Hands-OnThe Timex Marlin Quartz GMT

Right off the bat, what drew me into taking a close look at the Marlin Quartz GMT is the dial. Priced at $229 on the steel bracelet, the Marlin Quartz GMT has a dial that looks very, very good. Sunburst dials at this price point aren't the easiest things to get right — often, they can tend to look a bit cheap and janky, but the sunray brushing on this blue dial is subtle and pleasant to look at. A 24-hour track for the red-tipped GMT hand is printed in light and dark shades of blue, while a printed minute track with three-dimensional applied lume pips at the hour sits on the periphery of the dial. Annoyingly, the seconds hand actually feels too short as it doesn't come anywhere close to the exterior minutes track — I could see this being a dealbreaker for some.

The hour and minute hands feature a black stripe down the middle, matching all of the faceted applied metal indices for the hours. Though it might seem unnecessary, I found that these stripes go a long way in making the entire way way more legible in most lighting conditions. From a design perspective, it's also a great way to separate the main time system from the bright red, non-striped GMT hand and the GMT time. A very Timex-standard date window sits at three o'clock, making it suitable for the majority of people who will be buying this watch (aka non-watch-nerds).

Speaking of compromises, the main one you see in this watch is the GMT complication itself. As you may have guessed, it most certainly isn't a "flyer" GMT, but rather a "caller" GMT, meaning that the GMT hand is independently adjusted. Now that's all fine, but the compromise comes in the physical gearing of the hand. In a higher-end caller GMT, you might expect that the GMT hand would adjust in increments of one hour, meaning that at the turn of the crown, the GMT hand would click over each hour until the right one is hit. But on the Marlin Quartz GMT, there is none of that, rather a freely adjustable hand in either direction. This basically means that you can just set the GMT hand to any time you'd like, not necessarily having it point to the part of the actual hour. For most people, this is less ideal for a proper GMT. Unless you set the main time to midnight, then adjust the GMT hand to the start of the correct hour for the difference in time zone, the GMT hand will most likely be slightly off.

However, the flip side of this is that this might be one of the few GMT watches properly equipped for half-hour time zones, most notably India. No, it's not a perfect system, but on a watch that's priced less than a Moonswatch, it'll do.

The fully-polished recycled stainless steel case is very Marlin, with short lugs and broad facets to visually separate the connected bezel and midcase, and offers a water resistance of 50m. With a 40mm diameter and a thickness of 13mm, it's decidedly contemporary on the wrist. It's not a small watch by any means, but on my smaller wrist, it still wore well thanks to the compactness of the lug design. On a strap, this would probably wear even smaller. I'd have loved to see a signed crown on this design, and the domed acrylic crystal is a nice nod to vintage design, but it's never the most practical option for a modern watch.

On the wrist, the Marlin GMT feels well-built for the price point, and the five-link steel bracelet with polished center links is comfortable, though the build quality is commensurate with the price point. The clasp is well done, with the stamped portions remaining quite slim without any microadjust capabilities. The bracelet is quick-release, good for a watch that's ripe for frequent strap changing. With a versatile design that isn't boring, and legible for its intended purpose, I think that this Marlin Quartz GMT is quite the winner.

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