One of the Best Watches Under $1,000 Just Added a Highly Useful Feature

Don’t worry, it’s still gorgeous.

Published February 6, 2025

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French microbrand Baltic is one of the best options on the market when it comes to affordable watches thanks to its combination of stellar designs and high-quality production.

Each of the brand’s collections is a winner, but one of my favorites is the refreshingly unique Hermétique. Ostensibly a field watch, the Hermétique looks like no other watch in its genre thanks to unique features like a recessed crown and its cantilevered solid-lume indices. It’s one of the best and most unique watches you can buy for under a grand.

Earlier this year, Baltic revisited the Hermétique collection by releasing an acclaimed bronze version, and now the Paris-based brand is back at it with a whole new take on the watch that is the most useful version yet for everyday wear.

a baltic watch — Dual-time functionality and the Hermétique, name a more perfect combo.

Two Wheels, Two Time Zones

Baltic’s new watch is the Hermétique Dual Time Enduropale. It’s a collab between Baltic and the Enduropale, a grueling three-hour bike race between 2,800 competitors on the beach in Le Touquet, France. The event ranks as the largest sand bike race in the world.

Given the nature of the collab, Baltic set out to make the Hermétique more adventure-ready than ever, and the most obvious way it did so was by adding dual-time functionality.

The new Hermétique features an inner-rotating 12-hour bezel, which makes it easy to track a second time zone without the use of a GMT movement or an additional hand. The bezel is rotated via a second crown at 9 o’clock, and just like the Hermétique’s signature 3 o’clock crown, this second crown is also integrated into the case.

This not only gives the case a clean look with no broken lines, but it also increases comfort on the wrist, as there are no protruding crowns to dig into your skin — something I’m sure any Enduropale cyclists wearing the watch will greatly appreciate.

a baltic watch on a cyclists wrist — With both crowns integrated into the case, the watch remains comfortable on the wrist even during rambunctious activities.

As a nod to the three-hour race, the 12-hour bezel is also color-coded, with the first two hours in green and the race’s final hour in purple. The minute hand is in a matching shade of green, as is the Enduropale logo on the dial and the FKM Tropic rubber strap.

Since the watch uses a 12-hour bezel for its dual-time function, there’s no need for a GMT movement. As such, the new field watch uses the same Miyota 9039 automatic movement as the standard Hermétique, allowing it to maintain the 37mm case’s svelte 10.8mm thickness. It’s worth noting that 2.5mm of that measurement is accounted for by the massively domed sapphire crystal, meaning this case is very, very slim.

a baltic watch seen from the side — By incorporating dual-time functionality without having to add a GMT movement, the watch is able to maintain its slim profile.

Like other Hermétique models, the new Dual Time has some impressive lume thanks to its large 0.5mm “super indexes” that are composed of solid blocks of Super-LumiNova Grade X1. The same grade of lume also coats all three hands and the inner rotating bezel, making both time zones easy to read at night.

The lume looks great in photos, but one design element of this new Hermétique that I dislike is the placement of the indices. They are now applied to the dial itself, whereas on all previous Hermétique models, they were fixed at one end only to the dial’s polished steel outer ring, with the rest of the index hovering over the dial.

a closeup of a a baltic watch dial glowing in the dark — Like other Hermétiques, the lume is stellar, but I do miss the cantilevered indices seen on previous versions.

The floating effect created by this unique index application added a lot of visual depth to the dial and, for me at least, was a defining feature of the Hermétique line. I’m assuming the incorporation of an inner rotating bezel was the reason why the cantilevered indices were nixed for this release, but I wish the brand had found a way to make it work.

Pricing and Availability

Since this is a collab tied to a bike race, the first Hermétique Dual Time is a limited edition of just 200 pieces. Like all other Hermétique watches, it’s an absolute steal, with an SRP of just $624 on the quick-release rubber strap. On a beads-of-rice or flat-link steel bracelet, it’s $692.

I say this is the first Hermétique Dual Time watch because I highly doubt it will be the last. Baltic has added a highly useful feature to an already great everyday watch in a way that keeps it very affordable, and the Dual Time function is such a natural fit for the Hermétique — especially with that integrated second crown — that I strongly suspect we’ll see a regular production model in the not-too-distant future.