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| The time is now 2:24 p.m. at home and 4:24 a.m. abroad. |
Watch: Glycine Airman 44 "Purist" GL0057 (blue dial)
Movement: ETA 2893 (24 hour) modified
Width: 44mm
Lug Width: 22mm
Crystal: Sapphire
How long owned: 1 month
Used price estimate (Dec. 2018): ~$330
New price estimate (Dec. 2018): ~$370 -- if available.
The Glycine Airman 44 Purist was a catch-and-release for me -- a victim of my drive to consolidate -- but it remains one of the few watches I formerly owned that I still have some regret over letting go. Its size and duplication of features with the Hamilton Skymaster necessitated its sale, but I will strongly consider adding its 42mm brother to my collection in the future.
The Purist's hour hand makes only one revolution every 24 hours, so it takes some adjustment at first to read the time. I personally found this adjustment to be surprisingly easy and found the Purist's simple approach to tracking a second time zone to be the easiest GMT function I've ever tried. You simply rotate the outside 24-hour bezel (and lock it with the unique second crown lock -- also very cool) to keep track of your desired second time zone using the single hour hand. That's it. No squinting at or fiddling with a small second hour hand.
Another cool design feature is the gradient of the blue dial, which, when coupled with the 24-hour nature of the watch, approximates a day/night indicator (the darker top half corresponds to 6 pm to 6 am, with the lighter bottom half covering the daylight hours).
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| A view of the rounded side and the tooth-based locking crown for the 24-hour bezel. |
The styling of the case is simple but a bit different than my other watches, with a rounded polished side that is quite attractive in profile. If I had one complaint about the finishing of the watch, it was that something about the finishing of the syringe hands (the design of which I liked) seemed not quite as high quality as the rest of the watch.
The blue leather band that came with the watch was substantial and comfortable, and the transparent caseback gave a nice view of the Glycine-decorated 2893 movement.
It appears that (as of Dec. 2018) this watch may no longer be in production, with the sub-$400 pricing over the last year a result of clearing out old stock. However, should you be in the market for a watch with a GMT function, I would highly recommend considering one of Glycine's Purist models.
More photos:
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| The 44mm was too large for my wrist, but the 42mm would be just about right. |
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