[Sean779]

These are the two ETA movements found in GMTs. How are they functionally different? I'm familiar with the 2893 and, while I like how it clicks automatically (and exclusively) to the correct minute of a new time zone hour, it seems in many cases to not be spot on with the hour hand--a "defect" IMO as annoying as chronograph hands not resetting to zero. So I'm curious if you have total control of the GMT hand in the 2836; i.e., able to adjust it to any minute within the hour.

I think it's generally assumed the 2893 is the better GMT movement than the 2836, but is that really justified?

 

[lysanderxiii]

It should be noted here that ETA does not make a GMT version of the 2836-2. These are Hangzhou 6306s, modified to run an independent 24 hour hand.

The Chinese GMT adjustment function is a smooth sweeping 24 hour hand, it does not "click."

 

[Sean779]

It should be noted here that ETA does not make a GMT version of the 2836-2. These are Hangzhou 6306s, modified to run an independent 24 hour hand.

The Chinese GMT adjustment function is a smooth sweeping 24 hour hand, it does not "click."

Interesting. Had no idea the 2836 was not ETA through and through.

If the 2893 24 hour hand is properly set up to be in perfect synch with the hour hand then it's a wonderful convenience. It would seem nonsensical to prefer the 2836 because it solves the problem of an incorrectly synched 2893...

On the face of it, the 2893, being all ETA, would seem the "better" movement, but not knowing how extensive and crucial the Hangzhou GMT modification is to the reliability of the movement I have no way to draw other conclusions or rank one over the other.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Interesting. Had no idea the 2836 was not ETA through and through.

If the 2893 24 hour hand is properly set up to be in perfect synch with the hour hand then it's a wonderful convenience. It would seem nonsensical to prefer the 2836 because it solves the problem of an incorrectly synched 2893...

On the face of it, the 2893, being all ETA, would seem the "better" movement, but not knowing how extensive and crucial the Hangzhou GMT modification is to the reliability of the movement I have no way to draw other conclusions or rank one over the other.

With the GMT "2836" the entire movement is a Hangzhou, at least from what I've seen.

The Chinese GMTs are preferred by some simply on the price and availability.

 

[Sean779]

With the GMT "2836" the entire movement is a Hangzhou, at least from what I've seen.

The Chinese GMTs are preferred by some simply on the price and availability.

If that's true, that the entire (or large portion of) the 2836 movement is Hangzhou, why would ETA allow manufacturers to call it an ETA 2836? (Just checked a couple boutique websites, where it's called ETA 2836. Haven't checked the big boys.) :-s

 

[lysanderxiii]

If that's true, that the entire (or large portion of) the 2836 movement is Hangzhou, why would ETA allow manufacturers to call it an ETA 2836? (Just checked a couple boutique websites, where it's called ETA 2836. Haven't checked the big boys.) :-s

The Hangzhou 6306 is a direct copy of an ETA 2836-2 made entirely at the Hangzhou Watch Company's facilities in the Yuhang District of Hangzhou. If you don't know where to look closely, the two are identical.

So, we have two choices:

1) I am mistaken, and somebody in Switzerland (or elsewhere) modifies ETA 2863-2 to have a 24 hour hand in lieu of the day indicator. Or,

2) somebody is calling a Hangzhou 6306 an ETA 2836-2, for the purpose of deceiving buyers.

Both have been known to happen occasionally.

 

[sapcmc]

Would like to share with you my experience with 2836 GMT and ETA 2893 GMT.

Both movements are Swiss Made. However as mentioned ETA does not make an ETA 2836 GMT. What it happens is that some companies in Switzerland do modifications to the 2836 movement so that it can accommodate a 24 hour hand. One of those examples is Leschot company.

At time we were starting production of the Prometheus Ocean Diver GMT we were inclined to use the ETA 2836 GMT as it was more readily available than the 2893 .

During test phase we saw that modification of 2836 movement would turn it less reliable at time of maintenance as would be harder for buyers to find spare parts in future.

Final decision was a no brainer. We decided to stick to more universal standards and use ETA 2893 as this will ensure all buyers to find spare parts in future and get watch maintained by any reputable watchmaker.

Attached tech designs of ETA 2836 GMT which many never seen before.

 

[HilltopMichael]

It's been my understanding that the 2836 GMT was an ETA 2836 movement that had been modified by someone outside of ETA. The day function was removed and replaced with the second GMT function. Perhaps the one benefit over the ETA 2893 is that the second hand could be set to any time, not just some whole hours away from the 12 hour hand. Might be useful if tracking some time zones that aren't whole hours away from GMT (India comes to mind, although there are a few other places as well)

Don't know where the ETA 2836s are first manufactured, although I could imagine that some start out at ETA factories and others are complete copies of the ETA design.

As for the 2893 GMT hand not always being aligned with the hour hand properly, I've heard of that happening, but it is a defect. A watchmaker should be able to reset the hands so they're aligned properly.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Would like to share with you my experience with 2836 GMT and ETA 2893 GMT.

Both movements are Swiss Made. However as mentioned ETA does not make an ETA 2836 GMT. What it happens is that some companies in Switzerland do modifications to the 2836 movement so that it can accommodate a 24 hour hand. One of those examples is Leschot company.

At time we were starting production of the Prometheus Ocean Diver GMT we were inclined to use the ETA 2836 GMT as it was more readily available than the 2893 .

During test phase we saw that modification of 2836 movement would turn it less reliable at time of maintenance as would be harder for buyers to find spare parts in future.

Final decision was a no brainer. We decided to stick to more universal standards and use ETA 2893 as this will ensure all buyers to find spare parts in future and get watch maintained by any reputable watchmaker.

Attached tech designs of ETA 2836 GMT which many never seen before.

I didn't realize that anyone else was doing the 2836 GMT mod....

 

[Watchyman]

Interesting :-!

 

[bertilson]

Hi

Bring this tread to life again. I have been looking at GMT watches. All I found on that page, selling replicas, has the 2836 movement, with both date and 24h hand.

How is that done then?

 

[mleok]

Hi

Bring this tread to life again. I have been looking at GMT watches. All I found on that page, selling replicas, has the 2836 movement, with both date and 24h hand.

How is that done then?

If I had to guess, it's that the 24 hour hand taps into the indicator and quickset functionality associated with the Day of Week complication on the ETA 2836. If you intend to use your GMT complication regularly, I would strongly suggest getting the a watch based on the ETA 2893 instead, as I don't think any legitimate manufacturer will implement the GMT complication using this hack on the ETA 2836.

Personally, I don't find the way that the GMT complication is implemented on the ETA 2893 to be particularly useful for travel. For me, I like the GMT hand to reflect the time at my home location, and the main 12 hour hand to indicate the time at my current location, and this would suggest that the quickset should be on the main 12 hour hand instead of the 24 hour hand as is typical with ETA 2893 based GMT watches. The cheapest "true GMT" mechanical watches include the Rolex Explorer II, Rolex GMT IIC, and the Omega Seamaster GMT. Consider looking for a preowned Omega Great White.

 

[Synequano]

Yup,have to agree that 2893 movt is a bit less practical for travelling,recently I was travelling twice with 2 different GMT watches,one is Pam 23 (2893 based),the other one is Pam 441 (P9001,12 hrs GMT,quickset on main hour hand)

From that experience,I prefer the quickset on a main hour hand better than 2893 where I have to set the main hour and the GMT hands separately

In my next travel,I'm tempted to bring my exp II to check the practicality of true 24 hrs gmt coupled with quick set main hour hand

 

[mleok]

Yup,have to agree that 2893 movt is a bit less practical for travelling,recently I was travelling twice with 2 different GMT watches,one is Pam 23 (2893 based),the other one is Pam 441 (P9001,12 hrs GMT,quickset on main hour hand)

From that experience,I prefer the quickset on a main hour hand better than 2893 where I have to set the main hour and the GMT hands separately

In my next travel,I'm tempted to bring my exp II to check the practicality of true 24 hrs gmt coupled with quick set main hour hand

Is there a difference in how the GMT complication is implemented on the Explorer II and the Panerai 441?

I'm just wondering why would the Explorer II perform differently from your Panerai 441 when traveling.

 

[Synequano]

Well,the P9001 have 12 hrs GMT hand (i think the other in house Pams are also using 12 hrs GMT,with am/pm indicator subdial),so while i'm local,I can actually hide the GMT hand behind the main hour hand

On exp 2 (and maybe GMT master II since I've never played with one) the GMT hand is 24 hrs,so I cannot hide the GMT hand under the main hour hand

If I travel to a country where the time difference is small (+/-5 hrs) the Pam works okay,but if I travel to a place where time difference is huge (10+ hrs) I find it more convenient to use the 24 hrs GMT hand to figure out the local time in my country (or maybe the other way around,you can check the local time of your spouse/partner while he/she is away)

Sadly,most of the people I knew who has GMT master or exp 2 are clueless about the GMT hand,I have been asked several times by people who knew that I'm into watches about the triangle hand on their Rolex/Pam/Omega/Seiko

There is another kind of 24 hrs GMT being used in Pam 184/185 (the movement is JLC-based),where the main hour hand is tied to 24 hrs GMT hand,you set the second timezone by turning the inner bezel around using the second crown,I find this confusing..

 

[mleok]

Well,the P9001 have 12 hrs GMT hand (i think the other in house Pams are also using 12 hrs GMT,with am/pm indicator subdial),so while i'm local,I can actually hide the GMT hand behind the main hour hand

On exp 2 (and maybe GMT master II since I've never played with one) the GMT hand is 24 hrs,so I cannot hide the GMT hand under the main hour hand

Okay, so it's like the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Hometime or Patek Philippe Travel Time. I actually like that as you can hide the second time zone when you're at home, as you mentioned above.

A GMT hand set in sync with local time can be used as a solar compass. Point the hour hand to the sun, and the GMT hand will be pointing North.

 

[WatchChuck]

I haven't read all the posts in this thread and I'm no expert, but I believe the ETA 2836 is simply an ETA 2824 with the day of the week abbreviated along side the date at the 3:00 position. I've never know one to have a GMT. Same thing with the ETA 2834, only the entire day of the week is fully written out as opposed to an abbreviation.
The ETA 2893 is a modified ETA 2892 base with the GMT addition.

 

[agrberg]

I'm still in my quest to find a GMT I want to cherish for a long time. From what I understand, with the exception of some in-house Rolex, Omega, and Seiko movements, almost all GMT movements with a quick-set* function have this on the GMT hand and NOT the hour hand. Please correct me if I am wrong but it appears that the ETA 2893-2 has a quick-set GMT (is it common to drop the 2 because the first version isn't made anymore or some other reason?).

Can anyone confirm if the modified ETA 2836s have the quick-set functionality and if it is on the GMT hand (most likely if it's there) or the hour hand (I wish and hope and dream)?

Also according to their website Bernhardt uses a modified ETA 2836 in their Globemaster II (click technical specs at the bottom). I have heard that this features a quick-set GMT but have never held one to confirm it myself. Anyone care to speak to this?

*quick-set meaning that you can turn the crown and have the quick set hand jump one hour while maintaining the current minute offset as opposed to an independent hand which simply moves smoothly around the dial

 

[WastedYears]

I'm still in my quest to find a GMT I want to cherish for a long time. From what I understand, with the exception of some in-house Rolex, Omega, and Seiko movements, almost all GMT movements with a quick-set* function have this on the GMT hand and NOT the hour hand. Please correct me if I am wrong but it appears that the ETA 2893-2 has a quick-set GMT (is it common to drop the 2 because the first version isn't made anymore or some other reason?).

Can anyone confirm if the modified ETA 2836s have the quick-set functionality and if it is on the GMT hand (most likely if it's there) or the hour hand (I wish and hope and dream)?

Also according to their website Bernhardt uses a modified ETA 2836 in their Globemaster II (click technical specs at the bottom). I have heard that this features a quick-set GMT but have never held one to confirm it myself. Anyone care to speak to this?

*quick-set meaning that you can turn the crown and have the quick set hand jump one hour while maintaining the current minute offset as opposed to an independent hand which simply moves smoothly around the dial

I'm pretty sure the modified ETA 2836 is only with the quickset GMT hand. If you want a lower priced quickset hour hand, check the Alpina GMT line. Or go quartz.

 

[agrberg]

I'm pretty sure the modified ETA 2836 is only with the quickset GMT hand. If you want a lower priced quickset hour hand, check the Alpina GMT line. Or go quartz.

I love the Alpina GMTs with the exception of the 36 mark bezel (assuming for 360˚ but I am not sure how one would use this). Do you have any quartz recommendations? I'd appreciate them as I haven't discovered any with the quick set hour and GMT bezel.