TWO TIMERS

The ability to display the time in two far-flung points on the globe might seem academic in this long period of Covid

THE ABILITY TO DISPLAY THE TIME IN TWO FAR-FLUNG POINTS ON THE GLOBE MIGHT SEEM ACADEMIC IN THIS LONG PERIOD OF COVID. YET LOCKDOWN OR NOT, THE GMT COMPLICATION REMAINS RIGHTLY POPULAR — AND IT ASSERTS ITS WEARER’S GLOBETROTTING CREDENTIALS AS FEW TIMEPIECES CAN

PANERAI LUMINOR LUNA ROSSA GMT — 44MM

PANERAI HAS INEVITABLY BROUGHT ITS DIVE-WATCH SCHTICK TO THE LUMINOR LUNA ROSSA GMT, AND THIS TOOL WATCH PAR EXCELLENCE IS NONE THE WORSE FOR IT. IT’S CERTAINLY HEFTY — 44MM IN DIAMETER AND 15.65MM THICK — BUT ITS DLCCOATED TITANIUM CASE MAKES THIS TIMEPIECE FAR LIGHTER THAN APPEARANCES MIGHT SUGGEST. A TWIN-BARREL CALIBRE P.9010GMT, OFFERING A DECENT THREE DAYS OF POWER, DRIVES THIS FOUR-HAND WATCH (TWO HOUR HANDS, MINUTES AND SMALL SECONDS), WHICH IS WATER-RESISTANT TO AN IMPRESSIVE 30 BAR. AS IT’S INSPIRED BY ITALY’S 2021 AMERICA’S CUP CHALLENGER LUNA ROSSA, THE DIAL BEARS A SAIL-FABRIC DESIGN AND SPECIAL INSCRIPTION, WHILE THE CASEBACK LOGO DEPICTS THE RACING YACHT IN ACTION. FORZA ITALIA!

CHOPARD L.U.C GMT ONE

THE L.U.C GMT ONE COMES IN STEEL OR ROSE GOLD, BUT OF THE TWO WE RECKON THE LATTER — WITH A LUSCIOUS, LUSTROUS SUNBURST BROWN DIAL — HITS THE SWEET SPOT BANG ON. TWIN INTERNAL HOUR TRACKS — ONE MARKED IN 12- AND THE OTHER, WHICH ROTATES, IN 24-HOUR INCREMENTS — DISPLAY LOCAL AND REFERENCE TIME, WHILE SUPERLUMINOVA-COATED HOUR MARKERS KEEP THINGS VISIBLE AFTER DARK; A DATE WINDOW IS LOCATED AT 6 O-CLOCK. POWER COMES FROM CHOPARD’S COSC-CERTIFIED L.U.C 01.10-L CALIBRE, WHICH PROVIDES A RESERVE OF 60 HOURS AND ALSO OFFERS A STOP-SECOND FUNCTION. WATER RESISTANCE OF 5 BAR IS REASONABLE FOR WATCH WITHOUT OVERLY SPORTING PRETENSIONS, WHILE THE BROWN ALLIGATOR STRAP COULD HARLDY BE MORE PERFECTLY MATCHED

BREGUET MARINE GMT 5857BR/Z2/5ZU

ALTHOUGH IT’S ALSO AVAILABLE IN STEEL, ROSE GOLD REALLY DOES SEEM TO BE THE WAY TO GO WITH THIS DUALTIME WATCH THAT COMBINES BEAUTY AND EXQUISITE WORKMANSHIP WITH A TOUGH, MASCULINE CHARACTER. ESCHEWING A SECOND HOUR HAND FOR A REFERENCE-TIME SUBDIAL (WITH INSET DATE WINDOW) AT 6 O’CLOCK AND A 24-HOUR DIAL AT 2, IT ALSO FEATURES A 42MM FLUTED GOLD CASE WITH RUGGED LUGS AND A SILVERED GOLD DIAL WITH BLACKENED RHODIUM COATING. THE MAIN TIME-ZONE DIAL HAS APPLIED ROMAN NUMERALS, WHILE ARABIC NUMBERS DENOTE REFERENCE TIME. AN AUTOMATIC 517F MOVEMENT WITH SILICON BALANCE SPRING PROVIDES A 72-HOUR POWER RESERVE AND THE WATCH OFFERS 10 BAR OF WATER RESISTANCE

BREITLING AVENGER II GMT

A BIDIRECTIONAL ROTATING BEZEL IN ADDITION TO A 24-HOUR TRACK AROUND THE DIAL ENABLES BREITLING’S AVENGER II SIMULTANEOUSLY TO SHOW TIME IN THREE DIFFERENT ZONES. IN A 43MM STAINLESS-STEEL CASE WITH MATCHING BRACELET, THE WATCH ALSO FEATURES AN ATTRACTIVE MARINER BLUE DIAL, AGAINST WHICH THE RED GMT HAND PROVIDES A VIVID POP OF COLOUR; EQUALLY EYE-CATCHING ARE THE LARGE LUME-FILLED HOUR MARKERS. ALTHOUGH OFFERING A RELATIVELY MEDIOCRE 42 HOURS OF POWER, THE AVENGER II’S B32 SELFWINDING MOVEMENT — WHICH IS BASED ON ETA’S 2993-2 CALIBRE — IS COSCCERTIFIED, SO ACCURACY SHOULD BE EXEMPLARY. WATER RESISTANCE, AT 30 BAR, IS WELL ABOVE AVERAGE, TOO, MAKING THIS NOT ONLY A HANDSOME AND COMPETITIVELY PRICED GMT WATCH, BUT ALSO ONE THAT’S TOUGH AND PRACTICAL

BLANCPAIN VILLERET GMT DATE REF. 6662 3642 MMB

ONE ULTRA-ELEGANT VARIATION ON THE GMT THEME COMES IN THE FORM OF BLANCPAIN’S EXQUISITELY DRESSY VILLERET GMT DATE. THIS VERSION OF THE 40MM FOUR-HAND WATCH IN A RED GOLD CASE WITH OPALINE DIAL IS ATTACHED TO THE WRIST WITH A MILLE MAILLES BRACELET, THOUGH A LEATHER STRAP IS ALSO AVAILABLE. ROMAN HOUR MARKERS ARE IN RED GOLD, THE SECOND TIME ZONE IS INDICATED BY AN INNER, 24-HOUR TRACK WITH ARABIC NUMERALS, AND THE DATE WINDOW IS AT 3 O’CLOCK. POWER COMES FROM THE BEAUTIFULLY FINISHED CALIBRE 5A50, WHICH PROVIDES AN IMPRESSIVE 100-HOUR RESERVE AND CAN BE ADMIRED THROUGH THE WATCH’S CASEBACK EXHIBITION CRYSTAL

ROLEX GMT-MASTER II

THE GMT WATCH WAS BORN IN THE 1950S WHEN THE US AIRLINE PAN AM ASKED ROLEX TO DEVELOP A TIMEPIECE FOR ITS PILOTS, ONE WITH A SECOND HOUR HAND THAT COULD TRACK TWO TIMEZONES AT ONCE. THE RESULT WAS THE GMT-MASTER, WITH ITS DISTINCTIVE BI-COLOURED (RED FOR DAY, BLUE FOR NIGHT) ROTATING BEZEL WITH 24 HOUR MARKERS. ITS REPLACEMENT, THE GMTMASTER II, DATES BACK TO THE EARLY ’80S AND HAS SINCE BECOME ONE OF THE MOST COVETED TIMEPIECES IN THE ROLEX PORTFOLIO — NONE MORE SO THAN THE VERSION SHOWN HERE, IN ITS CLASSIC OYSTERSTEEL CASE WITH BLACK DIAL AND “PEPSI” BEZEL. TODAY’S GMT-MASTER II GETS ITS POWER FROM ROLEX’S 3285 MOVEMENT, WHICH OFFERS A RESPECTABLE RESERVE OF 70 HOURS, AS WELL AS EXCEPTIONAL ACCURACY. THE GMT-MASTER II ALSO WATER-RESISTANT TO 10 BAR

PATEK PHILIPPE CALATRAVA PILOT TRAVEL TIME 5524G

ALTHOUGH ITS DESIGN ORIGINALLY STARTLED PATEK PHILIPPE TRADITIONALISTS, THE CALATRAVA PILOT TRAVEL TIME ACTUALLY TAKES INSPIRATION FROM PILOT’S WATCHES MADE BY THE MAISON IN THE 1930S. SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION, HOWEVER, IT’S BECOME ONE OF PATEK’S MOST POPULAR TIMEPIECES, NO DOUBT BECAUSE OF ITS BOLD MASCULINITY: 42MM POLISHED WHITE-GOLD CASE, NAVY-BLUE GRAINED LACQUER DIAL AND LARGE, APPLIED GOLD NUMERALS FILLED WITH SUPERLUMINOVA. THE SKELETONISED 12-HOUR GMT HAND IS OPERATED BY PUSHERS ON THE RIGHT OF THE CASE, WITH LOCAL- AND HOMETIME WINDOWS INDICATING DAY OR NIGHT. AS FOR THE AUTOMATIC CALIBRE CH 324 S C FUS WITH GRAINED-GOLD ROTOR, IT’S A WORK OF ART (EVEN THOUGH SOME MIGHT CARP THAT A RESERVE OF NO MORE THAN 45 HOURS HARDLY QUALIFIES AS OUTSTANDING)

AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK CONCEPT FLYING TOURBILLON GMT IN THIS RADICAL DEPARTURE FROM THE TRADITIONAL GMT COMPLICATION, AUDEMARS PIGUET DISPENSES WITH A SECOND HOUR HAND IN FAVOUR OF AN ADDITIONAL TIME-ZONE INDICATOR AT 3 O’CLOCK. IN FACT, THERE’S HARDLY ANYTHING THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED TRADITIONAL ABOUT THE ROYAL OAK CONCEPT FLYING TOURBILLON GMT. A STATEMENT PIECE IF EVER THERE WAS ONE, IT COMBINES A 44MM SANDBLASTED TITANIUM CASE, GREY CERAMIC SCREW-LOCKED CROWN AND PUSHPIECE, SKELETONISED CHASSIS, LUMINESCENT WHITE-GOLD HANDS AND A TOURBILLON AT 9 O’CLOCK. THE HANDWOUND CALIBRE 2954, WHICH BEATS AT 2I,600VPH, PROVIDES UP TO 10 DAYS OF POWER AND THE WATCH, WHICH COMES ON A GREY RUBBER STRAP, IS WATER-RESISTANT TO 10 BAR