When traveling the world, there’s a certain practical function you need from a luxury watch: the ability to tell time in multiple time zones. And Rolex, a watch brand that is constantly creating technological innovations based on the needs of their customers, has several watches that fulfill this need. In this post, we’ll highlight three Rolex models that allow wearers to easily tell the time in different time zones. We’ll cover how this function works on each watch, as well as talk a bit about what makes each watch unique.
Rolex GMT-Master II
Rolex 18k Yellow Gold Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II Watch 116718
The Rolex GMT-Master II is a sophisticated evolution of Rolex’s GMT-Master, which the legendary watch brand made in partnership with Pam Am Airlines in the 1950s. The airline needed a watch that could display two time zones at once, which would help their crews tell the time on long haul flights.
The GMT-Master allows the wearer to tell the time in two time zones at once through the use of a 24 hour GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) hand and an easy rotating bezel. The GMT-Master II improves on this with the addition of an independent GMT hand. So, with this independently adjustable hand and the use of a rotating bezel, travelers can tell the time zone in three time zones at once. The GMT-Master II also has a quickset hour hand, which allows the wearer to easily change the hour once in a new timezone.
Rolex Explorer II
Rolex Stainless Steel Oyster Perpetual Explorer Watch II 16570
The Rolex Explorer II is a watch designed for adventurers. This watch is incredibly durable and is able to withstand the toughest of conditions. And, of course, adventurers explore the world, which means the Rolex Explorer II was also designed to allow the wearer to tell the time in different time zones at once.
The Rolex Explorer II allows this with an easily adjustable 24-hour hand. The wearer can choose to set this hand to GMT time or set it to any other time they wish, including the time in their home city while they’re off on an adventure.
More modern incarnations of the Rolex Explorer II also come with quickset hour hand functionality, allowing the wearer to quickly change the hour hand of the watch as they enter a new timezone.
Rolex Sky-Dweller
The Rolex Sky-Dweller is a newer Rolex model, having only been introduced in 2012. This attractive model offers both the ability to read the time across time zones and a considerably more upscale look than other Rolex models with the same functionality.
Sky-Dweller wearers can tell the time in a second-time-zone through this model’s unique subdial. This off-centered disc allows the wearer to tell time in a second-time-zone without the use of an extra watch hand.
On top of its easy-to-read subdial, the Sky-Dweller has another useful, and quite sophisticated, function: an annual calendar complication. This annual calendar function allows the watch’s time, month, and date functions to be accurate for a full year, only needing to be reset on March 1st.