As in, one that pushes anything else out of your wrist whenever you travel? Maybe different ones for different kinds of travel (eg business vs leisure)?
If you do, what makes it the one? If you don't, what could it be and why? Pics to illustrate your points welcome.
My usual choice is a G, but I'm playing with the idea of getting a dedicated travel watch for myself. A GMT or world timer would seem a natural choice, but... would it? Come to think of it, it would be more for a 'travel touch' than anything else, because I don't REALLY need to track other time zones on my watch. Practicality-wise, I'd be looking for something legible, water-resistant, robust, versatile, not flashy... which means any of the watches I own could be just that, depending on what I feel like wearing at a given moment.
What could be a point of consideration is quartz (hassle-free operation, R/C etc) vs mechanical (funnily enough, I'm leaning towards mechanical for this purchase), and what maybe, just maybe, could make a difference is the ability to quick-set the hour hand.
If I’m going overseas, it’s always my JLC Master Hometime. I think it has the best, most logical dual time zone implementation, with a hidden home time hour hand that only shows up when you need it. The date moves with local time wherever you are, and the 24 hour subdial tells you whether it’s daytime or nighttime at home. Setting local time is as easy as pulling the crown out one notch, then just the hour hand moves forward or backward as needed. When you are not traveling, there’s no distracting extra hand to see.
Not sure if there are less expensive models using the same design—I think Sinn might?
I do have a travel watch, but it is rather un-sexy. Almost all of my travel is for work (I'm a musician) and that often entails gear-lugging that would put a nice watch at risk. I don't want to take anything expensive because there's some chance of loss or damage. I don't want to take battery quartz because batteries can die en route. Too much magnetic noise for a cheap mechanical (eBow, guitar pickups, speaker magnets, etc.) I need really good lume to see the time on stage or in a darkened hotel room. That leave Eco-Drive, and the Citizen BM6400 has done the job perfectly for almost a decade. Even though it's sort-of a beater, I treasure it.
Here it is at the Electric Forest festival in Michigan, 2012.
For ages, I didn't have a specific "travel" watch. Ironically, as I got older and started to travel less than I used to, I kinda have one.
I didn't buy it with that purpose in mind, but it - somehow - became my number one choice. It has an independent GMT hand, it has been reliable and accurate, doesn't call undue attentions (despite being a Rolex) and feels very comfortable on the wrist. That's all I need.
This has been my one & only travel watch since I bought it around 15 years ago:
For me it's nothing short of perfect. It has all the functions I'm ever likely to need: Day & Date, 2nd time zone, Alarm, Stopwatch, countdown timer. It has great lume and is as light as you like; doesn't mind a dunk in the pool (or ocean) and it can even tell me the time without my having to look at it.
I can't think of another watch that does as much, as well, as this does and is <10mm thick.
Some people have opinions - The rest of us have taste.
I have a travelling watch rather than a travel watch, and by that I mean a watch I don’t mind dropping into the x-ray tray. I have a titanium wheel-nut for that -
Theoretically, and like CFR, my Explorer II is best-equipped because of its GMT and independent hour hands, but it’s more likely to be in my bag than on my wrist.
Generally, I think the key attribute for a travel watch is that it’s one you can treat carelessly. The best travel watches of all might be G-Shocks with world time function.
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