A traveller’s replica watch, whether a simple GMT piece or a more complex world timer, is a must-have for enthusiasts and certainly one of the most practical functions you can think of in watchmaking. We all love a nice hand-wound chronograph, we can dream in front of a minute repeater, but in the end, the traveller’s watch remains one of the truly useful functions. But what if you love complications, what if you want more than just a GMT hand or a rotating bezel? Well, we’ve selected three recently introduced traveller’s watches that go far beyond the classic GMT hand – and an additional one that can easily be qualified as a dream watch.
A. LANGE & SÖHNE LANGE 1 TIME ZONE
The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 replica with rose gold case is, without a doubt, one of the most emblematic German watches ever created. Since its launch in 1994, its deliberately unusual display remains untouched and multiple variations, with all kinds of complications, have been introduced – among which is the Time Zone. In June, A. Lange & Söhne refreshed it with a new design. And this traveller’s watch is more than just a GMT. What’s usually a small seconds is now an independent 12-hour home time display. Newly designed day-night indicators have been added, and the 24-time zone city ring remains in place. It isn’t a proper world timer but it is there to simplify the task of setting the time in the smaller subsidiary dial. To easily adjust the time when travelling, a pusher allows for one-hour jumps of the local time. Finally, a daylight saving time (DST) function has been added in the gold arrow at 5 o’clock. Best of all, this complicated watch has a new in-house movement with a 3-day power reserve, a single spring barrel (instead of two) and a new design… but the superb execution and decoration are still here. The 41.9mm case is available in pink or white gold, with a silver or black dial respectively.
GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL SENATOR COSMOPOLITE STEEL
Another German brand, another fine example of Glashütte watchmaking, the Senator Cosmopolite is one of the most capable traveller’s watches on the market. And despite its high complexity, it remains quite clean and legible, especially this new steel and blue dial model. At first, this blue leather strap fake Glashütte Original watch appears like a traditional dual time zone watch, with local time in the centre and home time at 12 o’clock. Sure it does, but there’s a lot more going on. In fact, this watch can display the time in no fewer than 35 time zones (including those with half or quarter-hour differences) without the visual complexity of a world timer. A time zone ring offers a choice of all 35 world time zones currently in use, each of them displayed using an official IATA location code, also including the DST function.
And it’s simple to adjust too, as the crown at 2 o’clock allows you to set the home time and wind the Swiss luxury copy watch while the crown at 8 o’clock allows you to set the city corresponding to the local time in the DST or STD window. Under the hood is a large and powerful in-house automatic movement with 3-day power reserve and signature Panorama date.
