GMT Watch: Is It A Dress Watch Or A Sport Watch?

We’ve described watches that span the formality spectrum, like the dressy dive watch in the previous episode. All wristwatches fall into certain horological genres, whether neatly or otherwise. But the GMT watch is one such watch that breaks this rule. That’s because the GMT is more a feature than it is a genre. Hence, you can find GMT features in dress watches, all-rounder watches, dive watches, field watches, etc. And in this episode, we’ll take a look at the San Martin SN0116, a kinda “dressy” GMT watch.

Close-up of a San Martin SN0116, a dressy looking GMT watch.
San Martin SN0116, a “dressy” GMT watch with a central fourth GMT hand, and an externally rotatable GMT bezel.
Image by Author

What Exactly Is A GMT Watch?

“GMT” is an abbreviation for Greenwich Mean Time, an archaic term used to refer to the global reference time. It’s the specific time zone (i.e. local time of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England). Back in the day, we quoted all other time zones in reference to GMT. By 1960, UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) replaced GMT as a universal global reference time. UTC is more “stable” as it’s purely a reference time only. Unlike the archaic GMT, it doesn’t refer to any actual time zones. Local time shifts, like Daylight Saving Time doesn’t affect UTC, making it a more stable reference time.

Close-up of the San Martin SN0116 watch the wrist. Matching a dressy looking GMT watch with a business informal outfit.
San Martin SN0116, as paired with a typical business informal outfit.
Image by Author

Watchmakers, however, didn’t get the memo (or chose to ignore it) about the change from GMT to UTC. Hence, watchmakers stuck to calling it the GMT watch, instead of the UTC watch. You have to admit that “GMT watch” seems to roll off the tongue much easier than “UTC watch”.

Anyway, GMT watches have the characteristic fourth, independently adjustable hand, which revolves around the dial once every 24 hours. You can use that fourth (GMT) hand to tell a second time zone. Some GMT watch models also feature an independently rotatable GMT bezel (e.g. the San Martin SN0116 pictured above). This GMT bezel enables you to read a third time zone. However, this makes the overall watch look busier than it otherwise would. Not exactly a disadvantage, but it does push down the overall dressiness a notch or two.

Pairing The GMT Watch With Classic Menswear

As mentioned, the GMT watch isn’t a specific genre of watch. Hence, matching its formality with classic menswear will depend very much on the underlying dressiness of the base watch. The discussion below is purely based on this specific San Martin SN0116 watch.

(1) Business Formal

Solid charcoal grey suit, solid white shirt, solid burgundy tie, and solid white pocket square.
Two-piece, solid charcoal grey suit, with a solid white shirt, solid burgundy tie, and solid white pocket square.
Image by Author
Close up of a pair of solid black plain toe Oxford dress shoes.
Solid black, plain-toe Oxfords, are as conservative as you can go.
Image by Author
Close-up of a San Martin SN0116, a dressy looking GMT watch. We've swapped the beads-of-rice bracelet with a black leather strap.
Matching the leathers (e.g. shoes, belt, watch strap, etc.) helps to streamline the overall outfit. The black leather strap makes this already dressy GMT watch even dressier.
Image by Author

A definite YES – The San Martin SN0116 is already somewhat dressy on its own. Attach a black leather strap to it, and it’ll emphasise the formality even more. Especially so when all your other leathers (e.g. shoes, belt, etc.) are in black leather too.

(2) Business Semi-Formal

Solid olive green suit, solid blue shirt with white contrasting collar and cuffs. Burgundy tie with small repeating patterns, and pocket square.
Two-piece, solid olive green suit, with sporty, slanted hip pockets, and a ticket pocket above the right hip pocket. A pale blue shirt with contrasting collar and cuffs, small-patterned burgundy tie and coordinating pocket square.
Image by Author
Close up of a pair of whole cut in ox blood, with wingtip patterned brogue. Another type of typical dress shoes.
Whole cut in ox blood, with burnished toes, and wingtip patterned brogue.
Image by Author
Close-up of a San Martin SN0116, a dressy looking GMT watch. We've swapped the beads-of-rice bracelet with a stainless steel Milanese mesh band.
If you can’t match the leathers in your outfit, consider a Milanese mesh band instead. The fine interlocking metal links look dressier than a regular metal watch bracelet.
Image by Author

Another definite YES – Like above, the watch-head itself is rather dressy looking on its own. Matching it with a delicate looking Milanese mesh band only serves to emphasise its delicate look even more. So if you can’t match the brown leather strap exactly with your shoes, consider a Milanese mesh band instead.

(3) Business Informal

Solid navy, double breasted blazer, with 6 X 2 gold buttons. Solid blue shirt with navy and yellow regimental striped tie, solid grey trousers, and pocket square.
Double breasted navy blazer with 6 X 2 gold buttons. Solid pale blue shirt with navy and yellow regimental striped tie. Solid medium grey trousers, and a contrasting pocket square.
Image by Author
Close up of a pair of brown double monk-straps. A less dressy dress shoes.
Brown, double monk-straps, to exude a more playful vibe.
Image by Author
Close-up of a San Martin SN0116, a dressy looking GMT watch. We've swapped the beads-of-rice bracelet with a brown leather strap.
It’s always best if you can match the leathers. Any colours other than black leather tend to inject more life into an otherwise drab outfit. Here’s a brown leather strap to go with the brown shoes.
Image by Author

Another definite YES – This outfit very much conforms to the classic menswear look. At the same time, it also oozes a hint of playfulness too. Still very much a classic look, but an injection of colour will always eliminate the boring look.

(4) Business Casual

Grey sport jacket in mini-Glen check weave, a solid pink OCBD shirt with block stripe knit tie in autumn colours, and a pair of solid burgundy chinos.
Grey sport jacket in mini-Glen check weave. Solid pink OCBD shirt with a knit tie in autumn colours. Solid burgundy chinos, and a contrasting pocket square.
Image by Author
Close up of a pair of brown penny loafers. One of the least dressy dress shoes.
Brown penny loafers, a typical “less dressy” dress shoes.
Image by Author

YES – Not exactly fussy about matching all the leathers of your outfit? Then just stick to the original beads-of-rice bracelet (top image). The finer beads-or-rice bracelet is a tad dressier than the more common three-link bracelet. Hence, you can wear this outfit with the original beads-of-rice bracelet, and still look well put together.

(5) Dressy Casual

Unstructured, charcoal brown flannel sport jacket, denim OCBD shirt, and khaki chinos.
Charcoal brown, unstructured sport jacket with an open collared denim OCBD shirt. Khaki chinos, and a contrasting pocket square.
Image by Author
Close up of a pair of khaki canvas derbies.
Derby shoes in tan canvas stretch what it means to be “dress” shoes.
Image by Author

YES – As a somewhat dressy watch, this is the lowest limit that I’m comfortable pairing with this particular GMT watch. If you have a less dressy GMT watch (e.g. GMT dive watch), it’s still a good match to this outfit.

(6) Just Casual

Denim trucker jacket, solid white t-shirt, and solid olive green jeans.
Denim trucker jacket, solid white t-shirt, and olive green jeans.
Image by Author
Close up of a pair of white trainers.
White trainers, with a thin red and black stripe. A stereotypical pair of casual footwear.
Image by Daniel Storek of Unsplash

MAYBE – Again, looking at it as a somewhat dressy GMT watch, this may not be a good match. And again, if you’re wearing a less dressy GMT watch, then yeah, it’s still a good match.

What Makes This GMT Watch Different From Other GMT Watches?

If you remove all the GMT features (i.e. GMT hand and GMT bezel), this watch is just another dress watch. Hence, it’ll more or less match the outfit as described in this dress watch episode. Adding the GMT features to this watch (effectively making it a GMT watch) only shaves a smidge off its dressiness. As mentioned earlier, GMT is a feature, not a genre.

A plan view and side view of the San Martin SN0116, displaying the dial and beads-of-rice bracelet.
Removing the GMT hand and GMT bezel from this watch, it’s just another dressy looking watch. And the delicate looking beads-of-rice bracelet also serves to make it look somewhat dressy too.
Image by Author

There are many other types of GMT watches in the market, but this GMT watch is mine. Hence, I wear it how I see fit. Whilst I won’t consciously pair it with a more casual outfit, it’ll still fit a rather wide formality spectrum. And to expand your versatility even more, consider getting alternative straps for the watch. Just swapping watch bands will almost infinitely expand its formality range.

Single breasted navy blazer, solid blue shirt, blue regimental stripe tie and blue dominant stripe pocket square, displaying the San Martin SN0116 as a dressy GMT watch.
The dressy looking GMT watch goes well with this Business Informal outfit. Navy blazer, solid blue dress shirt, blue regimental stripe tie, and a generally blue striped pocket square.
Image by Author

Disclaimer – This Is Not A Sponsored Article

Neither Dongguan San Martin Watch Co. Ltd. nor any of their subsidiaries/retailers sponsored the watch in this article. For the record, I bought the featured watch in this article as one of my personal watches. But as mentioned previously, we do accept sponsorship for articles like this. Interested to sponsor future articles? If so, then drop us a message. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a watchmaker, dealer, retailer, etc., we’re always happy to hear from you.

Before you bring out your pitchforks and torches, accusing me of being a mechanical watch snob, just hear me out… Yes, up until now, all the featured watches are indeed mechanical watches; automatic-mechanical to be precise. And to prove that I’m not a mechanical watch snob, we’ll feature a quartz watch in the next episode. So stick around, and cross over to the dark side with me then. In the meantime, I’m gonna need more caffeine, to fuel me through the rest of the series… If you enjoy the series so far, do consider buying me a coffee at the link below. Leave your questions and comments below that.

Do you have, or are you interested in a GMT watch?
2 votes

About CHOW Wei Ming

Brand consultant, photographer, creative director, storyteller, and a true believer of the power of visual communications. Outwardly expresses a friendly disposition, but hides a perfectionist nature deep inside him.

One Reply to “GMT Watch: Is It A Dress Watch Or A Sport Watch?”

  1. Pingback: Field Watch Vibes?... Dressing The Timex Expedition - Espoletta

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