Whether you need a world timer or are looking for a simple GMT watch, you’ll find it here.
The world has shrunk, making travel easier and more affordable than ever before. And while your smartphone will quickly update to the local time zone once your flight lands, there’s something about the magic of a travel watch — which keeps track of the time in multiple time zones — that can’t be denied. If you’re looking for a dual-time zone watch, a GMT watch, or a world timer, you’ll find it here.
A Guide to the Types of Travel Watches
Dual-Time Watches
A dual-time watch typically has an aperture that shows a second time zone in the form of the hour, as represented by an Arabic numeral.
GMT Watches
A GMT function is typically a fourth hand that points to a 24-hour scale around the dial and indicates a second time zone. Certain GMT watches can even keep track of three time zones simultaneously. (See our full guide to GMT watches here.)
World Timers
A world timer displays the time in 24 time zones simultaneously using the combination of a 24-hour disk and a city name disc. Louis Cottier, a Swiss watchmaker, invented the world timer in the 1930s.
Patek Philippe Ref. 5326G
Implementing Louis Cottier’s unique world time complication in its pocket and wristwatches in the first half of the 20th century, Patek Philippe did much to develop the travel watch before (and after) the debut of Rolex’s GMT-Master in the 1950s. Its innovative “travel time” complication, which has a second hour hand that you can hide behind the main hour hand when it’s not in use, formed the basis for numerous beloved models during both the vintage and modern eras of Patek production.
In 2022, the maison combined this complication with another of its own devisement, the annual calendar, in the form of the Ref. 5326G, a 41mm white gold Calatrava-style watch with a hobnail caseband, a dial texture inspired by vintage cameras, and a new, automatic movement that provides a wealth of functionality for the frequent traveler. With indications for the day, date, month, moonphase, home and local time, and home and local day/night, it could scarcely be more useful — or more elegant.
Cartier Santos de Cartier Dual Time
Released at Watches & Wonders 2024, the Santos de Cartier Dual Time represents the first implementation of a dual-time complication within the Santos de Cartier collection — the line based upon a timepiece made for Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos Dumont in 1904. Currently available in one size, this 40mm piece in stainless steel is an elegant (albeit robust) travel companion, with a matching bracelet that you can easily swap out for an included gray alligator strap using the watch’s QuickSwitch system. Inside, a Swiss-made Sellita SW-330 automatic movement has been modified to display a second time zone via a 12-hour subdial at 6 o’clock, a day/night indication, and a date window at 3 o’clock. The dark gray dial with applied Roman indices makes for a handsome, monochromatic look, while a blue spinel cabochon crown provides both a pop of color and straightforward updating of the local time zone.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time
Though the Overseas collection is home to some of Vacheron Constantin’s most adventurous pieces, it never compromises elegance and beauty for the sake of utility. Case in point? This lovely Overseas Dual Time with green dial and pink gold case.
An unconventional aesthetic pairing, to be sure, the verdant dial shade positively pops against the gorgeous hue of the case and integrated bracelet — which can be easily swapped out for an included rubber or leather strap. The different straps completely change the look of the watch, so you don’t have to bring a watch wardrobe or tools with you to your hotel room. On the dial itself, a central, red-tipped hand tracks a second time zone in conjunction with an a.m./p.m. indicator at 9 o’clock, while a radial date indicator in a subdial above 6 o’clock and a central seconds hand round out the feature set. A second crown, at 4 o’clock, is convenient for setting the date, and you can hide the local hour hand beneath the home-time main hour hand when it’s not in use.
Rolex GMT-Master II
Updated for 2024, Rolex’s famed GMT-Master II now comes in a black-and-gray bezel variant. The modern incarnation of the famed GMT-Master developed for Pan Am flight crews in the early 1950s, its profile and functionality have since attained iconic status: Atop a 40mm steel (or gold) case is a bezel with a bicolor insert displaying a 24-hour scale, with one color representing daylight hours, and another representing nighttime. Situated within this rotating bezel is a (typically) black dial with applied indices, a Mercedes handset, a magnified date window at 3 o’clock, and a 24-hour hand emanating from the dial center that is used to indicate a second time zone in conjunction with the bezel. Powered by a COSC-certified automatic Rolex movement and water-resistant to 100m, the watch is available on both Oyster and Jubilee bracelets and is built like a tank.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph-GMT
Measuring just 8.75mm thick, Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT is among the most svelte travel watches available on the market today, while its combination of GMT and chronograph complications gives it a unique selling point missing from much of the more conventional fare from brands both large and small.
Finished with brushed and polished surfaces in stainless steel and paired to a handsome H-link bracelet, its sunray-finished blue dial takes some parsing: At 3 o’clock is a 24-hour subdial indicating a second time zone, while a 30-minute totalizer at 6 o’clock and a running seconds totalizer at 9 o’clock make up the chronograph. A ⅕th-seconds hand, a lumed sword handset, and applied indices complete the picture, while two paddle pushers on the case flank control the hand-wound BVL 318 movement in conjunction with the crown. Boasting 37 jewels, a 55-hour power reserve, and plenty of beautiful finishing, the movement is visible via a sapphire caseback.
Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante
For those for whom the GMT-Master II is a tad too utilitarian and the Celestial Voyager Sakura (see below) a bit too busy, the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante from Parmigiani Fleurier offers an unusual, beautiful, and streamlined travel watch option that sits somewhere in the middle. Though technically neither a GMT function nor a rattrapante chronograph, it nevertheless features functionality inherent to both complications: Using the pusher at 8 o’clock, it’s possible to advance the central hour hand forward in increments of one hour, revealing a rose gold home-time hour indicator beneath.
When the wearer returns home, a quick punch of the pusher located on the watch’s crown instantly catches the local hour hand up to the home-time hour hand and superimposes it atop the latter, much like the rattrapante function on a chronograph. A “Grain d’Orge” hand-guillochéd dial in Milano blue, meanwhile, adds visual interest to an otherwise sparse design.
Andersen Genève Celestial Voyager Sakura
Molded in the tradition of Louis Cottier’s famous world timers for Patek Philippe, the Andersen Genève Celestial Voyager Sakura is a precious-metal masterpiece that celebrates the Japanese cherry blossom season through the wonders of cloisonné enamel. (A time-consuming process involving multiple firings at high temperatures, cloisonné enamel is a practice that only a handful of high-end watchmakers use.) A mother-of-pearl city ring coupled with a rotating 24-hour ring allows for tracking of the time in 24 different cities simultaneously, while a Swiss-made movement visible via a sapphire caseback is beautifully decorated with Côtes de Genèves, chamfering, mirror polishing, and other techniques. Limited to just 20 pieces and housed in a wonderfully sized 37.8mm pink gold case with “eagle’s wings” lugs, the Voyager Sakura is a masterpiece of a travel watch that stands out for its marriage of artistry and chronometry.
Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M World Timer
Though it initially inhabited designs of a decidedly dressier mold, Louis Cottier’s world time complication has since proliferated to more utilitarian timepieces — including Omega’s Seamaster Aqua Terra collection of 150m water-resistant dive-style watches.
Measuring 43mm in stainless steel and featuring the “twisted” lugs familiar to lovers of the Speedmaster chronograph, the Aqua Terra 150M World Timer is ideal for the type of frequent traveler who doesn’t want to sweat the occasional nick or scratch. That isn’t to say this watch isn’t handsome, however: A sun-brushed blue dial with vertical “teak” stripes is paired to a global city ring in blue, silver, and red, while a central glass 24-hour ring is split into light and dark blue colors to demarcate daylight and nighttime colors. The pièce de résistance, however, is a vision of Earth as seen from above rendered in Grade 5 titanium with laser-ablated blue oceans and continents in relief. Meanwhile, the METAS-certified, automatic Calibre 8938 provides 60 hours of power reserve.
Chopard L.U.C. Time Traveler One
Chopard’s L.U.C. Time Traveler One sits somewhere between Omega’s Aqua Terra 150M World Timer and Andersen Genève’s Voyager Sakura: With its round case, dual crowns, and gray-blue dial, it looks like it could be a tool watch with mid-20th-century provenance. Look carefully at the specs, however, and you’ll realize that this elegant travel timepiece is anything but ordinary: It pairs a 42mm platinum case measuring 12.09mm thick with a matte-black alligator leather strap that has a white gold pin buckle and tone-on-tone stitching.
Meanwhile, a gray–blue dial with a satin-brushed sunburst finish houses concentric indications that draw the eye inward: An outer city disc flanks a bicolor 24-hour disc, which in turn surrounds the primary 12–hour indications; within this is a concentric date display paired to a centrally located pointer hand. Powered by Chopard’s COSC-certified L.U.C 01.05-L movement with 291 components, it’s a stunning travel watch that nevertheless manages to fly under the radar.
