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GMT24 – something new from Japan (AWW 37)

2976 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  ned-ludd
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Specifications

Name: GMT24
Movement: Miyota 6m17, no jewel, battery type 364 (SR621SW)
Time display: 24 hours (with 24 on top), minutes and seconds
Date: date window at 3
Case: all stainless steel with snap back
Size: diameter 45 mm with crown, 49 mm lug to lug
Height: 10 mm
Face: crème display with black hour numbers and minute markers, daytime hours 6-18 are marked with red arc
Text on dial: [GMT24 logo]
Text on back: 3ATM WATER RESISTANT ALL STAINLESS STEEL [GMT24 logo] Limited Edition 088/100 [S logo]
Hands and markers: all 3 hands are lumed, no lume on the dial
Water-resistance: 3 atm water resistant
Crowns: signed crown at 3 to set time
Crystal: domed mineral crystal
Lug: 20 mm
Bracelet: leather strap with buckle



Foreword

In December 2013 I got a picture from a friend with a true 24h watch called GMT24. Soon I found out that the only place where you can find these watches is big Japanese online shop Rakuten. One shop in Rakuten was offering three versions of GMT24 watches, one white and two black ones. Usually, when there is a choice between black or white I pick white. Because the black ones are usually more common and popular and the vast majority in my drawer are also black dial watches.

This was my first purchase from Rakuten. The Japanese prices are high. Free shipping was included and that was nice. Here in EU if you buy something from outside (USA, Asian countries etc.) you have to pay customs and VAT. I paid over Paypal € 147 for this watch (original price was JPY 19,950), plus later import taxes another € 20. For sure it is a lot for a quartz watch. But this shop was the only place you can buy it, the watches are all from limited series and only a couple of last ones remained.

Comments

I would say that all three versions of GMT24 look quite attractive (see pictures above). I asked the seller about the origin of this (unknown for me) brand. The seller said that supposedly the watches are designed and/or chartered in Japan, made in Hong Kong.

The package is proper. Included in the box were passport and warranty manual, all only in Japanese. That means that these watches were destined only to Japanese market.

The dial is clean and legible. Only the hands are lumed. On a true 24h watch this doesn't help. The hour markers are so close to each other that you need lumed markers too read time in the dark. The date window like here makes no big sense for me. I know that the correct sequence is 11, 12, 13, it is enough to show only today's date. But for some reason many designers think that this type of date window is cool.

Snap case back means that the watch is simple and cheap - usually you can have only very modest water resistance (3 ATM) with snap case back. On the case back is the serial number engraved. All three GMT24 watches are limited editions of 100 numbered items.

The movement inside is Japanese no jewels unadjusted Miyota 6m17. This is a 4-hand movement with following functions: sweep seconds, 24h, dual time, date. Therefore this movement is good basis for a true 24h watch - the normal 12h hand is not used here.

Summary

This watch is a little bit too big for my tiny wrist, but actually wears pretty well. Normal useful true 24h watch for everyday office or casual wear. Not robust and reliable enough for sports.

I think you can find it only in Japan. Technically buying from Rakuten is no problem; automatically English translated pages are OK and you can use Paypal, but the prices are high.

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Here are official pictures of all three GMT24 watches. One of them was already sold out, when I got the pictures.

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Very nice to see a new 24! I'm not a fan of the three-number date windows. Makes no sense to me. Just show today's date! The case has a nice shape, though 3 ATM is a little too low a rating for me. Otherwise the dial is quite clear. The hands do appear a tad small, but I think if the frames were painted white (on the black dial) they would appear larger.
I just saw several of these on Yahoo Japan, in the white/red and black/blue variants.

I'm not a fan of the three-number date windows. Makes no sense to me. Just show today's date!
Agreed. Another thing that puts me off is the six divisions between the even hours. Per division that's twenty minutes by the hour hand or fifty seconds by the minute hand. Not very useful.
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