Have you seen a cleaner looking classy GMT? I don’t think I have. Especially one that is so simple to read and operate. This is the new Zenith Captain Dual Time watch from the brand’s Elite movement collection. Elite movements are a little step down from El Primero movements – but also made in-house by Zenith. While El Primero movements operate at 36,000 bph, Elite ones operate at a more traditional 28,800 bph. They are also more affordable, and offer one of the best values around when looking to get a watch with in-house made Swiss movement.
The piece is really a beauty. There are a lot of desirable elements such as the guilloche machine engraved dial, legible dial, and easy to operate GMT function and movement. It just exudes class and sophistication, but not at the expense of function. The steel case is 40mm wide and straight-forward in its design. The polish is well-done and mixes with the metal dial very nicely. Zenith really impressed me with the dial decoration and design. You know all those times when I complain about how hands are too short? Well my friends, this is certainly not one of those times. Do you see how much better properly sized hands can make a dial look? Just imagine them shorter and consider how much that would take away from the design. See what I mean? To people designing watches, this is the right length for such dial and the watch’s proportions. NOT less. Stepping down from the soap box now.
Strong looking hands and applied hour indicators are crisp and easy to see. Not sure if there is lume on the dial though. The Sapphire crystal is AR coated and provides a clear view of the dial. On the dial the GMT hand is easy to distinguish from the Hour and minutes hands. It also helps that the seconds are displayed in a subsidiary dial. You’ll see that Zenith also managed to tastefully integrate the date. I am really loving the design and look of that blued steel GMT hand.
In addition to the silvered dial, there is a black dial version of the watch (with some minor dial differences). The GMT hand is operated by a pusher placed at 10 o’clock. Zenith did this to make it so that changing the GMT time was easy during traveling. I appreciate that as you usually need to use the crown and can often up changing the time and the date accidentally. Note the unobtrusive but visible 24 hour time scale for the GMT hand.
Powering the watch is the Zenith Elite Caliber 682 automatic movement. You already know the functions, and it has a power reserve of 50 hours. Other features include an instant date change feature and stop-seconds for adjusting the time. You can see the automatic movements through the sapphire caseback window. The Zenith Captain Dual Time comes on a black or brown alligator strap or metal bracelet. The bracelet model is quite nice. Zenith also offers a model in 18k rose gold. Prices for the Captain Dual Time watches (in Europe) start at $3,700 euros up to 9,600 euros for the gold version.