GMT II - 2nd time zone - useful feature ?

[WatchForLife]

Question to those who own GMT II: How often do you read the 2nd time zone ? It is nice feature, but does it get used ? Of course it depends how often one travels but while traveling, does it really add value to have this feature on the watch ? Thanks for comments.

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by WatchForLife

Question to those who own GMT II: How often do you read the 2nd time zone ? It is nice feature, but does it get used ? Of course it depends how often one travels but while traveling, does it really add value to have this feature on the watch ? Thanks for comments.

Constantly. I deal with clients and associates all over the US and as far away as Guam on a weekly basis. Plus I travel a bit for work so navigating local, home, and the 3rd timezone of a client on the other side of the globe is invaluable.
dP

[hng]

Of course it does add value. This is meant for those who needs to track different time zones, up to 3 time zones. I can leave with 1 hour time difference but when it is 5 hours it gets too complicated...

[walter_mitty]

Never used mine - mainly because when I travel, I wear the Omega!

[Faide]

I have relatives in England (i live in NYC) also my company head quarters is in London so the 2nd timezone is very useful

Although i am so used to calculating it in my head for years now!

_Faide

[sea-dweller]

I use it often while traveling and even while in my home time zone (PDT). I deal with folks in other time zones for work related purposes, and the feature helps tremendously.

[nauticajoe]

All the time...especially during the work week since I deal with London frequently. Also when I travel it comes in very handy.

[VetteBandit]

Frequent traveler so I use mine all the time. A lot of the time when I travel for work I will be in 4 different continents and or 4/6 different countries all in about 10 days so I constantly use the 2nd time zone to track "home time." My wife appreciates it too because I dont call her at 3am local time.

I love/use my GMT so much I am considering the IIc for my next watch. For me the quick glance to the watch is a little faster than looking at my phone or computer to find home time.

[Tools]

If you travel a lot, the GMT II or EXP II is a great companion...........

It just takes a few seconds to "jump" to the new zone and you never need to stop the watch.......

[ayres]

Originally Posted by Tools

If you travel a lot, the GMT II or EXP II is a great companion...........

It just takes a few seconds to "jump" to the new zone and you never need to stop the watch.......

this is a good point because let's be honest... if you're in new york, is it really that difficult to add 5/6 hours to the time that your watch reads in order to know what time it is in london? we could live without the second hour hand.

but what is really awesome is that the gmt/exp movement seperates the hour hand from the minute hand... that REALLY needs to be emphasized. it is awesome to know that you don't need to stop the second hand in order to jump hours.

that is the virtue of the gmt movement!!!

[dc_in_sf]

Originally Posted by ayres

this is a good point because let's be honest... if you're in new york, is it really that difficult to add 5/6 hours to the time that your watch reads in order to know what time it is in london? we could live without the second hour hand.

but what is really awesome is that the gmt/exp movement seperates the hour hand from the minute hand... that REALLY needs to be emphasized. it is awesome to know that you don't need to stop the second hand in order to jump hours.

that is the virtue of the gmt movement!!!

I travel all the time for work and have family all over the world but the ability to independently set the hour hand is the main reason I would like to buy a GMT watch.

My main 'ding' against the GMT II and Explorer II is that I really like having a timing function (either timer bezel or chronograph) and find it more useful than even a date. This kills the Explorer II for me, and makes the GMT IIc less attractive since it's bezel rotates in one hour (=2.5 minute for timing purposes) increments. I'm tempted to track down a 16710 though...

[petespendthrift]

Originally Posted by ayres

this is a good point because let's be honest... if you're in new york, is it really that difficult to add 5/6 hours to the time that your watch reads in order to know what time it is in london? we could live without the second hour hand.

Really! Silly me, I thought I used the 24 hour hand quite regularly. The problem must be that I'm not in New York always tracking a second timezone 5/6 hours away.

[CPTL]

2nd time zone and the jump feature will be used everytime you cross a time zone. For most folks, that's maybe 5-10 times a year, but really handy when it happens. Of course, even twice a year is a lot more often than I dive below 100m.

[acce1999]

Very useful. The best complication ever on a mechanical watch. Even better than a chrono, at least for me. I should have gotten one much earlier than I did, since I've been travelling in my job since the mid 90's.

Best,

A

[Dan Pierce]

It was fateful my new position, requiring work in many timezones and lots of travel, coincided nicely with the acquisition of a GMT. Meant to be.
dP

[PhilM]

Have to agree it's such a lovely feeling being able to simply pull out the crown and jump forward or back without stopping

[Tylden Reed]

How often? Probably daily. When contacting somone abroad by 'phone, it is good to know if they are awake. If I'm going to call them by amateur radio it is no good calling if they are asleep or at work. With propogation impoving perhaps there will be more oportunities for contacts. The GMT II is indeed a necessary 'tool'. When 'off duty' I sometimes wear my 5508.

[MitchSteel]

I use mine on a daily basis for work, as the matter of fact all of my watches have GMT function.

[Faide]

Originally Posted by Tylden Reed

When 'off duty' I sometimes wear my 5508.

5508? Sweet!

_Faide

[accutronman]

I trade a lot on the European exchanges so I set my second zone to UTC.

[JBat]

If you are in a different time zone, definitely a great function. I love it.

[Cru Jones]

The 2nd timezone isn't a necessity for me, but, it's a nice feature for sure. I live in France and a lot of my friends and family live on the East coast of the U.S., so the red hand on my Explorer II helps me "keep in touch".

That, and when I look at the watch and think about the movement keeping track of both times, it just makes me smile.

[ersnyder]

I don't own a GMT but I do have a second time zone complication on my Exp II and I do use it occasionally. But, the fact that it is an added complication makes the watch more valuable IMO and in light of the MSRP.

[NutNut]

When I'm at home I have the GMT hand set to local time so I mostly use it to know military time but when travelling the Hour hand is set to destination time. It's realy quite handy.

[Perdu]

My family, other than my wife and the kids all live in England, so it's kinda handy, although I could do the calculation in my head too. When it's really useful is when I travel and when I have (had) clients in China and Western and East Europe, keeping track of time for phone calls. When I fly home I always get confused about how long I have been on the plane and having the GMT helps.

[sakuraba]

I use the 4th hand feature all the time! My business deals with clients in asia, and I always have to check what time it is "over there".

[maxsar]

The ease of changing time zones without losing track of the exact time really makes the watch useful. I travel to many different time zones. With other watches I would often lose track of the exact time while adjusting for the new time zone. Ok, some of that is ADHD, but that is the hand I was dealt. Now I can easily set the watch and still know exactly what time it is when I get to where ever I am going.

Knowing what time it is at home is useful, but honestly I tend to do that in my head.

[WatchForLife]

Originally Posted by maxsar

Knowing what time it is at home is useful, but honestly I tend to do that in my head.

I deal with colleagues and customers located in several different countries on 3 continents. Knowing what the time difference is it's quite quick to count the hours forward or backward as needed. Knowledge of time difference is needed anyway to set the GMT. I'd also imagine that reading the 24h hand and bezel require paying some extra attention. Not saying that GMT feature is not great to have, just having hard time choosing between SS SUBC and SS GMTIIC.

[Rippin]

Originally Posted by WatchForLife

Not saying that GMT feature is not great to have, just having hard time choosing between SS SUBC and SS GMTIIC.

I guess it also begs to question whether you'll use the diving features on a sub. If the features between a diver and a gmt watch are equally important/unimportant then I guess it comes down to which watch looks and feels better on your wrist.

[Flyjet601]

I use it everytime I go to work.......

24 hr hand always set to UTC.