New GMT face

Out of curiosity, are you using a Time Ahead setting for your local time? (On your watch, Settings ➡️ Clock ➡️ Set Watch Face Display Time Ahead.) or is your local time zone offset from UTC by something other than a round hour (like these https://www.timeanddate.com/time/time-zones-interesting.html)? I’m confused about why your *** time would be showing 36 minutes after the hour while your local time looks like ≈20-something after the hour.

Could it be that the arrow is offset from the hour on your local time dial because Kathmandu’s time zone is GMT+5:45, rather than bring offset by a full hour? You’d have more experience than I do, but what I see in those screen shots is what I’d expect to see.

For some reason the blue area is tilted when the bezel is applied. So the arrow on the 3 is no longer centralised, which looks odd :). See the gap by the number 6 in the blue field which inexplicably appears.

I determined on my GMT face that the lines of transition between the dark/light colors on the GMT bezel (while in operation, not on the setting screen) correspond to the actual current times of sunrise and sunset for the time zone selected for the bezel! Try setting your GMT bezel time zone to your local timezone and compare to your local sunrise/sunset and check it out. This is actually a cool undocumented feature of the GMT bezel that is of course only possible on an electronic simulated version of a bezel. It does not do anything for me, however, because I keep mine set to UTC so the bezel will show me GMT, and of course the sunrise and sunset time is not applicable for UTC as a location. Conversely, if you set the bezel to your local time, you have the sunrise and sunset times in color, but your bezel and red hand will simply be 24 hour versions of your 12 hour local time on the inner dial and hands. I decided the best is to have the bezel and red hand set to GMT (so I know what it is) and then I added the local sunrise/sunset time complication on the corner so I can still have all the info.

Thank you very much for this, very clever and indeed an undocumented new feture for me. It makes it easier to live with the aesthetical disturbance of not having the arrow centralised as in physical gmts. Will be interesting to follow as the days get shorter in the north.

You basically have to turn the bezel to the hand rather than vice versa (unless I've missed something). The 24-hour hand still points to local time, not UTC; you need to turn the bezel in order for that hand to point to GMT (unless your local time happens to be BT). So, if that hand is pointing straight up, it's midnight local time, not UTC.

“Poor”.. hmm.. I remember starting out flying in ROTC and college eating .10 cent ramen and .25 cent canned tuna almost fit for animal food, (I think it was relabeled low grade cat food) (my cat eats better today than I did then) sweeping floors and cleaning the toilets through college... Almost every pilot I know has been there. Then you get old and wonder where the time went....

I hope they “correct” the GMT function so it matches every other GMT analog watch on the planet or rename it...

Again, thank you for the help.

are you buying the iWatch 6?

and if you are in Europe, does the iWatch function as a “tethered” phone too?

Very true. I ignored it on the "fashion" type faces because I assume those are more art than function, but was hoping the GMT face was intended to be technical/professional. Maybe if Apple finally allows third party designed faces, different user needs/preferences in the market can be better addressed.

It would be great if Rolex, Omega, Heuer, Breitling etc could put their face on the Apple iWatch along with a few computer notes like the “GMT” face has now. Or at least make the red hand behave along with the bezel of an analog GMT watch.

One could get workout info and a few “modern” amenities along with the old reliable watch face professionals are used to.

For me (and many other working transportation & military professionals, it’s not style.

It’s utility.

GMT

This watch face has two dials: a 12-hour inner dial that displays local time, and a 24-hour outer dial that lets you track a second time zone. This watch face is available only on Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 4 and later.

https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/faces-and-features-apde9218b440/watchos

Basically it's not GMT, it's the time zone you set. The red hand is kinda like the hour hand slowly changing to another hour. Ex. It's 9:48 AM EST right now, and my secondary time is London. Therefore, it is currently 2:38 PM (14:38) in London. The red hand is showing how close it is to the next outer tick, which is the next hour. If it hits the next outer tick, it will become the next hour. (kinda a long explanation)

Look at the Rolex GMT II, (one of most prolific and standards of the Aviation world).

...as I mentioned, and as this poster mentions, make the “GMT” model like a “standard” GMT watch, or rename it to something else.

It’s deceptive - let alone being a battery powered watch which dies in less than 2 days without charging, it doesn’t replace the analog GMT.

There isn’t ANY paradigm being set for a watch which dies in less than 2 days on an aviators, (military and commercial) mariner (mainly commercial) and certainly an astronaut.

My point was it absolutely WILL NOT replace the aforementioned avocations requirement for a GMT timepiece which is essential for professional reasons.

The thing works great!! as a fitness or a wear around town watch, (not much if anything beats it as such) but when I’m on the road (I’m a professional aviator - airline pilot) I can’t have something which will die on an all day job. If I was still in the military flying missions, I don’t think this thing would cut it either. And of course this would absolutely not cut it in space.

I was disappointed after the excitement of seeing a “GMT” watch face coming only to discover it really is just another dual time zone watch.

It’s actually an easy way to scroll the time in dozens of time zones with a single tap, but if battery life is your concern I don’t think there’s going to be a watch face that turns your Apple Watch into the perfect tool for your job — especially if battery life is your chief concern.

Just because I’m a space buff, tho’, it’s interesting to note that NASA did conduct a competition for a crowdsourced smartwatch app for astronauts. Here’s an image from the winning mockup:

This was years ago, of course, and I don’t know whether NASA has ever approved a smart watch for use in space — but it doesn’t seem like they’re against the idea.

(While we’re on the subject, NASA never selected a watch with a GMT face for a moon landing; they probably wouldn’t be much use on the International Space Station, either. Virtually all spacecraft operate on a single time zone — almost always either UTC or GPS Time.)

Agreed on the battery life, not to mention the chance of a software glitch requiring a reboot and time reset, when needing to rely on it for aviation (really as a backup to the multitude of timers on your glass panel, iPad EFB, etc. these days). But just in terms of the GMT face being as advertised, it does appear to provide the information a real GMT watch does at a glance with the "GMT" hand, if you simply select UTC as the red hand/bezel time zone and leave it there. Apple should have said "this is a *GMT face. *if you select UTC as the second timezone for the bezel".

NASA has only officially approved the original Omega Speedmaster Professional manual wind mechanical chronograph "Moon Watch" that was worn on the surface of the moon during the Apollo missions, and the more modern (and commonly seen today on astronauts' wrists) Omega X-33. The X-33 is battery powered, but a watch battery that should last about 2 years, so not an issue even for astronauts. The X-33 has multiple time zones, GMT, mission timers, alarms, etc. Definitely not a smart watch like the Apple watch, but the Omegas can go out into space for an EVA while worn on the exterior of the spacesuit! Seems like the Apple watch would be really handy inside the ISS though, keeping you on task.

Speedmaster Professional "Moon Watch"

Speedmaster X-33

I have the Speedmaster "Moon Watch" but, sadly, never wear it now because I have come to rely on the Apple Watch's amazing array of health, communication, and life/work assistance features so much.