Frequent flyers and international business people, for whom distance plays a key role in life, are familiar with the problems involved in keeping track of time around the globe. The new Patravi TravelTec GMT by Carl F. Bucherer is a big (46.6 mm case diameter) chronograph that's ingenious case and movement design allows three time zones to be displayed simultaneously.

It takes more than a world time zone map to know that it is only six in the morning in New York while the noon bells are ringing out in Zurich, or that people in Tokyo are at that very minute just sitting down to their evening meal - mental arithmetic is also required. Hours have to be added or subtracted, summer time may have to be taken into account, and one mustn’t forget that flight schedules are often based on UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). It goes without saying that it is very easy to become confused.



The CFB 1901 certified chronometer movement was developed by Carl F. Bucherer himself. The hour hand can be disengaged by using the crown and moved either forward or back-ward in exact one hour increments.The movement continues to run, so that the exact time is kept while the watch is being set. Setting the local time is therefore always a straightforward operation, even when large time differences are involved. Normally, when correcting the date during a long-haul flight from East to West the date changes to the day before, requiring the display to be advanced through an entire month. The Patravi TravelTec GMT allows the date to be reset in either direction with the display changing automatically as soon as the time is set backward. Resetting the date is thus a relatively quick and easy matter of turning the crown.



An additional, red 24-hour hand ensures that the wearer can always keep track of the all-important time back home, no matter where they are in the world. Together with the fixed 24-hour scale on the dial’s raised ring, the red hand indicates the exact time back home. And, in conjunction with the 24-hour rotating bezel inside the watch case, it can also display a third time zone. The rotating bezel is not moved by simply turning another crown, but with the aid of a new, single push button mechanism, located at 10 o’clock.

The solid case is one of the most complex in the world of watches. Together with the switch mechanism, it is made up of more than 70 components. The sapphire crystal is non-reflecting on both sides, thus providing optimum readability. The case back and crown are screwed on and water-resistant to 50 m.

The Patravi TravelTec GMT by Carl F. Bucherer is available in five different version. For further information please visit www.carl-f-bucherer.com.

Text: Classic Driver
Photos: Paolo Curto / Gilles Martin-Raget