zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: My new job will have me traveling extensively
: all over the world. I want to buy a reliable
: GMT watch, either quartz or automatic;
: accuracy is my number one criterion. I will
: appreciate recommendations and comments.
: Thanks in advance.

If "accuracy is my number one criterion", then automatics can be ruled out.

However, if you do not like all the "extra stuff" that comes with the Citizen (or any of the other complicated analog/digitals...Seiko, Tissot...), do not rule out the Omega GMT with black or white face. They can still be found and will be serviceable by Omega for the rest of your life.

I have a black face GMT and I love it. It's easy to use in every sense of the word. I DO travel with it and I DO use the GMT function everytime I leave my timezone.

IMO, DO NOT get one of these "pseudo-GMTs" with a 24 hand but no 24 hour bezel.

IMO, the problem with these watches that call themselves "GMT" that do not have a 24 hour bezel is that they don't let you switch timezones easily/conveniently AND, if you switch the 24 hour hand to some other timezone while traveling, you might not even know (or get temporarily confused) as to what time it is back at your home timezone because the regular hands don't indicate AM or PM. (Such watches that miss the mark... IMO... include include the Speedy GMT, the Bond Co-axial GMT/SMP, the Breitling Longitude, current Breitling GMT, and some others)

As a seasoned GMT owner/user, let me explain with an example. I live in Houston, Texas and I just went to Berlin, Germany for a week for work reasons. Berlin is 7 hours ahead of Houston.

When I was on the plane, I just turned the 24-hour bezel until the 7 was at the top. So all I did all week was read local (Berlin) time off the 24h-hand & 24h-bezel. Notice that I NEVER did ANYTHING with the crown!

I read Houston time off the regular hands, and if I were jet-lagged or hung-over or whatever and I don't know if the regular hands are telling me AM or PM for Houston time, I just turn the bezel back to "24" being at the top and ...presto...the AM/PM ambiguity is eliminated. I then call my wife at a reasonable time back in Houston, and go about my business.

This works perfectly because I always keep the 24h hand and 12h hands synchonized. (In other words, reading military time in my home timezone.) THIS IS WHAT THE WATCH WAS REALLY MEANT FOR!

This whole businees of "uncoupling" the 24h hand from the regular hands on a GMT, like what Rolex did with the GMT II and what Omega does with the black & white GMTs is an example of a "solution in search of a problem". Yes, I know, with the "uncoupled" GMT hand, you can tell time in 3 different timezones. It is a little more confusing and who really does this...seriously.

My two cents worth....