GMT hand moving slowly?

[mexrolex]

Hi everyone,

I just got my first rep, which is a Rolex GMT Master 2C. I went for the Asia-ETA clone movement, and I'm very impressed with the watch itself. Unfortunately, the GMT hand doesn't do what I thought it would. I have the main hands on my local time, but I'd like the GMT hand to point six hours behind my time. Which is something I'd use.

I set it this morning when I got the watch, and it ran very slowly. And eventually was two hours behind. I just re-set it now in hope that it will keep the time (GMT hand) but I'm not holding my breath.

Is this normal or have I got a problem with the movement?

Thank you.

[By-Tor]

GMT hand moves twice as slowly as the main hour hand, because the hour markers for it are on the bezel, not on the dial.

[mexrolex]

Thanks for your reply. Therefore, I won't be able to have the GMT hand running six hours behind my normal time and get a reading without using the bezel?

[mjmurphy926]

Just to add to By-Tor's reply...The GMT hand is a 24 hour clock whereas the hour and minute hands are a 12 hour clock.

[krpster]

Correct. GMT hand goes around the dial only once per 24 hrs. That is the intended function.

[mexrolex]

Thank you for your help. I was told that this could of been done! How disappointing Is there anything I can do (easily) that would allow the GMT hand to work like a 12 hour hand?

[Ronin]

NO Regular (Rolex) GMT's work the way you want it to. Even the Gen.

You CAN set the 24hr hand to GMT time, but keep in mind it uses military/24hr clock time.

[By-Tor]

Thank you for your help. I was told that this could of been done! How disappointing Is there anything I can do (easily) that would allow the GMT hand to work like a 12 hour hand?

Yeah. To not buy a GMT watch (replica or genuine). That's how all GMT watches work.

[mexrolex]

So even the genuine Rolex GMT Master can't show two time zones without the bezel being turned? I was sure it could of been done.

[Ronin]

Here is a video of how to set a GMT.

[By-Tor]

Here's how the replica WHS movement works (in comparison).

[Ronin]

To show the 2nd time you want:

If it is MIDNIGHT in your local time zone, and current GMT time you want to see -6hrs, set the RED hand to 18:00. That will allow you to leave the bezel in the home position. When you want to know what time it is in GMT land, look at the RED hand in reference to the outer bezel, and the standard minute hand. If it reads, for example, 16:10 it is 4:10 PM in GMT. If you are 6hrs ahead the regular hands should be 10:10 PM.

[txcollector]

not on any GMT watch. The idea of the GMT hand is to give you the hour on a different timezone. Since there are 24 of those (apart from the ones with 1/2 hr differences) you need 24 stops on the GMT hand to tell you that.

It's extremely easy to get used to reading the GMT hand. When the GMT is at 3 o'clock, that's 6 AM; 6 o'clock=12AM; 9 o'clock=6PM and 12o'clock= midnight.

Once you get used to it you will see how useful it is.

So let's say you are in Paris and you need to know US ET. It's about 12:35 PM in NY right now and 6:35 PM in Paris. You set the main hands for 6:35 PM (considering the date change) and set the GMT hand for the 6 o'clock position.

[mexrolex]

Ronin, that's what I want to do. But the green hand moves too slowly for that to work. For example, I reset the GMT at 17:00 (my time) and now it should be closing in on the 12 marker (on the dial) but it's not! It has only moved by a very small amount.

I wanted to have my time on the main hands, and then just look at the green hand to show my desired second time and then use the minute hand to work out the time. But that just doesn't seem possible!

[Ronin]

So even the genuine Rolex GMT Master can't show two time zones without the bezel being turned? I was sure it could of been done.

To answer this specific question, see my other post. With the GMT Master II's you do NOT need to rotate the bezel. With the GMT II it sort of gave the option for a 3rd time zone "on the fly".

Take for example my Explorer II GMT. The Bezel does NOT turn, but I can set it for 2 time zones like I described above. In the pic below of my watch, the local time is 8:11PM, and in the 2nd time zone I am tracking it is 16:11 (4:11 PM)

[Ronin]

To put your mind at ease, to TEST your watch to MAKE SURE it is not defective do the following:

1.) Set all hands to MIDNIGHT. All hands should be stacked pointing straight up @ 12/24.

2.) With the crown pulled ALL the way out to time setting position, start rotating the hands.

When it is NOON 12:00 PM (regular hands) the 24hr hand should be at

12 on the OUTER BEZEL

(straight down)

When it is MIDNIGHT ALL THE HANDS should be stacked at 12/24.

If the above test worked, the WATCH IS WORKING AS IT SHOULD.

[mexrolex]

Firstly, I have been trying to do what you've done with you're Explorer. Track two time zones without moving the bezel. So far either that can't be done or what it now looks like that the GMT hand moves too slowly for this to happen.

Secondly, tomorrow I will try that out. I hope my watch is not defective!

[mexrolex]

I THINK I'VE WORKED IT OUT!!! I have put the GMT hand at the 12 marker on the bezel, and I have kept the bezel on the aligned position. I think that is what maybe you've been saying. But I am not sure how on the genuine Rolex I could track 3 time-zones...

Please tell me I have worked it out!?!?!

[Ronin]

.... But I am not sure how on the genuine Rolex I could track 3 time-zones...

Not so much a 3rd time zone as an on the fly quick adjust

GMT Master II's with adjustable bezels allow for the following:

1.) As described above, Leave the Bezel in the home position, and set the two time zones.

2.) Leave the watch in 24hr mode, and just use the bezel to track the second time zone

--

3.) If you are tracking something, or yourself, with the 24 hour hand and you are "moving through" time zones, you can turn the bezel to account for your movement across the zones.

[mexrolex]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have worked out what I was doing wrong, and now I have my home time and the desired second time showing with the bezel in the home position. I thought the GMT hand worked like an additional hour hand and would move in one hour segments. However, that's not the case!

I suppose the genuine Rolex GMT will work in one hour segments? As you can have local time, second time, and a third one with the turn of the bezel.

[txcollector]

I suppose the genuine Rolex GMT will work in one hour segments? As you can have local time, second time, and a third one with the turn of the bezel.

No, the GMT hand on the gen shows the military GMT time (1-24) with 24 stops. The regular hour hand runs on 12 hrs cycle.

The way to track 3 timezones is the following.

1) Main hour on local time

2) GMT hour showing home time using the 3-6-9-12 positions as reference (meaning when the GMT is on 3=6AM; 6=noon; 9=6PM; 12=midnight)

3) Move the bezel to set another reference for the GMT hand. For example let's say you set your home time for NY (ET) but you also want to track LA (PT), you move the bezel so the 12 o'clock bezel marker aligns with the 9 o'clock dial marker.

The main difference is on the rep you independently adjust the GMT hand while on the gen the regular hour hand is independently adjustable.

Check this video at 4 min. Notice how the regular hour moves from 6-12 while the GMT moves from 9-12.