If you like to travel or you need to travel for work then you will know just how frustrating it can be updating your watch for each new time zone you get to. I know I’m not the only one who wishes I could find watches that change time zones automatically! The great thing about technology today is that once enough people find a problem there will certainly be lots of people looking for a solution.
That is exactly what has already happened when it comes to watches that change time zones. In the past there was no solution other than manually changing the time zone each time you enter a new time zone. But now there are a lot of watches which will do the hard work for you and automatically change time zone without you needing to do a thing. Let’s check out these watches, find out how they work and see which one is right for you.
How Do Watches That Change Time Zones Work?
Watches that change time zones are often called “GPS Watches” – which goes a long way to explaining how many of them work! Most watches that change time zones have built-in GPS which allows it to use satellites to locate where in the world you are and change time zones when appropriate. However there are some watches which use different methods to change time zones automatically.
How the watch sets the time at your location will depend on which watch you have – but the most accurate watches will collect to local atomic clocks and set your watch to the most accurate time possible. The benefit of these watches are that they will keep your watch as accurate as possible but the downside is that they only work if they can connect to local atomic clocks – unfortunately there are large parts of the worlds which are not within range of an atomic clocks. Some watches, like the most popular smartwatches, will set the time using the internet in the same way that your smartphone does. Others use custom technology which allow the watch to set itself to the time zone based entirely on the GPS satellites.
Now that we know how these watches work, it’s time to see which ones are out there and how you choose the best one for you.
Finding Watches That Change Time Zones
Seiko are one of the watchmakers who always want to be ahead of the curve and that is exactly what they chose to do with the Seiko Astron GPS. This watch uses one of the more innovative methods to update the time. Seiko programmed a world map into the Seiko Astron GPS processor which splits the world up into 39 time zones. Once a day the watch switches on the GPS radio to connect to the satellites, finds out where you are and sets the time accordingly. Even though it only sets itself once a day, if you know you’re moving into a new time zone you can always press a button on the side of the watch to set it manually. It only takes 30 seconds to change time zones which is 4 times quicker than atomic watches which do a very similar job…and a lot quicker than setting it yourself This watch is also solar powered and looks top quality on your wrist. Seiko hope that it will change the watch marked just like the original Seiko did in the 1970’s – it might not have done so just yet, but it might just do so in the future.
Smartwatches which run on the platforms like Android Wear and Apple watches can also change time zones automatically. However these watches will often count on a connected smartphone to see where you are in the world. If your smartwatch switches itself off – or, much worse, you lose it, then your watch will not update automatically. Smartwatches can be a lot more affordable than genuine GPS watches and they often have other exciting features you can make use of.
The Casio G-Shock Atomic Solar is a great watch to add to your collection if you have a habit of breaking things! This watch is a little bit more rugged than your average watch (although you might have heard of a Rolex that managed to survive falling into a cement mixer!) with brilliant shock resistance. The watch is also solar powered which makes it great for the environment. This watch connects to atomic clocks to keep it as accurate as possible – although this does come with the downside of this feature only working within range of atomic clocks.
Conclusion
When you look for a top quality watch then you should have a shopping list of things which matter to you. Perhaps you look for watches that are solar powered, maybe watches that you can see in the dark or watches that change time zones automatically… or maybe watches that do all three! If you don’t know what you want in a watch then there is a good chance that you will end up with a watch which doesn’t do everything you need. When you come to buy your next watch, take into account what features will matter to you. If you travel a lot then a watch which does change time zones as you move into a new time zone area is exactly what you need. Which one will you chose: The Seiko Astron, Casio G-Shock or something different altogether? Let us know in the comments below!
