The travel complications of watches

We know that the world is round and rotating on its own axis, and has different times at different places around the world. This was not a common time-telling problem till the 1940s and 1950s. The increase of commercial air travel around the world, with people going from one time zone to another within a matter of few hours, created the need for travel complications. In simple terms, travel complications are made for time-telling for two or more two time zones. Travel complications were mainly introduced for frequent travelers and, without a doubt, for pilots and airline crew but with today’s remote working environments, these complications can just be the need for anyone. Few of the major travel complications are:

Dual movement

Dual-time

GMT

GMT with the dependent hour hand

GMT with the independent hour hand

World Time Zone

Dual movement 

Dual movement complication has time displays of two time zones. It contains two different movements and needs the time setting for both its movements. Each of these movements is dedicated to a specific function. For example, a dual movement watch might have one movement for timekeeping and another for the chronograph function. Dual movement watches are more accurate and have more features than single movement watches.

Dual time 

A dual-time complication watch allows the wearer to keep track of two different time zones simultaneously. Also, dual-time manages to display time on both its dials with the same movement. Some watches have two separate dials, each with its own hand, while others have a single dial with two separate hands. 

GMT 

GMT or Greenwich Mean Time, is the time zone that is used as the basis for the world's timekeeping. It is based on the solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. Watches with this complication has time display with two or more time zones with one pointing to the GMT time. Some of the watches have GMT display with 24 hours dial along with a regular 12 hour dial and some have 12 hour sub dial with day and night display for it.

GMT with the dependent hour hand

This complication is a sub-category of GMT complication. In the GMT variation, the local hour hand is connected with the GMT hour hand. So when you move the local time hour hand, the GMT hour hand will also move. 

GMT with the independent hour hand

In this complication, the hour hand of the watch is set independent of the GMT hour dial display. So when you move the local time hand, the GMT hour hand will not move and a separate setting needs to be done for the GMT dial. These dials are the modern variation of the GMT complication in a watch

World Time Zone

You can recognize a world time zone complication watch with its display of 24 city names referenced for their time zone. In this complication, the hour hand, the minute hand, and the city name ring are connected with each other. When you change the city, the hour and minute hands are adjusted accordingly by the world time zone complication mechanism.

Conclusion

Travel complications have been developed for decades, making frequent travelers’ life easy. In today’s world of technology, the mechanical craftsmanship and precision involved in making these timepieces are remarkable.