Sorry Tudor your GMT is perfect .. Almost ( Date wheel Issues)

If there was a common trend in watches last year the GMT complication is the first one that comes to mind. The GMT watches were everywhere from Rolex, Grand Seiko and Panerai ending up with Tudor, it seems like every brand had a different take on one of the most useful complication out there. While Baselworld 2018 was taken by Rolex and the beautiful BLNRO it was the little brother who stole the show, the Tudor Black Bay GMT. When I saw this watch being released at the same time with a pepsi bezel in aluminium I couldn't believe it, it was to die for, the proportions ( more on that later) the colours, the movement inside and the price, it ticked all my boxes because , for the record I owned an Alpina Startimer GMT, a Davosa GMT, an Squale Tropic GMT, a Glycine Airman and a Rolex GMT Master II 116710LN and none of them really satisfied my obsession, the closest one was the Rolex GMT and I will do a small comparison about them, please bear with. My love for GMT watches as stated in previous articles began with me understanding that is possible to track several times zones and having family in Italy and Venezuela but living in the UK then it made sense for me, then the blue and red bezel for night and day indication was the icing on the cake! I was hooked, the ultimate watch was the Rolex GMT Batman (I think still is)

which probably will be discontinued in Baselworld 2019 and the price will sky rocket even more, but there was something nice about a Rolex GMT master vintage , those colours, the no crown and the bezel, something that the new models from Rolex did not had. I love how vintage watches look but the hassle of owning one it is not for me, I do take care of them but I wear them, so I was stuck on square one, this is probably the reason why I tried so many GMT's and none of them stayed long enough. Long story short I manage to get a Tudor GMT ( which after almost a year is not easy) and now everything makes sense. Let's take some of the negatives out of the way, the case is thick yes, and is 41 mm instead of 40mm but if you can pass that ( I have) you have a beautiful proportion watch which is a direct competition of Rolex GMT Master 6542, or even the outgoing GMT master two without the ceramic bezel. This Tudor packs an in house movement with 70 hours of power reserve, is not as well decorated nor technical superior to the BLNRO but this is when price comes into place, the BLNRO is 7000 GBP if you can find it retail. For me this watch is a great value proposition but (there is always a but) it has a big problem,

the date wheel doesn't align well when you arrive close to midnight, picture below. It is such a shame because in paper is a unique piece but unfortunately is gone and replaced by something really special which is coming soon. I was tempted to send it to Rolex and spend 6 weeks waiting but the disappointment was so big that I had to let it go, thankfully I was under a return policy and I did wanted a GMT, I can tell you the one coming is to die for at least for me, this one is staying even though I always say the same :)