Guys

This is my first post and I’m going to throw this out here. I’m taking a new position and it requires travel into different time zones. So I thought it was a good excuse for another watch. But in talking to a few travelers they told me they never use their GMT function.

So what’s your experience? Do you use Gmt or not?

Joe

 

I can add and subtract, so I've never understood why people would need a GMT watch.

 

Yup





Do I need it? No. But it’s fun

(Also, would have been extremely useful on a trip across the date line - under 12 hours’ difference it isn’t super necessary. Over 12 hours though it’d be nice to have a quick reference, especially when I’m to jetlagged to think about timezones properly....)

 

My parents live in a different country, so I usually have my GMT set to their time zone. Easy reference even though my basic math skills are quite good.

 

I suppose if your notion of “traveling” is both “once in a while” and “one or two time zones over” then it’s less critical.

But if you travel frequently to multiple locations, including to places with far desperate time zones (including date changes) it can become disorienting - or it can become nettlesome to be doing constant math (even if easy).

And it just gets worst if you both travel frequently AND communicate via phone with multiple locations.

I live in Texas, my ‘local’ GMT is permanently set to Sydney AUS - which seems backwards, but allows my ‘true’ GMT to constantly tell me not only the exact time of one of my major client’s HQs, but also gives me the base number from which to “do math” for other parts of Asia (HK, Tokyo, Malaysia).

And my ‘travel’ time is then set to my local, be in TX (when home) or wherever I’m traveling to - again, not only to tell me my local time, but also as a base number from which to do further math for other nearby zones of need.

All of this, I suppose, is not too dissimilar from why pilots and crew often wear GMTs as well? Again, it’s one thing to “do math” for an occasional trip a few time zones away; it’s quite another to “do math” several times a day, for multiple time zones, on little sleep and jet lag.

 

because sometimes you want to give your brain some rest and not have to think or do math.

 

Seems I've touched a nerve...if you find a GMT watch helpful, that's great. For me it never made any sense, even though I have travelled a lot to time zones 1/2 a world away, and still keep track of time zones here quite often (family living abroad).

Fair enough.

 

I travel between multiple time zones, and I often use my Explorer II with time set to local time where I am and I leave the GMT to my home time zone.

The idea that one can “do math” ignores the state of mind one experiences during travel between multiple time zones with extreme sleep deprivation and jet lag.

I like to set my watch during the flight, which means thinking carefully one time to set it right, and then I can quickly glance to check local time without giving it much thought.

GMT is useful to me, even though I also can “math”...

 

Actually, I think it’s harder to figure out how to use a GMT watch for 3 time zones than to add/subtract

And you need to add/subtract anyway for sub-hourly time diffs ...

Regardless, OP had a very good excuse so just go ahead and buy a new GMT watch

 

I use it, but I think I just use it because I want to play with it to justify somewhat it's function. Like @Archer, I am used to conversion timezones due to the fact that all my family is in Europe and my work connects me with east, west and central time zones in the US. The fees times I use it I normally know the conversion time before my eyes actually land on the dial.

I can see how someone that makes 3 or 4 time zone jumps in a day may want to have GMT time always on their wrists (mainly commercial pilots) but even then I think they most likely have plenty of reminders within their daily admin.

If, for any reason I have a meeting with someone in Asia or a country I am less used to dealing with then it could become useful but....It would have to be a day when I am actually wearing a GMT (I have over 40 watches and only 3 are GMT) and my iPhone calendar makes the automatic time-zone conversion for me on meetings.

 

Does your wife agree that you can do math?

 

nah man, no nerves touched - just typing from the toilet, and so nuances may get missed/toned misjudged/communicated

Still, it seems to me we either all collectively agree to ignore the average futility of “tool” watches, or agree they’re useful enough to justify their continued existence. The number of “dive” watches that see anything below 3 meters? The number of tachy chronos that see a race? The number of anti-magnetics that see Wiley Coyote’s giant ACME horseshoe magnet?

I’m probably one of few folks who, when it comes to GMTs, are the equivalent of a professional deep SCUBA diver to a dive watch. It’s about as useful to me as any “tool” watch could be to anyone, in today’s world.

 

For those who don’t know, my wife is an engineer and I studied economics. My wife likes to make subtle digs about my “lesser” degree with occasional remarks as to my lower math skills. She likes to throw in a “cuz math” reference whenever she feels the point she’s making is obvious and I’m not getting it (often when not math related in the slightest).

I guess when she questions any future GMT purchase, I can simply explain “cuz math babes!”

 

Weirdly I do use the bezel on watches that have it often, Mainly to track meetings with Staff where, for the sake of discipline and communication, I want to keep a tighter schedule. Easier to set the bezel for 20 minutes, or 30 or whatever so I can track without having to look too intently at the dial. I don't always wear my glasses so the market is easier to track against the bezel time plots.

Not diving.....but definitely useful.

Because of my eyes failing me sometimes the Chrono function is not as useful either.

 

traveling occasionally to Europe and calling family is one thing. Traveling 1/2 the year, and calling (or remembering to call) a client at precisely at 9:30AM Sydney “on Tuesday”, while on a Monday Denver CMT layover between TX CST home and Alaska AST second office, all while hoping to also catch your toddler on FaceTime at precisely bath time back home, between conference calls with the NY office at 11:30 AM and 1:30PM EST, the day after a redeye return from Asia ... still leaves plenty of math needing to be done, despite the GMT crutch (and admittedly, still the occasional “Siri, what day is today?”)

 

I use mine often, both for travel and general use. My home office is +9hrs so I keep the gmt on that zone when at home for quick reference. Yes, not “needed” I guess, Like most I can add 9 and usually come up with the right time, but it comes in handy often for me. Sometimes it’s nice just to look and know without doing clock math.

 

You are making a ton of assumptions about me that are off the mark...

Anyway I guess that's partly my point...the GMT isn't much help in all that you just described. Again if people find it helpful that's great, but in all the travelling I've done in my life (which is a lot) I've never been on a trip and thought "Oh my this would be soooo much easier if ONLY I had a GMT watch on right now!"

But hey, if people want to justify another watch purchase, I'm not going to stand in their way.

I was simply answering the question the OP asked.

 

That's where the iPhone cal comes into place....Because If I have that many critical items while jet lagged to remember the exact time is not the biggest challenge for me. Also you would have to change your GMT about six times to meet all those times, which will need the same math. You're justifying tracking European Time, Sydney Time, , Texas CST, Denver CMT, Alaska AST, New York EST...whatever Asia country your traveling from overnight and wherever Home is.... on a red eye....

At that point the GMT crown is going to disintegrate man.....no watch can track all that for you without about 6 changes.

 

If other people don't use their GMT, do you think that it makes you less likely to use one? I would use it if I had it and traveled a lot (a lot meaning I would fly to somewhere for business and stay for a day or two, not necessarily time-zone hopping in a day). I think the travel time complication is much more elegant and convenient so would get more use but that's a $60,000 proposition on a rubber strap for a sports model.

 

I have an Explorer 2 and BLNR, both of which I set the GMT hand to a PST timeframe for my external office when I am back home. Although we can all do the maths, it is nice to be able to glance quickly and see the time in PST. I am pretty sure the Pan Am pilots who gave input to the Rolex GMT could also do the maths, but perhaps wanted a second timezone to be visualized quickly as they were processing other variables and information during flight.

For business I travel with two cell phones, one private and the other for business. Since I have started "double wristing" using a Fitbit inspire band (only need to charge every 4 days) and a mechanical watch, I keep the cell phone linked to the Fitibt on home time and have my mechanical watch on local time. So during my last recent business trip I traveled with a SM300MC (used on the plane, casual meetings) and a Rolex Explorer (technical business meetings), with the Fitbit doing the GMT "home time" and month/day/date function.

I think the most useful travel function in a mechanical watch is a jumping hour hand for when you are travelling across timezones. On Omega GMT watches the jumping hour hand mechanism is not very robust, and some specific component might need to replaced during regular service, especially if you are often using the jumping hour hand function to set the date (e.g you have several watches in rotation and need to set the date). If I recall correctly, this is something that Al/Archer had mentioned in a previous post.