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What is a world timer watch?
A watch that shows the time in all 24 time zones at once, using a ring of city names and a rotating 24-hour ring.
How it works
Around the dial of a world timer is a ring of 24 cities, one per time zone, and inside it a 24-hour ring that turns once a day. Set the main hands to local time with your home city at 12, and every other city's local hour lines up next to its name.
When you travel, you rotate the city ring, or on modern designs press a single pusher, to put your new city at 12 and move the hour hand to match.
History
Geneva watchmaker Louis Cottier developed the world time mechanism in 1931, and Patek Philippe made it famous in the 1930s and 50s. Many brands now offer world timers, from Seiko and Citizen to Omega and Vacheron Constantin.
Before you buy
Remember that some time zones are offset by 30 or 45 minutes and that daylight saving shifts everything an hour; a world timer shows standard time. Swiss world timers run from a few thousand dollars up.
World timer watches we've measured
- Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M GMT Worldtimer 43 220.10.43.22.03.001
43 mm case · 50.3 mm lug-to-lug · $11,200
Questions
- What's the difference between a world timer and a GMT watch?
- A GMT shows one extra time zone with a 24-hour hand. A world timer shows all 24 at once.