Ever visited Nouméa? Planning to go? What about the unpopulated South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands? Thought not. These remote locations dutifully fill the dial space between more useful time zones on many world timer watches. Well, no longer.
Independent watch brand De Bethune - whose aesthetic can best be described as "Star Trek meets Mayfair members club" - has released a world timer focused on cities one is actually likely to visit. The (CHF 150,000) DB25 World Traveller's second time zone is indicated by a gold and blue "microsphere" held in a channel around the dial, which rotates every 12 hours to indicate night or day.
If you're on board with the quirky flourish of the De Bethune, consider the £8,200 IWC Pilot's Watch Timezoner Chronograph. Making use of a patent acquired from indie brand Vogard in 2014, it uses a rotating bezel to set your second time zone. Press it down, twist it to the desired city, and everything else falls into place. A differential gearing connects bezel and hands, and the watch also packs a flyback chronograph for good measure.
Combining a measure of both globetrotting glamour and quirky good looks is the Montblanc 4810 Orbis Terrarum (€5,89). It first surfaced in 2014 with an all-blue central section - and WIRED thought it looked bold back then. Now, with a vivid injection of daylight-appropriate colour on its world map (as seen from the North Pole), it really sings.
The pusher at eight o'clock adjusts the world time ring in one-hour increments, and the gradient dial is split into two levels, with a uniform blue semicircle indicating night-time around the globe.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
