Sure, sure – dual time zone watches have been around for awhile, but I can’t think pf many that add a full second set of hands. To my recollection, I’ve also never come across what amounts to a single-hand watch (albeit doubled) that tracks a second time zone.
That’s exactly what we have with the Botta Duo (the Green Black Edition is what we’ve pictured in this post). If you’re familiar with Botta Design, you know that they have an affinity for single hand watches. While I’ve not reviewed their models, I’ve had other one-hand designs in in the past. While they’re perfectly functional, they aren’t quite as accurate (to read) as I may like, so I’ve tended to avoid them.
With Botta adding a second time zone (my favorite complication after a date one), this definitely makes for a more interesting watch. To read the time, you can use the larger (and white) hand to read the local time against the outside track. Utilizing the smaller, green-tipped hand and the inner 24-hour track, you can read the time in the timezone of your choice. Or, if you prefer, you can set the 24-hour time to your local time and use it as a day/night indicator.
This is assuming a 6 AM to 6 PM “daytime” indication, which we have on a visual separation (light grey / dark grey) on the dial. This sort of thing is handy, especially if you’re looking to call someone back in the second time zone – this way, you won’t be waking anybody up. How’s this all driven? By a quartz movement, a 515 24-hour caliber.
This is wrapped up in a 40mm stainless steel case (only 7.5mm thick), topped off with a sapphire crystal. Surprisingly, the whole thing weighs in at a very light weight of 43g. While I’m still not sure if single-hand watches are quite for me, the Botta Duo certainly is one of the more interesting options in that particular style. If you’d like to get one for yourself, our friends over at Watchismo have is available for $470. watchismo.com
