FeatureWorld Timer

A watch with a world timer function displays times of up to 24 time zones around the globe. World timer watches allow you to quickly adjust to any time zone on earth without having to bother about calculating the time difference between cities. These watches usually display the names of all 24 time zones in the world on the dial itself, so you can adjust the time in an easy and convenient manner.

World timers are intended for pilots and frequent fliers who travel across the globe on a regular basis and often need to adjust their watch according to the local time. A regular watch will require you to first check time differences between cities using an external source, such as a paper chart, the internet or perhaps an app on your cell phone. After doing this, you will have to adjust the time on your watch. People who travel once in a while won’t be bothered by this exercise, but regular travellers like international businessmen will find the process cumbersome and tedious as they would need to do this quite frequently.

The first world timer was developed in 1937 by Patek Philippe. The watch displayed times of 24 cities across the globe. A world map was shown in the centre of the dial and a 24 hour rotating disc around the dial could be turned to view the time in any of the time zones across the globe. The world timer was a highly useful timepiece for those who needed to communicate with people around the globe for business. The timepiece indicated what time it was in a particular city so one would know the appropriate time to make a phone call. Around the end of the 20^th century, as air travel grew and people began travelling to multiple locations around the world on a frequent basis, world timers grew in popularity. Today, there are a number of watchmakers which produce world timer watches.

A similar complication as the world timer is the dual time zone watch, also known as the GMT watch, which shows two time zones in a single glance, but requires the wearer to manually adjust the time. It can be used conveniently by people who travel between two fixed locations, but it is not really suitable for regular globetrotters. The world timer is designed for people who frequently travel to multiple locations across the globe and require a watch which can display time differences on the dial itself and be easily adjusted on a frequent basis.

It is quite easy to recognize a world timer watch. Usually, world timers display the names of 24 cities around the world on the outer rim of the dial or on the bezel. These 24 cities represent the different time zones of the world and time can be adjusted manually by seeing the time difference or by rotating a disc on which the cities are written. The method of adjusting the time varies depending upon the different manufacturers and models. World timers are seen in watches with mechanical, automatic and quartz movements. Below are a few popular world timer watches from watchmakers across the globe.