What's out there in the Diver's GMT category?
Hey Crunchies!
As some of you might recall from a post a while back, I've been on the hunt for a gmt. I travel a fair bit for work, and also recreationally, so I find it easy to rationalize the purchase, even though I have this: SSNAV-D because, why not one more watch?
I also like to dive, so a do-it-all feels thematically correct. Now, by divers' gmt I mean a watch with a divers elapsed time bezel (not a 24hr bezel) and a 24hr scale on the dial somewhere -either the rehaut or an inner circle etc. What do folks recommend/suggest?
*I've come close to buying a BBPro, but the non-dive bezel is a touch suboptimal, even though I do like it's aesthetic and havent taken it off my list per se.
**although I've pictured it above, not into Bremont due to feedback on issues with the gmt hand not tracking well from a watchmaker friend of mine. Also (for me) they havent quite earned the price point they're after with the kinda meh power reserves and pretty close to off the shelf ETA's. That said, those supermarines are pretty.
Anyways I digress, your ideas please and thank you!
Watch enthusiast, occasional racecar driver and scuba diver, full time dad, wannabe photographer
Citizen makes a few models in different colors. I found these two on Jomashop.
Some options:
I believe this supports dual time
Longines Hydroconquest GMT for my money. They've fixed a few things that I don't love about the standard hydroconquest, mainly the enormous numbers!
Lorier Hydra GMT Diver
https://www.lorierwatches.com/products/hydra-siii
One and done that watch is golden!
I don't think these have been mentioned yet. The seiko tuna are big boys so beware and the formex has bezels that can be swapped so you can pick your style. If budget was not an option I would pick the formex, but for me it was so I got the kinetic tuna.
Longines Hydroconquest GMT for my money. They've fixed a few things that I don't love about the standard hydroconquest, mainly the enormous numbers!
And the horrible crown guards got fixed
The great white or the 50th anniversary
Lorier Hydra SIII.
Here shortly it will be released in a blacked out variant too. Mine is the grey ghost variant.
The new Longines Hydroconquest GMT, nothing is better value for money wise.
I think one of the best watches ever made is is the Sinn U2.
You mentioned that you're a diver, and I think about it in terms of 'what is a watch I would actually want to wear on a dive?'
Let me explain.
The watch is large enough that you will be able to see it underwater (44m) but the case is extremely wearable because the short lugs curve downward, so your bracelet or strap will pull down around your wrist for a pretty good fit.
I like the "SDR" version with the black bezel because underwater, black/white contrast is going to be the easiest thing to see as you progressively lose your ability to see color.
Speaking of color, I've often been confused by the use of colors like red on dive bezels since you can't see red underwater
But in this case I love the way red was used on the dial and for the GMT. During a dive, the GMT is often in the way, but by doing it in red, the GMT literally disappears under water when you don't need it.
I love it because when you travel for a dive trip, you're often in a completely different part of the world. During the dive, no one needs a second time zone. But when you're back on the boat and start thinking about home, wondering what your golden retriever is up to at that exact moment— you have the GMT right there.
Speaking of dive bezels, there is a lot of really functional practicality that gets overlooked. On most youtube reviews, dive bezels get critiqued for having any amount of back play but if you actually dive— it's really helpful for clearing out salt and silt without jamming the bezel.
Another consideration is, when you're wearing the watch on a dive, you're going to knock it on something hard and metal. No matter how careful you are, there's always that moment when you're getting your BCD/tank on, and a wave rocks your boat, you try to keep your balance, and WHACK!
Sinn sources the same steel that the German Navy uses for their submarine hulls for this watch. There are a couple of important reasons—
it's a stronger steel for those moments where it gets accidentally knocked against something (life happens)
it's amagnetic, which is really important as mechanical watches are inadvertently getting magnetized all the time these days (amagnetic steel is important for submarines so they don't get stuck facing north-south like underwater compasses)
the steel is resistant to saltwater corrosion
Sinn also has an additional option they call "tegimented steel" where they use a chemical hardening process to make the steel SUPER scratch resistant. The tegimenting process is used on all of their black watches, and is an option for the steel watches.
Here's an all black version for sale on Chrono24 that was made in 2015, and look how well the PVD/scratch resistance held up after 8 years:
Very few PVD watches look that good after 8 years. One of the reasons is because the PVD coating is always harder than the steel underneath, so when you hit a PVD coated watch against something, the steel underneath flexes, and that causes an egg shell cracking in the PVD. The steel hardening/tegiment process strengthens the steel to massively reduce that risk.
I like the design of this watch because I'd wear it on a dive, it's actually built/designed for real divers (in this case, it was originally designed for German special operations), and I think it looks good enough to wear as a daily driver— but then you have that GMT to connect you to memories of your dive trips when you're back on the grind at work.
@yarko_on_the_go I'm curious about what you've heard about the Bremont GMT hand. I've been eyeing the Bremont S302 and S502 as I really like the bezel design, they also utilize steel hardening, etc, and on the used market, you can find them at similar prices to the Sinn U2.
This is the first I've heard of movement issues with Bremont GMTs, and since there aren't many out in the wild, I'm curious if you have more details on what's causing it?
Following this topic. I’m intrigued by this style of watch as an excellent all-around tool.
The Bremont looks great, but isn’t it a caller GMT? Seems like a lot of money for a caller.
I would say go for BB Pro, you will not regret it. But to 100% fit the criteria Longines Hydroconquest GMT is the way to go IMO. Or wait until WaW 2024 as I suspect we could see Tudor Pelagos GMT. Almost every year they release a GMT watch and BB collection is already full of it
True. I’m curious if I could replace the bezel on the Seiko SSK GMTs with a time bezel and get close. I don’t know enough about modding to know if I could also change the SSK’s bezel from friction to unidirectional clicks.
Downside is it wouldn't be unidirectional without a custom mod, only insert I'm aware of other than 24hr one is LongIslandWatch's ceramic lumed Countdown.
@RT_19X I've never seen that Omega before, a beauty! Interesting that it only displays the even numbers on the 24hr track, did that take a while to get used to?
As for the Seiko, that piece makes a lot of sense, but i think i have too many seikos 😀
Yeah, that Omega is a special piece. I remember spending an awful long time trying just about everything reasonably affordable on, and when I tried the SMP GMT on, it clicked. The even numbers didn’t take any time to adjust to at all; I find it very readable.
@GoldenWatchRetriever I can tell by your response that we would be good friends if we lived anywhere near each other! 😀
To your "WHACK!" story on hitting the watch on things; I experienced exactly that a few years ago when trying to climb onto a dive boat after diving the Rainbow Reef in Fiji in the midst of a storm. What started as a modest wind turned into a gale as we were down bellow. When we returned to the surface the boat was heaving up and down so much that I had to pick my timing exactly to be able to grab the ladder. (It was frankly pretty dangerous) I almost nailed it the first time, but slipped and my Doxa Sub1200T took a solid whack. It survived and now has a little scar on the bezel to remind me of the adventure.
The Red on a dive bezel is actually there with the intention of disappearing and is supposed to give you an indication of when you've descended bellow ~15ft. (which is when we lose red) That said, I'm colorblind so it's already a little lost on me 😂.
I never thought about a bit of wiggle room on a bezel helping to clear debris, but that sounds about right! I have an old seiko 5 that I can barely turn the bezel on anymore and I bet it's salt etc crusted under there..
To your main point though, I love Sinn so thank you for this suggestion! Such a great idea the way Sinn have executed this watch, the GMT content disappearing at depth just makes a ton of sense. The first watch I ever really lusted after was the Sinn U1. Their design aesthetic, tegimented steel, and general tool watch demeanor resonate with me. That said, 44mm is a Big Boy for my 6.5" wrist. Totally viable on a dive but I would probably struggle a bit with it otherwise. Even my Doxa at a hair over 42mm gets limited wrist time nowadays as I've started to trend towards smaller pieces. I even tried on a Pelagos LHD recently and found it surprisingly large.
All that said, I have a Sinn retailer in town and am going to have to make my way over there to try one on! Thank you!
As it just so happens, I'm 3 hours to the south of you (assuming a short line at the border)— but I agree we have a lot of similar perspectives. The interest in diving GMTs alone is a bit of an indicator because so many things have to align:
having the need/use for a GMT in the first place
recognizing the practicality of a timing bezel for timing everyday things as an alternative to a chronograph (and without the downstream maintenance of a chronograph)
being an actual certified diver and having that connection/appreciation for dive watch features, and the memories from past dives
the realization that watches with the GMT bezel can only track two time zones anyway— a lot of utility is lost with a rotating bezel, but it could (and should!) be swapped with a dive bezel to give you the ultimate day-to-day functionality
it actually enhances your experience during dive trips when you're in between dives to have that connection back home
And in order for all those thoughts to align, there's a bit of a commonality in background, interests, etc. that also overlaps. I'll definitely be following your watch journey from this side of the border and I'm due for a trip up to BC one of these days!
That's a great point, and now that you mention it completely makes sense for knowing when you're in the zone for a safety stop on the ascent.
It's a bit heart-breaking to hear that, but you've also saved me as I've been coincidentally thinking about the previous S502 a lot this week.
it's a rare diving GMT
I like the bezel design- the minute markings from 1-18 are a lot cleaner than the Sinn dial where half minutes are marked (interesting quirk: there's no 19... once you notice it, you can't unsee it)
I've developed an appreciation for applied indices because when you catch a glance at angles, they catch the light and it's that little extra touch of refinement that you bond with when you have that on wrist
I appreciate that the date wheel is color matched
the night mission motif reminds me of missions I did where I probably would have worn this watch, had something like this been available (it didn't exist when I would have needed it)
But one thing I didn't like, is the GMT hand is a bit too loud/distracting, doesn't disappear the way the Sinn U2 does for moments when you don't need it.
Sadly, it looks like the S502 also uses a modified 2893. You're like an angel of my bank account.
Bremont is a lot like Breitling to me where I read the MSRP and assume there's at least a 30% discount, and/or begin searching the secondary market. I would definitely not ever pay their MSRP. At grey market/used prices, they become much more palatable.
I think they can (and should) do better in their Marketing/PR. I watched the documentary "14 Peaks" this week, and thought there was a bit of a missed opportunity to capture that narrative in a compelling way.
In some of the high-risk moments (i.e. finding a safer way to get up K2), Nims Purja had to reach certain points on the mountain at specific times. In that regard, his life depended on that watch continuing to function at those altitudes/lack of air pressure, and at below freezing temperatures.
That is a HUGE opportunity really make the point that the case finishing/durability goes beyond the fact that it uses a relatively common ETA base movement, but Bremont seemed to stop short in capturing/amplifying that narrative.
When I think about it in terms of Bremont delivering an over-engineered watch in the spirit of Sinn but with a different design language... I can really get behind that. I love the scrappy underdog potential. But I wish they'd come down closer to the Sinn price point in their MSRP so that my dollars went to supporting them directly instead of buying used/third party.
As an aside, I hate their new S302/S502. Canucks/Seahawks colors are fine— but they did away with the diving bezel insert that I loved, but kept this a unidirectional 120 click bezel. There is never a reason for a 24 GMT bezel to be unidirectional. To be asking a high price, but not be bothered to make it a proper 48 click bi-directional bezel, is dangerous for their reputation.
While not a dive watch, there is a discontinued Bremont that I think is interesting. The Alt1-B has an internal rotating bezel that gives you the timing bezel capability.
I'm a huge fan of having the option to time two things concurrently, but not have to put unnecessary mileage on the chronograph if I can avoid it. The GMT is also subtly there when you need it, which makes this a watch with a lot of potential.
A youtuber in your neighborhood did a review on this watch a few weeks ago. He found one used for a ridiculously low price and I'm a bit jealous because the prices I'm seeing on the secondary market aren't that low. Yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esc-JHB6-LY
I agree with you on the very questionable markers on the Longines Hydroconquest. It looks like someone plagiarizing a term paper, and trying to change a few key words from the source. In this case, it's as if Longines had their watch on one screen, then a Rolex Submariner on the screen next to it, and they wanted to use the same triangle, circles, and batons... but change just enough to make the claim that it's different.
The problem is, your eye expects the shapes to be weighted in the cardinal directions (12, 3, 6, 9) to orientate for a quick reading. With the small shapes at 6 and 9, you end up having to look, re-look, and then decode the time.
If you're referencing the time while working on an important thought (i.e. you're in the middle of a presentation and need to see how much time you have left, but you're still speaking)— extra mental steps introduce a lot of risk in threatening to derail you from the important line of thought.
I wanted to like the Longines. We need more diving GMT options. But the markers, the wonky 3.5 hertz beat rate, and the long lugs just keep me from getting there on that particular model.
Looks great on the Haveston strap!
I don't think these have been mentioned yet. The seiko tuna are big boys so beware and the formex has bezels that can be swapped so you can pick your style. If budget was not an option I would pick the formex, but for me it was so I got the kinetic tuna.
From these options I got the Mido. Only issue with that exact model is that the strap, which I really like, has a leather backing so no good for taking in the water. The watch itself is rated to 20 bar.
@melvasaur this is one I actually saw at a shop on Tuesday funny enough. (and partly what got me thinking about this topic). Love the case and it wears a bit smaller on the wrist too, but their choice of markers, particularly the circles at 9 and 6 look really strange to my eye. Not sure if that's just me, but it seems somehow unbalanced visually. What are your thoughts on that?
Never noticed them, I was too busy celebrating that they got rid of those numbers 😂 no in fairness I genuinely didn't notice it.
Now you've said that I've had another look, I can see what you mean. I guess it's probably exacerbated by the date window, but it doesn't bother me. I think it's maybe more apparent on the black dial, but I don't think it would put me off. Would need to see in real life though first. Thanks for pointing it out. 🍻
Which brands are these?
Omega
This one
I really like this and the sealander gmt with the black dial. But neither have the dive bezel 🫤
Nice choice, but i think my collection is a little seiko heavy as it is! Need to diversify a little
As it just so happens, I'm 3 hours to the south of you (assuming a short line at the border)— but I agree we have a lot of similar perspectives. The interest in diving GMTs alone is a bit of an indicator because so many things have to align:
having the need/use for a GMT in the first place
recognizing the practicality of a timing bezel for timing everyday things as an alternative to a chronograph (and without the downstream maintenance of a chronograph)
being an actual certified diver and having that connection/appreciation for dive watch features, and the memories from past dives
the realization that watches with the GMT bezel can only track two time zones anyway— a lot of utility is lost with a rotating bezel, but it could (and should!) be swapped with a dive bezel to give you the ultimate day-to-day functionality
it actually enhances your experience during dive trips when you're in between dives to have that connection back home
And in order for all those thoughts to align, there's a bit of a commonality in background, interests, etc. that also overlaps. I'll definitely be following your watch journey from this side of the border and I'm due for a trip up to BC one of these days!
That's a great point, and now that you mention it completely makes sense for knowing when you're in the zone for a safety stop on the ascent.
It's a bit heart-breaking to hear that, but you've also saved me as I've been coincidentally thinking about the previous S502 a lot this week.
it's a rare diving GMT
I like the bezel design- the minute markings from 1-18 are a lot cleaner than the Sinn dial where half minutes are marked (interesting quirk: there's no 19... once you notice it, you can't unsee it)
I've developed an appreciation for applied indices because when you catch a glance at angles, they catch the light and it's that little extra touch of refinement that you bond with when you have that on wrist
I appreciate that the date wheel is color matched
the night mission motif reminds me of missions I did where I probably would have worn this watch, had something like this been available (it didn't exist when I would have needed it)
But one thing I didn't like, is the GMT hand is a bit too loud/distracting, doesn't disappear the way the Sinn U2 does for moments when you don't need it.
Sadly, it looks like the S502 also uses a modified 2893. You're like an angel of my bank account.
Bremont is a lot like Breitling to me where I read the MSRP and assume there's at least a 30% discount, and/or begin searching the secondary market. I would definitely not ever pay their MSRP. At grey market/used prices, they become much more palatable.
I think they can (and should) do better in their Marketing/PR. I watched the documentary "14 Peaks" this week, and thought there was a bit of a missed opportunity to capture that narrative in a compelling way.
In some of the high-risk moments (i.e. finding a safer way to get up K2), Nims Purja had to reach certain points on the mountain at specific times. In that regard, his life depended on that watch continuing to function at those altitudes/lack of air pressure, and at below freezing temperatures.
That is a HUGE opportunity really make the point that the case finishing/durability goes beyond the fact that it uses a relatively common ETA base movement, but Bremont seemed to stop short in capturing/amplifying that narrative.
When I think about it in terms of Bremont delivering an over-engineered watch in the spirit of Sinn but with a different design language... I can really get behind that. I love the scrappy underdog potential. But I wish they'd come down closer to the Sinn price point in their MSRP so that my dollars went to supporting them directly instead of buying used/third party.
As an aside, I hate their new S302/S502. Canucks/Seahawks colors are fine— but they did away with the diving bezel insert that I loved, but kept this a unidirectional 120 click bezel. There is never a reason for a 24 GMT bezel to be unidirectional. To be asking a high price, but not be bothered to make it a proper 48 click bi-directional bezel, is dangerous for their reputation.
While not a dive watch, there is a discontinued Bremont that I think is interesting. The Alt1-B has an internal rotating bezel that gives you the timing bezel capability.
I'm a huge fan of having the option to time two things concurrently, but not have to put unnecessary mileage on the chronograph if I can avoid it. The GMT is also subtly there when you need it, which makes this a watch with a lot of potential.
A youtuber in your neighborhood did a review on this watch a few weeks ago. He found one used for a ridiculously low price and I'm a bit jealous because the prices I'm seeing on the secondary market aren't that low. Yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esc-JHB6-LY
I agree with you on the very questionable markers on the Longines Hydroconquest. It looks like someone plagiarizing a term paper, and trying to change a few key words from the source. In this case, it's as if Longines had their watch on one screen, then a Rolex Submariner on the screen next to it, and they wanted to use the same triangle, circles, and batons... but change just enough to make the claim that it's different.
The problem is, your eye expects the shapes to be weighted in the cardinal directions (12, 3, 6, 9) to orientate for a quick reading. With the small shapes at 6 and 9, you end up having to look, re-look, and then decode the time.
If you're referencing the time while working on an important thought (i.e. you're in the middle of a presentation and need to see how much time you have left, but you're still speaking)— extra mental steps introduce a lot of risk in threatening to derail you from the important line of thought.
I wanted to like the Longines. We need more diving GMT options. But the markers, the wonky 3.5 hertz beat rate, and the long lugs just keep me from getting there on that particular model.
Beer's on me when you get here!
OMG totally can't be unseen. But, a gorgeous piece nonetheless.
Totally agree.
Bingo! Well articulated. I've looked at a few more photos and can't get past it.
Very interesting, but perhaps too stealth to be useful? Maybe it's the images, but the lack of contrast is tough for me at least!
The correct answer is...
Dunno, but it looks like a clear see-through cylinder. Your guess is as good as mine! 😉😁
The correct answer is...
I like the IDGuy version 😉
Go Steinhart! They make some OUTSTANDING Diver GMTs - and are, IMHO, the BEST value Swiss watches on the market today!
My two favourite GMT watches are MIDO Ocean Star GMT and Tudor BB GMT Opaline. But I say this - Buy the one that speaks to you. You will know it when you feel, touch, and wear the actual piece. Happy hunting🍻