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The “GMT” watch face— set time zone?
- Thread starter iGeneo
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Ok, so I’m not going totally insane with the last image then. I’m surprised that there’s that much difference with sunset and sunrise in London compared with where I am, I’m barely 100 miles away
Since this is all digital, unlike Rolex’s, the True Tone circle is dynamic and will change according to how long day and night of that city are, and when sun rise and sun set occur. I have no idea how your time zone can be that different from London however. Must be a bug.
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Would have been better to have an actual GMT option. GMT is not the same as LON (London), in summer. This may seem unimportant to some, but GMT is the global reference, and does not change in summer
Rolex’s GMT from 80s onward is able to show 3 time zones at once.
- Your time
- GMT time
- Another city time
Since Apple Watch is digital it would be extremely easy to replicate that. The most obvious way is to have one checkbox that will force the red hands to always point at GMT time, and as a result when you add another time zone it will automatically calculate the difference from GMT time instead of YOUR time as it is doing now.
Maybe next year.
Yeah, since the rotating bezel doesn't have any numbers on it, the way it works is bad. The bezel should just stay in place, and the red hand would point to the correct position. Now, if Apple had done it right, so that you could use it the way you describe, then the rotating bezel would make sense (would still need at least SOME numbers though).
There is a proper GMT option and it is correctly called UTC. You can set it like any other timezone
I was confused by the discussion in this thread, which seemed to suggest that the small red GMT hand "pointed to local time". I don't think that is right, and is not what I am seeing at least. In the image below, local time is Eastern time, New York, and the GMT time is set to GMT, which is +4 hours from local time. The rotating bezel shows the 4 hour offset or difference, and is rotated counter clockwise 4 hours (4 hours on the 24 hour bezel and 2 hours on the 12 hour local time). The bezel is fixed and does not move during the day. The little red hand is pointing to 12 hours and just over a half hour, on the 24 hour bezel, so opposite the triangle indicator (of midnight), since it is 12 noon GMT now, and the little number in the bezel says "12".
There are 24 'notches' around the dial and the Red hand moves around them according to local time. In the example you have there is has moved around 8 notches from midnight. Where it shows the second time zone is the number on the dial (12) so you can see that using the combination of this and the minute hand which is also overlapping the dial, the time in your second time zone is 12:38(ish)
It‘s right. It shows local time WHEN the upside-down triangle is on the top (point to 12) which is a default. Now you had moved it 4 times counter clockwise. How could it still point to your local time? 🤷🏻♂️
Further confused, I can't tell now if you are agreeing with me or disagreeing with me. The little red hand does not point to "local time". Since there are always two things it is pointing to (local time and the 24 hour bezel), that term is confusing. But in my example, the red hand is indicating 12 as the hour on the rotating bezel, as the time in GMT, and not 4, which is the number on the display for the "local time". Unless we say it is pointing to the 4, but we double that since it is moving in 24 hour time, and so 4 on the watch means 8 in terms of time, and then "yes" we could say it is pointing to local time; but it is also correctly showing GMT time on the 24 hour bezel.
Let me use this photo of Rolex as a guide
Notice the triangle on the color bezel. It‘s on top, points to 12 (or in this Rolex case, another triangle). That‘s a default. And the red hand (or in this Rolex watch, a blue hand) will always point to local time, no matter where you are.
How do we know? Looks at the watch. The time is 10:11, and where the blue hand point? Number 10 on the bezel.
Notice the triangle on the color bezel. It‘s on top, points to 12 (or in this Rolex case, another triangle). That‘s a default. And the red hand (or in this Rolex watch, a blue hand) will always point to local time, no matter where you are.
How do we know? Looks at the watch. The time is 10:11, and where the blue hand point? Number 10 on the bezel.
But if you rotate the bezel so that the triangle is on the 10 (so to a time zone forward 4 hours), the little blue hand will be pointing to 14 on the rotated bezel, which would be the 2nd time zone. So the blue hand is never "pointing" to local time, it is pointing to the 24 hour bezel, which is either rotated or not. The Apple watch version is the same.
When you rotate the bezel so the triangle doesn’t point to 12, you have added another time zone to the watch. How will the red hand still point to local time? It won’t. 🤷🏻♂️
It will point to another time zone that you have added. That’s the whole point of this kind of watch. To tell 2 time zones at once.
Yes, that is true. It is a cool looking face and I may use it even though I don't really need a 2nd time zone.
Plus this is not the typical use for a GMT function, you set the blue hand (on the Rolex) to point to the timezone you want it to show (i.e. UTC in this case), and it will always show that timezone (NOT necessarily local)
THEN rotating the bezel will give an ADDITIONAL timezone (relative to UTC in this case)
This is how every one who actually uses a GMT watch will do this. Apple has done a combination of both and it is confusing and hard to read (and the normal watch hands are too long, they should point at the scale they use which is the internal ring. Look at the Rolex how the hands point to whats relevant to them)
The point people are making is that the red hand doesn't move as you change the time zones. In the example you gave above the red hand would have been just past the 4 on the face regardless if you chose GMT, or San Francisco, or New Deli as the time zone to display. The bezel will rotate, but the red hand will not budge. That's not how a traditional GMT watch works. In your example that red hand should be pointing straight down (near the 6) to indicate 12:00 noon GMT. The only time you would rotate the bezel would be to show the time in a third time zone. People who have owned GMT watches have a certain expectation as to how it should function, and Apple has created confusion by creating a face that does not meet those expectations.
This face proves that, once again, whoever is designing the watch faces at Apple HATES analog faces. They hate them so much that they can't even stomach the idea of using them for even a few days or hours to learn how to use them correctly. All Apple had to do was buy a GMT watch and use it for a few days. They clearly couldn't be bothered.
Not mentioned in this thread so far...you don't have to tap the face to set the time zone. Simply turning the crown works.
OK, thanks for that. What I was missing is that I had to add UTC to the list on World Clock on my iPhone before it would show up on the list in the GMT watch face
The red hand always points to the physical local time (time where the watch is physically located) on a 24-hr face where 0000 is at the top of the watch and 1200 is at the bottom of the watch. Disregard the rotation of the bezel.
Hence it does not move as you change the (non-physical) time zone in the center of the face. The red hand will move only if you physically relocate the watch to another time zone.
Thanks I understand that and it makes sense. I have never had a rolex watch to compare. In the article you linked on page 2, "the history of GMT watches", it does say:
"Like back then, most GMT watches today are distinguished by the use of a large arrow hand (often in a contrasting colour) to indicate GMT or home time. They typically rely on a 24-hour scale for time indication. The second time zone is tracked via a central hand that points to a 24-hour track on the rehaut, dial, or bezel, with the latter being available in either a fixed or rotatable configuration."
So that clearly says the hand points to the "24 hour track on the ... bezel". Which is what Apple has done here. It does have this next line, which is what you are talking about:
"Rotatable bezels add practicality in that they can be set up to indicate a third time zone, as long as you’re okay with doing some quick math."
This does suggest that a rotatable bezel can have two purposes, it can be rotated to indicated the GMT time (as Apple does) or if you are ok with math, you can rotate it to a third time zone (which Apple does not do). Maybe I am reading that wrong, not that it matters. Apple's implementation of this is simpler and does work (it is too easy to accidental press the display to change time zones though).
Oh sorry, I didn’t know that! I always have UTC as I fly a lot
Good find!
GMT watch faces were designed to display two time zones. The regular hour and minute hands show the local time zone in normal 12-hour style. That outer bezel, which is fixed and not movable on most GMT watches, shows 24-hour time. The red hand points to the bezel, showing the time in a second time-zone.
The Apple GMT watch face isn't meant to be efficient, it is meant as a homage to GMT watches such as those made popular by Rolex and others.
The Apple GMT watch face isn't meant to be efficient, it is meant as a homage to GMT watches such as those made popular by Rolex and others.
The first Rolex GMT can track only 2 time zone, just like GMT Watch face on Apple Watch. The 2nd version however can track 3 because you can set the red hand and the hour hand separately.
Read how I think Apple can do this as well in post #55.