British watchmaker Farer has been making travel watches for several years now, both in quartz and automatic forms. While their previous automatic GMT, which featured a fixed, stepped bezel and a thin case, was more of a “dress” GMT (if such a thing exists), the new GMT Bezel is a clear throwback to 1960s and 1970s tool watches.
The new watch, available in three iterations (“Maze,” “Crooms” and “Charlton”), now features a bi-directional, rotating GMT bezel and a dynamic, vaguely tonneau-shaped, stainless steel case reminiscent of certain Seiko GMTs of the ’70s. This case is 40.5mm in diameter, 11.75mm tall including the domed crystal, and 44mm lug to lug with a 20mm lug width. The cases are circular-brushed on top and feature a polished bevel and sides with horizontal brushing. A screw-down crown provides 200m of water-resistance.
FarerThe watch’s dials feature Farer’s signature use of color: the Maze features an awesome “patchwork”-looking white dial with round, baby blue indices and hands and a bi-color aluminum and black bezel; the Crooms has a glossy red dial with bold applied numerical indices and and all-black bezel; while the Charlton’s quadrant-cut dial is blue with applied indices and a black and grey bezel. Each features a contrasting GMT hand. Each watch’s dial is coated in Super-LumiNova Grade A for nighttime visibility.
Powering the watch is the Swiss-made Sellita SW330-1 Top Grade automatic movement with 25 jewels and 42 hours of power reserve. The engine behind many an affordable automatic GMT, it features an individually adjustable GMT hand and a date function.
Where do the watches’ names come from, you ask? They’re three roads around Greenwich Park in London, home of the Royal Observatory where Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was established in 1884. Each GMT Bezel ships on a Maine St. Venere leather strap with steel pin buckle and costs $1,475 — they’re available for purchase now and should ship in late September.