The Empire Seasons True GMT

From Vario -

Courtesy of Vario

Although this version is named Spring Green (which is appropriate) but I have come to think of it as Pistachio -because it makes me think of my favorite ice cream ; )

As we approach spring, it's time to start thinking about getting away from it all, possibly a time zone or two away. Well, this Vario model has got you covered.

Assembled in Japan, this GMT is powered by Miyota's 9075 True GMT High-Beat Automatic movement.

The case is of stainless steel and measures 38 mm in diameter, and 46 mm lug to lug. Best of all is the price - very affordable at $698, direct from Vario. So you might be able to splurge for a business class upgrade ; )

Courtesy of Vario

Here are the pertinents, straight from Vario -

Diameter: 38mm
Lug to Lug: 46mm
Thickness: 12mm
Strap Width: 20mm
Movement: Miyota 9075 True GMT High-Beat Automatic
Crystal: Sapphire with inner AR coating
Water Resistance: 5 ATM
Strap: Vintage style Italian leather with slight bi-colour effect (20mm taper to 16mm) & metal bracelet

*Case and bracelet are coated for scratch resistance

2 Year International Warranty

Made in Japan, Inspected in Singapore, quality and satisfaction guaranteed

The Airman MLV - a true world timer

Okay, so I am now in the final five days of my 15 day review.  And today's update is about ease of use.
As you can probably imagine, I get to play with a lot of other people's watches.  And owing to this, I have a fair number of opportunities to try out the functionality of a given complication.

In the case of the Airman MLV I can truly say that the additional time zone features are truly functional, uncomplicated complications!  This particular model of Airman operates on a standard 12 hour system for the main time, with a GMT feature (the red hand).  What I particularly like is the outer rotating bezel.  This indicates an additional time zone in a 24 hour scale.  The bezel itself is a bidirectional.  This is pretty standard for many other GMT watches, and many of them do not have a "clicking" bezel.  The Airman's bezel does not click, but thanks to the bezel locking crown, it does not need to!

Bezel lock open

Locking and unlocking the bezel couldn't be easier.  The crown is nice and tactile, and can be operated with very little difficulty - even while wearing the watch - and yes, I can attest to this personally.

Bezel lock closed

One of the bigger frustrations a multi-time zone watch can present is the ease with which you can undo or lose your chosen time zones. Not so with the Airman! All of your selected time zones are quite literally, "locked in"!

And unlike some other GMT watches out there, the crowns themselves are in proportion to the watch.  They are not inordinately large or bulky.  They are not "chunky" for the sake of looking "tough".

It often comes back to this for me - that the most elegant solution is, when you get right down to it, often times the most straight forward.

We had a wee variance over the weekend in time keeping - yesterday we were + 2 seconds.

We have a few days left, and wear your sunglasses for the next installment!