There are people for whom a watch is not a watch, unless it is a highly specialized, professional tool for keeping track of time. Proponents of such a strictly utilitarian approach see neither aesthetic value nor a symbol of financial well-being in watches. Watches are of interest to them as an exclusively functional device, the only duty of which is to satisfy the real needs of the owner, who finds himself in the harsh and dangerous conditions of modern life.
An excellent example of such a professional tool is a diving watch, in which everything is subordinated to the solution of a single goal - to ensure the timely return of a person from the depths of the sea to safe land. Admirers of "tools for keeping track of time" will gladly recognize their ideal in watches with the function of showing time in a second time zone. Such clocks are often referred to as "world clocks" because the additional hour hand (which most of them are equipped with) can be installed independently of the main one, which means that it can show the time anywhere in the world.
Like an underwater watch, this is primarily a special tool for professional use. But if a scuba diver puts on an underwater watch when going under water, then the owner of a watch with a time indication function in a second time zone takes it with him when going up into the sky, and this, by the way, is no less dangerous environment than the elements of the sea.
Watches showing time in the second time zone can be safely called the same age as jet aviation. In 1957, when the USSR launched the world's first spacecraft into orbit, the Boeing Corporation completed work on its first jetliner. Strictly speaking, the new aircraft, numbered 707, was the second attempt to create a competitive commercial jet aircraft (the previous experience - the Boeing 377, released under the name Stratocruiser - was unsuccessful and brought the corporation millions in losses). This time, Boeing made a bet on versatility - they planned to produce an aircraft for the military on the basis of the new aircraft. The Boeing 707 was a success.
It was a matter of prestige for any airline to have it in its fleet, and Pan American was the first to buy it. The new liner favorably differed from its predecessors with a wide fuselage and powerful engines, which allowed it to take on board an increased number of passengers. It's hard to believe today for economy class passengers who travel like herrings in a barrel, but in the old days, only those who are commonly called the cream of society afforded regular flights on passenger jets.
Here it should be noted that for someone who sits at the helm of a jet liner, the time factor is very important (passengers, of course, also know how to count minutes, but this is not about them now). The fact is that with the advent of jet aviation and the growth of passenger traffic, the sky above our heads began to quickly fill up with aircraft taking off, landing or simply flying by. To avoid mid-air collisions, which are often caused by confusion over the time the air corridor was granted, pilots and air traffic controllers had to break away from local time. There was a need to have a unified time tracking system that could be used by all aircraft pilots, no matter what continent they were flying over.
Actually, the idea of standard time arose much earlier, when, in connection with the development of railway communication, it became necessary to organize the movement of trains according to a single schedule. Passenger aviation went further, choosing the starting point of standard time. It became the zero degree of geographic longitude or, more simply, the zero meridian. Standard aviation time began to be called universal or Greenwich time - in honor of the town in England, located just on the prime meridian.
Greenwich Mean Time (English abbreviation - GMT) has become the common time for all related to aviation. Now, in order to determine at what point on the globe the aircraft will be located at a certain point in time, the pilot, navigator or route planner no longer needed to make any complex calculations.
Universal time came in very handy on the ground, especially for air traffic controllers, who now could relatively easily breed aircraft in tight airspace. The employees of the airlines, who ensured the departure of their airliners, also had to keep their finger on the general pulse: the fewer flight delays, the less losses. It is clear that the pilots began to feel the need for watches that would show not only local, but also universal time. Sooner or later they just had to show up.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that Rolex was the first to produce such a watch. The ancestor of all modern watches that show time in two time zones was the GMT-Master model, released in 1954. The first worldwide Rolex was the fruit of cooperation between the famous Swiss company and the Pan American airline. In general, the GMT-Master is an excellent example of a pragmatic approach: devoid of everything unnecessary, they are distinguished by practicality and simplicity of design, and this, let's not forget, is the most important thing in professional watches. After all, such a watch is, first of all, a measuring device, which means that decorativeness should occupy a subordinate position.
The success of Rolex aviation watches was largely ensured by the pilots, who voted for them with their labor. Pan American pilots were the first to put them on their wrists, then everyone else, including the astronauts of the American Apollo.
It would be naive to believe that Rolex will be able to remain in splendid isolation - the idea of a watch showing time in two zones was too tempting to be abandoned by other companies. Breitling was one of the first companies to provide their watches with this function, following the example of Rolex. The name itself evokes immediate associations with aviation, and the aviation status of Breitling watches is very justified, because this company has been producing special watches for aviators for decades. It is not at all surprising that Omega was among the first among the manufacturers of “worldwide” watches. The road to the masses was open ...
Today, specialized aviation watches face competition from models designed for travelers and business people making intercontinental flights - in general, all those who need to know the time in not one, but two time zones. The difference between watches that show Greenwich Mean Time (GMT designation is often present in their name) and watches with the function of a second time zone (dual time) is more than arbitrary - in principle, any watch that has a second hour hand can be set to the time of any meridian. However, it so happened that if the second, independently set hand indicates the time on a separate 24-hour scale of the dial, then the abbreviation GMT will most likely be present in the name of the watch. In addition, “Greenwich” most often refers to watches and chronographs specially designed for aviators.
Recall that the original purpose of watches with a special "Greenwich" designation is to show local time and time in the zero meridian zone (it is believed that on a long flight this helps the traveler to deal with circadian rhythm disorders). But less ambitious watches with a second hour indicator can do the same.
Nevertheless, pilots, as well as all those who have not outlived their childhood dream of becoming a conqueror of the sky, are likely to prefer a durable and reliable aviation watch or chronograph that leaves no doubt about the profession of their owner. In general, the group of watches with a second time zone, with or without the GMT designation, is very diverse. We repeat, it includes both professional instruments for measuring time, the place of which is in the cockpit of an aircraft, and overly elegant, “costume” models for urban “fashionistas”.
Let's see what the Swiss watch industry can offer today to aviators, adventure seekers, and just those who are simply prone to change of place. It’s nice that you don’t need to go far for this, everything you need is here, at your fingertips. We choose a Ball watch with a world time function, GMT or dual time, and there are plenty to choose from.
It would not be superfluous to note that the watch company Ball, which is now revered for the bright illumination of indicators, is most closely associated with efforts to standardize and synchronize time - do not be lazy, read the history of Ball on the official website, it is always useful to know what the reputation of the brand was built on.
Let's start with AeroGMT II, in this model you can set the time in three time zones at once - once in 12-hour format and twice in 24-hour format.
This watch (the second generation of AeroGMT) appeared in the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon collection in 2017, the novelty instantly became popular, in addition to an understandable design and proposed design options, the watch attracted the attention of lovers of extreme - no, not travel or sensations, but manifestations of tritium luminescent illumination. The Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II has 43 indicators with trigalight elements in three colors that glow brightly in the dark, and the tritium backlight of the numbers is placed not only on the dial, but also on the rotating bezel.
The classic Super-Luminova marks the 24-hour third time zone on the inner circle of the dial. All in all, everything about this well-made classic watch is great. One can only find fault with the “illumination” of the hands, including the time pointer in a different time zone - they are read better during the day, in the dark, the mega-illumination of the indices greatly distracts attention.
AeroGMT II is available in stainless steel cases, diameter 42 mm, height - just under 14 mm, water resistance up to 100 m, anti-magnetic protection standard for Ball; The watch is equipped with a self-winding movement, it is a COSC certified chronometer. The watch is offered with black or blue dials, the color of the bezel can be two-tone (red with black or blue with black) or just black.
The Engineer Master II Diver Worldtime should be an eye-catcher, if only because you don't often see dive watches with world time markings. Probably, if it weren’t for the massive 45 mm case and an additional “button” on the side (which has nothing to do with diving, this is not a helium valve, but a head for rotating the inner “world time” ring), in their modest design for diving watches destination and not to be seen - on the dial there are no familiar indications of the ability to dive a hundred or two meters ...
However, the Master II Diver Worldtime is water resistant to 300m. Anti-magnetic, shock-resistant, trigalight micro gas tubes on the hands and on the dial, Ball 100%.
The ability to independently set the second time zone is implemented in the Engineer Master II Aviator Dual Time model. As befits a real "aviation" watch, the Aviator Dual Time is a large watch, in a 44 mm case, but at the same time its dial is not overloaded with scales and inner rings, which leaves room for the realization of the idea with the location of the small dial above 6 o'clock, and the windows big date - at 12 o'clock, in addition, the Engineer Master II Aviator Dual Time watch is a real champion in the number of trigalight gas micro tubes, there are 75 of them on the hands and dial!
"World" functions are not only found in the collections mentioned above, be sure to check out the Roadmaster Marine GMT or Roadmaster Worldtime, you will find a familiar dial design, but the case also plays a big role in choosing which watch model to give preference to.
The brand philosophy and marketing define the main customers of Ball as “adventurers and adherents of an active lifestyle”, so if you consider yourself to be such, or want your image to match this description, then Ball will suit you very much, even if you wear your own GMT, Worldtimer or Dual Time will be on hand.
