If you travel frequently for work or leisure, you know the complications of tracking time across more than one timezone. Fortunately, GMT watches make this process much easier. Rather than looking up the time in a different location, you have the ability to know the time of any location in the world — just by looking at your wrist! While many people use a GMT watch as a simple dress watch, its functionality makes it a great asset, especially if you move around a lot.
In any case, people still have a lot of questions about the history and purpose of GMT watches. For example, when was the first GMT watch invented? How does a GMT watch work? And how do you use a GMT watch? In this GMT Watches 101 Guide, we will answer all of these questions and more, but first, let’s at the basic mechanisms involved in a GMT watch:
What Is a GMT Watch?
In essence, a GMT watch is a kind of 24-hour watch that allows for time-tracking in more than one time zone. GMT stands for “Greenwich Mean Time,” but the meaning of this name can be a little confusing, as the term has largely been replaced by UTC, or “Coordinated Universal Time.” Either way, the GMT designation signifies that it is a dual-timezone watch.
Though designs can vary based on the manufacturer, most GMT watches have a GMT movement component surrounding the watch face. This allows users to read the current time in any time zone around the world. However, using the GMT movement does not take away from the wearer’s ability to read the time in their current location.
GMT watches have been around for years. Originally, the GMT watch was developed in 1954 to help pilots keep track of time while flying around the globe and have become a great use to travelers, particularly those who frequently move in-between different time zones.
How To Use a GMT Watch
No GMT Watches 101 Guide would be complete without a comprehensive tutorial. Thankfully, GMT watches are not extremely complicated, which contributes to their popularity among travelers. So, how do you use a GMT watch? Read on to find out!
Set Your Local Time
Before you start trying to use the GMT function on your watch, you will need to set the correct time for your location. First, you will want to ensure that the 24-hour marker of the GMT bezel is at the center-top watch face — where 12 o’clock would be on a standard timepiece. This ensures that the GMT function will not interfere with setting your local time.
Then, you will need to confirm your local time. For example, let’s say that you live in New York City and it is 3 PM. You will want to pull out your crown to set the hour hand to the quarter-hour mark (3 on the GMT bezel). Next, you will need to put the crown in the secondary position to adjust the minute hand. Again, assuming that it is 3 PM, you will want to set the minute hand to the zero-hour marker (24 on the GMT bezel). Finally, return the crown to its default position. Now you’re all set!
Set the GMT Function
While knowing your local time is great, it doesn’t really fulfill the true potential of a GMT timepiece. So, you will need to learn how to set a GMT watch for a specific timezone. Let’s say that you want to know the time in London. Assuming that you’re still in New York City, you’ll need to adjust the GMT bezel accordingly.
When you have the GMT bezel at the 24-hour position, the GMT hand will tell you the exact same time as your local hour and minute hand (albeit using the GMT bezel). Since it’s 3 PM local time, this means that the local hour hand will point to quarter-hour marker on your watchface, while your GMT hand will point to the 15:00 marker (i.e. 3 PM) on the GMT bezel. So, in order to tell the time in London, you’ll need to rotate the GMT bezel to reflect the correct timezone.
During standard time (not Daylight Savings Time), London is 5 hours ahead of New York City. So, this means you’ll need to rotate the GMT bezel until 5 is at the top-center. Your local time hands will still show the that it is 3 PM in your location based on the watchface time markers. However, the GMT hand will now show that it is 20:00 (8 PM) in London via the GMT bezel.
How to Read a GMT Watch
As long as you know the difference in timezones between your location and another location, you can easily read a GMT watch for two distinct timezones. You simply have to remember that your standard hour and minute hand will always tell the local time using the time markers on the watchface. Alternatively, the GMT hand will always tell the time in a location based on where you set the GMT bezel. Though watch designs vary, you can usually differentiate between the standard and GMT hands based on size and color.
It’s also important to note that you’ll need to be able to read 24-hour time (sometimes known as “military time”) to read a GMT watch. Though 24-hour time is common throughout most of the world, it is not as common in the United States. Fortunately, once you learn the basics, it is easy to read a 24-hour timepiece. Here’s a breakdown of times in both the 12-hour and 24-hour formats:
- 12:00 AM = 00:00 (or 24:00)
- 1:00 AM = 01:00
- 2:00 AM = 02:00
- 3:00 AM = 03:00
- 4:00 AM = 04:00
- 5:00 AM = 05:00
- 6:00 AM = 06:00
- 7:00 AM = 07:00
- 8:00 AM = 08:00
- 9:00 AM = 09:00
- 10:00 AM = 10:00
- 11:00 AM = 11:00
- 12:00 PM = 12:00
- 1:00 PM = 13:00
- 2:00 PM = 14:00
- 3:00 PM = 15:00
- 4:00 PM = 16:00
- 5:00 PM = 17:00
- 6:00 PM = 18:00
- 7:00 PM = 19:00
- 8:00 PM = 20:00
- 9:00 PM = 21:00
- 10:00 PM = 22:00
- 11:00 PM = 23:00
As you can see, the times remain largely the same during morning hours. After 12 PM, the primary differences start to emerge. One easy way to calculate 24-hour time for the afternoon or evening is to subtract two from the number you see. The second digit of the resulting number is the standard time. For example, let’s say that it’s 15:00. Subtract 2 from 15 and you’re left with 13. The second digit is 3, which means that it is 3 PM.
GMT Dive Watches
A dive watch is a watch that has enough water resistance capability to be submerged in water without losing its timekeeping functions. Generally, a watch must be able to go 100 meters (330 feet) deep in water to be considered a dive watch. As the name implies, a GMT dive watch simply serves two functions; it can tell the time in multiple time zones and provide water resistance as needed.
Do You Need a GMT Watch?
If you travel for pleasure, plan to travel in the near future, live abroad, or need to travel for work, then a GMT watch is a must. Pilots, sailors, businessmen and women, as well as casual travelers can all make great use of GMT watches. Multi-time zone watches are also popular for their inherent style. So, even if you don’t use the GMT function regularly, it can still be a great extra feature to have with a dress watch. In fact, people often find that once they get a GMT watch, they never want to switch back to a regular timepiece again!
We hope you found our GMT Watches 101 Guide useful! If you’d like to learn more about acquiring a GMT watch, feel free to contact the experts at Ashford today!
