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What is a GMT watch?
A wristwatch with a second time zone.
GMT watches have a second hour hand and can therefore display several time zones simultaneously. Frequent flyers, globetrotters and business people in particular appreciate the GMT function on a wristwatch, as this complication allows local and home time to be read at a glance.
The second time zone is indicated by a second hour hand, which is usually arrow-shaped and different in color from the hour hand. While wristwatches normally measure a time interval of 12 hours, i.e. the hour hand circles the dial twice within 24 hours, the GMT hand only circles the dial once within this period. The GMT time can usually be read off via the bezel or rehaut, a raised edge that frames the dial read more
GMT / UTC - Two designations for the same function
The abbreviation GMT stands for Greenwich Mean Time. Originally, GMT was regarded as the global standard time to which all local times in the world were to be oriented. This time zone was established at the Meridian Conference in Washington in 1884. GMT is based on measurements of the Earth's rotation - determined on the Earth's prime meridian. This meridian runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and passes through the Old Royal Observatory in the London suburb of Greenwich.
The introduction of GMT served to ensure the punctuality of trains and eliminate inaccuracies in shipping and air travel. Before GMT was introduced, station clocks were set according to the position of the sun, for example. As this is different at every location, this sometimes led to very long delays. The GMT time zone was therefore an essential function until it was adapted to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in 1977. UTC is not a time zone. UTC is a time standard for calculating local times worldwide, determined on the basis of atomic clocks. Watch manufacturers use both the terms GMT and UTC to describe the function of a watch with a second time zone. Both functions are identical.
How to use the GMT complication
Using the GMT function is quite simple:
- First set the GMT hand to your home time
- Then set the hour hand to your current local time.
- If your watch has a rotating bezel, you can turn it to the local time of another location in the same way as the GMT hand and thus even keep an eye on a third time zone using the bezel.
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