNR stand for?)

[Dsmith1974]

Hi David,

You can’t go wrong with a Rolex GMT and while it may be an expensive purchase it will hold its value so you won’t lose out.

A Rolex GMT is 100M WR but I’m guessing you’ll never dive below 30M? Maybe 40 if you’re a real pro so I wouldn’t worry about that.

You can use the complications any way you see fit, but convention is to keep the GMT hand on GMT. You can then quick set the hour hand forwards or backwards to local time without hacking the movement. If required you can use the bezel to track a third time zone. The Rolex bezel will have 24 clicks which fine but you’d have to remember to add 30 mins if you went to India as IST is GMT+5.5.

The GMT hand will be smooth just like the hour hand. BLNR refers to the bezel colours (Blue/noir - Batman/dark knight) BLRO (Blue/Rouge pepsi) or RONR Coke.

You may have to pay a premium to buy a 116710 BLNR (GMT Master II) if you don’t want to join a waiting list. The previous generation 16710 is also worth a look (also GMT Master II but pre maxi-case). The 16700 (GMT Master) looks the same but the GMT hand is tied to the hour hand and does have an independent quick set hour function.

One benefit of the 16710 is that you can get the different coloured bezels for £50 each so you can effectively have 3 watches in 1.

If going for a 16710 I would get 2002 or later for the laser etched crown and solid end links.

The Tudor GMTs, Grand Seikos, Seiko Prospex are worth a look too. I expect Mido do one too.

HTH,
Duncan


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[DMC102]

The GMT hand makes one continuous revolution of the dial every 24 hours and you read the hour off the 24-hour bezel or dial markings. Conventionally, the local time is set on the 12-hour hands, whilst the second time zone (often the time at home) is tracked by the GMT hand.

Some watches have a quickset feature for the 12-hour hour hand, others for the GMT hand. Some have neither. A rotating bezel lets you switch to another tracked time zone without having to reset the GMT hand, but not all GMTs have one. Some GMTs have a 24-hour ring on the dial as well as a rotating bezel, allowing you to track three time zones at once, e.g. local time on the 12-hour hands with the other two zones indicated by where the GMT hand points on the dial ring and the bezel markings.

When set to local time, the GMT hand serves the additional purpose of indicating AM/PM.

BLNR indicates the bezel colour, expressed in French, i.e. BLeu NoiR. Single-colour Rolex bezels are described using L (French for bezel is lunette) and the initial of the colour, e.g. LV = lunette verte = green bezel.

[WarrenVrs]

Have a look at these. I believe it's a modified ETA with a jumping hour hand.
https://gearpatrol.com/2018/09/14/al...-heritage-gmt/

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[Gyp]

As a very slight aside, most GMT movements only allow full hour differences between the two time zones. Some areas have 1/2 hour or even 1/4 hour time zones

(grabbed from Wikipedia - Newfoundland, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, the Marquesas, as well as parts of Australia use half-hour deviations from standard time, and some nations, such as Nepal, and some provinces, such as the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, use quarter-hour deviations.)

Depending on where you are going, it would be a real shame to get there and discover that your watch wouldn't go what you wanted...

My Casio G-shock MTG does the 1/2 and 1/4 hour time zones but it is not to everyone's taste; not even mine most of the time!

While you're here, it might be worth pointing you towards the Dreadnought Voyager... 300m, GMT, hard as nails. http://www.timefactors.com/dreadnoughtvoyager.htm

[Suds]

Many thanks to posters -ived learned something new

[Yorkshiremadmick]

While you're here, it might be worth pointing you towards the Dreadnought Voyager... 300m, GMT, hard as nails. http://www.timefactors.com/dreadnoughtvoyager.htm

GOOD call on the Dreadnought competitively priced compared to many as well.



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[davidj54]

Many thanks to all for the replies, I’ve certainly learned something and had my queries cleared up! DMC102 cheers your post was spot on and told me everything I wanted to know, much appreciated. Dsmith1974 thanks also for the info, appreciated - sadly a Rolex GMT Master is quite a way past my current watch budget, hence the reference to the Steinhart! One day maybe 😉

[davidj54]

My Casio G-shock MTG does the 1/2 and 1/4 hour time zones but it is not to everyone's taste; not even mine most of the time!

While you're here, it might be worth pointing you towards the Dreadnought Voyager... 300m, GMT, hard as nails. http://www.timefactors.com/dreadnoughtvoyager.htm

Cheers mate. I’ve got a G-Shock actually, but it doesn’t have world time function. I did use to have one that did. Thanks for the link too, I’m sure it’s a solid watch but aesthetically it’s not really my cup of tea 👍

[HappyJack]

For travel, the quickset hour hand, which you can easily reset to local time as you cross time zones, is much the best option. GMT (or rather, UTC) doesn't change just because you get on a plane.

The Rolex GMT 16710 is The King, but for a more affordable travel type GMT option with the quickset hour hand feature look at the Omega Seamaster GMT 2234 for around $1900 used; or a Seiko GMT like the Sportura SUN021/023/025 or 019 etc versions, for about a third of that.

[ntfromto]

The Alpina GMT

A short video on the 360 bezel.
https://youtu.be/DeTXlCRFinI