The lesser-known cousin to the Q Timex GMT - The Waterbury Traditional GMT with Coke Bezel (TW2W22700)
One of my other hobbies is amateur radio (commonly called "ham radio") and in that world you frequently log information for other radio stations you make contact with. The time portion is always logged in UTC. Most of the time you log with computer software, so it can automatically figure out what current UTC is, but sometimes (frequently in my case) I am recording contacts with with pencil on paper. This got me thinking about how a GMT watch for ham radio operators could be another use case besides travelers, or international business people.
I've never owned a GMT piece before and was inspired by some info on the popular Q Timex GMTs that released recently. I almost pulled the trigger on a batman colorway. However, I personally am not a fan of the Rolex style hands. I know Timex didn't exactly do a Mercedes hand but it's pretty close and the whole dial is too close to a 1:1 homage for my personal tastes. I don't dislike it enough to be a complete deal-breaker, but in looking into those I came across these alternate Waterbury models that Timex did a couple of years prior. Unfortunately its a downgrade in movement compared to the Q Timex GMT (Swiss Ronda vs Timex in-house from Philippines), but I found it on a pretty steep sale (well under $200) and really liked the coke bezel version on bracelet. Furthermore, what little information there is out there on these Waterbury Traditional GMTs almost exclusively focuses on the other colorways so I thought I'd post about it to at least get something out there.
Initial impressions are positive. The bracelet is of ok quality. The movement is definitely cheap so I think Timex deserves some criticism for that. The dial and hands are pretty good. The bezel is alright as well. Nothing is phenomenal but I'm happy with getting into an analog GMT at a cheap price and I dig the look of it. We'll see how it goes long-term.
https://timex.com/products/waterbury-traditional-gmt-39mm-stainless-steel-bracelet-watch-tw2w22700
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDPQZPKY?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Just an average desk-dwelling code monkey with an EDC obsession and a fledgling collection of basic, affordable watches. I'm a sucker for silver-tone dials. Catch me on the Best Damn EDC Discord serve...
Looks very nice, I love that second hand 👌
Looks very nice, I love that second hand 👌
yeah me too - the retro waterbury logo almost looks like the Christopher Ward trident. I also like the silver second hand on this coke bezel version because it is a green color on all of the others which isn't really my bag.