The Worldtimer Oris Artelier

There are certain high-end Swiss watches that I've always admired for their style and function, among them is the Ulysse Nardin GMT - Perpetual. It's a travel watch in the tradition of the Rolex GMT Master, but with a neat twist: It has two buttons that increment or decrement the local time. When you travel, simply press the buttons as required to jump to your destination time zone! Simple to use, hard to make and very functional. However, being a Swiss chronometer of in-house design, the Ulysse Nardin is out of my price range. Imagine my surprise and delight, then, at discovering that well-regarded Swiss brand Oris now has a similar watch, the Oris Artelier Worldtimer.

There are two versions, with and without bracelet. The picture shows the version I prefer, on an leather strap. Features of the watch include

* Sapphire crystals front and back, with interior anti-glare coating and doming on the front for easier visibility.
* Movement based on the ETA 2836, a well-known movement with good serviceability and excellent reputation. Oris modified the 2836 to add the plus/minus buttons, and added a second timezone display at 3 o'clock on the dial.
* Automatic movement, 38 hour power reserve.
* The dial is silver and grey, decorated with guilloche or machine turning.
* Date display at 6 o'clock
* Perfectly sized at 42.5mm
* The hands and indices are lumed with Superliminova, so it should be readable at night as well.
* Water resistant to 30m or 98ft, but I'd be hesitant to get a watch like this damp. This is not a sport watch!

MSRP of the Worldtimer is $2,095 now(01/13/2010) on Amazon.com, which is downright cheap for what it is. I hope to get one of these for review very soon.