Yesterday, we started to take a look at the Vortech GMT by Momentum, covering the company history and the GMT complication. Today, we’ll pick up right where we left off, and cover that other “extra” hand on the dial.
Now, if you didn’t know any better, just looking at the dial, you’d assume a red hand indicated the GMT setting, as that’s the color most watches use. Here, however, it’s actually indicating what time the alarm is set for. Also helping you to remember which is which is the red pusher on the side of the case, which is used for turning the alarm on and off.
Now, on analog watches, especially waterproof ones, you generally don’t see an alarm function included. Many times, that’s because the case would muffle the sound so much as to make it practically useless. Here, however, Momentum have included a ceramic resonator to help increase the sound.
In practice, this means you’ve got a waterproof watch with a snooze-able alarm you can actually hear. I found the alarm loud enough to be noticeable while at the office, though I did not test to see if it would wake me up in the morning (don’t think my wife would appreciate that particular test being conducted).
For the dial design, you’ve got a fairly simple (and readable) layout that is not as symmetrical as I might prefer. With both the seconds subdial and the date display over on the right side, it makes the left side of the dial feel a bit empty. Here, I think locating the subseconds at 9 o’clock, and the date at 3, would give a much nicer look.
All of the technical wizardry is packed into a 44mm titanium case, under a mineral crystal (sapphire is available as an option). This is a bigger watch, but being as the case is made of titanium, it wears rather light along with the leather strap (again, you have an option here for a titanium bracelet).
All told, this is a very intriguing watch, especially for someone who’s travelling, and doesn’t want to pony up the coin needed for a true mechanical GMT movement. For the sample we were sent (mineral crystal, leather band), pricing is a very comfortable $295 – which seems like a really great price when you consider the case is titanium, and this is one of the loudest alarms you’ll get.
