Best GMT watches to give as a gift

The narrowest mechanical GMT here, and one of three on the page that publishes a footprint at all: 39.4mm across, 13.6mm thick, 47.9mm between the lug tips. Width is the number that matters most on a gift, because a case wider than the wrist overhangs the sides where it shows; this one does not do that on a six-inch wrist and does not look lost on a seven-and-a-half-inch one.

It runs the same 4R34 caller movement as the larger SSK001 in a case 3mm narrower, and Seiko publishes $176 to overhaul it. That is the single most useful fact on this page: you can tell the recipient exactly what the watch will cost to keep before they own it.

Who it is for: anyone who travels, on any wrist. A first mechanical GMT, a milestone gift for somebody who works internationally. Who should skip it: somebody who wants sapphire — this is Hardlex, harder than mineral and softer than sapphire, and it cannot be polished out.

Amazon does not list this reference, so the button below goes to Seiko and earns us nothing. Standard 20mm lugs, three years of warranty, 100m.

Identical movement and identical service cost to the SSK001 in a case 3mm narrower. If the 42.5mm SSK001 is too much watch, this is the same purchase in a size more wrists can carry.

A second time zone that never needs setting, on a watch that never needs winding or a battery. It synchronizes by radio to 43 cities, it is rated 200m behind sapphire, and Citizen covers it for five years — the longest term on this site.

It is also a genuine flight computer with a slide-rule bezel, a chronograph and a perpetual calendar, so for a recipient who flies it is the obvious present rather than a compromise.

Who it is for: a large-wristed frequent traveler or pilot. Who should skip it: everybody else. 45mm with no published lug-to-lug and no published thickness is the biggest sizing gamble on this page, and the dial is busy enough to put some people off entirely.

Against it: it is a module rather than a movement. When Citizen stops supporting the U680 the watch is finished, however good the case still is.

It sets itself by radio, runs on light and is rated to 200m behind sapphire — and it is a module, not a movement. When the module stops being made, the watch is finished, however good the case still is.

The most specification for the least money of any GMT here: the named TMI NH34 caller caliber, sapphire, a screw-down crown, 15 ATM and a stated two-year warranty. The NH34 is a current Seiko Instruments movement, so any independent watchmaker can quote on it.

Spinnaker also publishes the number that decides whether you can give it: 51mm lug-to-lug, the longest on this site. Under about a seven-inch wrist it will overhang, and that is not something a strap can fix.

Who it is for: a recipient whose wrist you know is large. Who should skip it: anyone you are guessing about. The specification is a bargain and the footprint is a gamble, in the same box.

Against it: no published service price and no published caliber overhaul figure, and 13mm thick on top of the long footprint.

A named NH34 GMT caliber, sapphire, a screw-down crown, 15 ATM and a stated two-year warranty — and the same 51mm lug-to-lug as the three-hand Fleuss, the longest on this site.

200m, a second time zone, a slide-rule bezel and five years of warranty on a watch nobody ever winds, services or opens. It is the most useful watch here per dollar for a recipient who wants the pilot's-watch look without the pilot's-watch maintenance.

Who it is for: a recipient with an average to large wrist who likes a busy dial, and anybody who has ever let a watch stop because they forgot about it. Who should skip it: somebody who will want a different strap. Citizen publishes no lug width for this reference at all, which means strap availability cannot be checked before buying — the one thing we cannot tell you.

The mineral crystal is the real cost, and on a 42mm slab of glass it is a cost the owner will eventually see. Citizen publishes no thickness or lug-to-lug either.

Against it: three unpublished dimensions on a watch at this price, and the five-year warranty excludes the power cell, case, bracelet and strap by name.

200m, five years of cover and a second time zone from a watch you never wind, service or open. The mineral crystal is the cost, and on a 42mm slab of glass it is a cost you will eventually see.

The cheapest way to put a second time zone on somebody's wrist, and the right answer when you suspect they will like the idea more than the reality. 38mm in the 1970s Q Timex case, with a battery any shop can change.

The acrylic crystal is a genuine advantage at this price rather than a cost-saving: it scratches from almost anything and every mark polishes out at home with a cloth and a little paste. A marked mineral crystal never recovers.

Who it is for: a first GMT, a stocking gift, a recipient curious about the complication. Who should skip it: anyone expecting a keeper. 50m with no screw-down crown means rain and handwashing, and Timex gives one year while excluding the crystal, strap, case and battery by name.

Against it: it is quartz and 12.5mm thick on a 38mm case, and Timex publishes no lug-to-lug. Nothing about it is expensive to keep running, which is the point.

A quartz GMT at 38mm, with an acrylic crystal you can polish and a battery any shop can change. It is not built like the mechanical GMTs on this site, but nothing about it is expensive to keep running.