# GMT vs Purist Glycine



## jeepngli

Hi All,
Excuse the silly question, but I am about to Purchase a Glycine Airman Base22. I originally saw this watch in GMT version, but I have the choice of either Purist or GMT. From what I understand, the hour hand on the Purist actually moves one full revolution in 24 hrs, correct? 

Why would someone pick GMT over Purist. I like the look of the red arrow, but I want something that holds its value and makes more sense. All info appreciated

Mods: please move if it should be in the glycine section


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## l3wy

jeepngli said:


> Hi All,
> Excuse the silly question, but I am about to Purchase a Glycine Airman Base22. I originally saw this watch in GMT version, but I have the choice of either Purist or GMT. From what I understand, the hour hand on the Purist actually moves one full revolution in 24 hrs, correct?
> 
> Why would someone pick GMT over Purist. I like the look of the red arrow, but I want something that holds its value and makes more sense. All info appreciated
> 
> Mods: please move if it should be in the glycine section


Correct on the purist, it's all 24 hour.

I think both probably hold their value fairly well.. but others would probably be able to comment on that better.. I have one Glycine Airman that I bought used earlier this year, so I don't have much knowledge there.

As for GMT vs Purist. I would guess they sell more of the GMT.. and it may be easier to sell a GMT (not sure about that, purely a guess). Main reason I think that is since the main hour hand is 12 hour, it works like a traditional watch, and the owner doesn't have to worry about adjusting to a pure 24 hour display.


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## jeepngli

So with the GMT, the main hand is 12 hour but the red Hand is one rotation in 24hr? Thanks!


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## tylehman

jeepngli said:


> Hi All,
> Excuse the silly question, but I am about to Purchase a Glycine Airman Base22. I originally saw this watch in GMT version, but I have the choice of either Purist or GMT. From what I understand, the hour hand on the Purist actually moves one full revolution in 24 hrs, correct?
> 
> Why would someone pick GMT over Purist. I like the look of the red arrow, but I want something that holds its value and makes more sense. All info appreciated
> 
> Mods: please move if it should be in the glycine section


some feel more comfortable with the main hands working like a regular watch (no learning curve to read it), but i agree i don't see the point on the glycine. i personally will only consider a purist... and i my case 24 on top.

the other that is super cool is the double 24, in this one the hand are all 24 hour, and i think you can read 4 time zones at once. 







in this one the main hour hand is read like a regular 24 hour watch with the inner numbers, and a second time zone on the outer bezel and the bezel is locked with the 4 o'clock crown. the orange arrow can be set to a third time zone on the orange numbers, the longer red arrow can point to a fourth time zone set with the 2 o'clock crown turning the inner rotating bezel.


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## pley3r

My vote is purist as well, got used to mine quick enough. I find the idea of having a proper 24hr face and then the hour hand moving in 12hr rotation weird. If you wanted that, there are plenty of other watches that already do it.


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## Emre

Another purist 24 hour vote here.

Since I am used to read 24 hour dial watches,it gives a feeling that you can squeeze more time into that dial.Glycine Airman was invented in 1953 as a purist 24 hour watch,where it had the 24 hour bezel function,so one could read two timezones with the same hour hand by adjusting the bezel. Glycine Airman GMT watches started to be manufactured only in 1969 and onwards.

However it's a choice and I newer saw a tendency towards one of them being more expensive or holding more value. Vintage Airman,especially some scarce pieces are mostly 24 hour pieces except the Airman GMT Chronograph,which is an exception and a rare beast.


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## jeepngli

Thanks guys for the help!


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## kiwitan

What is this the nice looking 4 24 hour time zone glycine watch?
when I showed the watch shop they are not able to identify the model number.

thanks



tylehman said:


> some feel more comfortable with the main hands working like a regular watch (no learning curve to read it), but i agree i don't see the point on the glycine. i personally will only consider a purist... and i my case 24 on top.
> 
> the other that is super cool is the double 24, in this one the hand are all 24 hour, and i think you can read 4 time zones at once.
> View attachment 1622203
> 
> in this one the main hour hand is read like a regular 24 hour watch with the inner numbers, and a second time zone on the outer bezel and the bezel is locked with the 4 o'clock crown. the orange arrow can be set to a third time zone on the orange numbers, the longer red arrow can point to a fourth time zone set with the 2 o'clock crown turning the inner rotating bezel.


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## jkn1946

Found this - ::: Glycine Watch ::: Bienne 1914 ::: Swiss Made ::: - Airman Double 24 09

Wish I could afford it.


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## Emre

Here is the once in a lifetime combo,you won't see it anywhere except WUS
The 100 pieces manufactured Airman Chronographs-city legend says only 20 were sold and the rest were given to the Concorde pilots.
The one at left is purist execution,right one is GMT.They both are casing the Valjoux 724 chronograph ( Valjoux 72+ 4th hand )


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## Horologic

jeepngli said:


> Why would someone pick GMT over Purist. I like the look of the red arrow,


I think looks are the main reason. Or maybr they don't really want a 24 hour watch.

It's a dilemma. If I got an Airman 22, I most likely would go with the cream dial. Since the next watch I plan to get is a Laco with black dial. That will make 3 black, and 1 yellow automatic watches in my collection. And I was first drawn to cream although the 
the degrade design is cool too.

Time keeping aspects aside, I think the cream dial Airman looks better with the red GMT hand than the purist dial. Adds some contrast, and I like how long it is in relation to the short hour and minutes hands. But losing the 24 hour on the normal hour hand would suck since the dial isn't made for 12 hours and 24 hour time reading is what the airman was first known for. Red GMT and 24 hour time reading on the main hands would be the best IMO. The double Airman are just too big for me and probably cost a lot more.

I have time to think about it. The airman are neat watches.


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## Skeleton-Key

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm unclear as to what the GMT version actually does. I know the purist has one 24-hour hand, and so I assumed that the GMT simply had two 24 hour hands. A 12-hour hand wouldn't make any sense on a watch with a 24-hour scale, IMO. However, I've been seeing people talk about the GMT having a 12-hour hand on this thread, so I'm wondering:

1. Do all GMT Airmen have a 12-hour hand?
And
2. If so, which hand is the 12-hour hand?

Given that the main (lumed) hour hand on most Airmen has the tail pointing to the 12-hour time, it would be absurd if it it weren't the 24-hour hand. The tail would then be rendered useless.


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## tylehman

Skeleton-Key said:


> Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm unclear as to what the GMT version actually does. I know the purist has one 24-hour hand, and so I assumed that the GMT simply had two 24 hour hands. A 12-hour hand wouldn't make any sense on a watch with a 24-hour scale, IMO. However, I've been seeing people talk about the GMT having a 12-hour hand on this thread, so I'm wondering:
> 
> 1. Do all GMT Airmen have a 12-hour hand?
> And
> 2. If so, which hand is the 12-hour hand?
> 
> Given that the main (lumed) hour hand on most Airmen has the tail pointing to the 12-hour time, it would be absurd if it it weren't the 24-hour hand. The tail would then be rendered useless.


OK for the most part on the GMT model airman the arrow hand in the 12 hour hand. (the tail is "rendered useless", but often still there.) therefor the lumed arrow hand is read as just a regular 12 hour hand. you will notice the the lume markers often have every other one marked differently so that you can easily read the 12 hour hand on the dial. the bar hand is the 24 hour GMT hand and is read using the numbers on the dial and bezel.

there was one kind of airman 22 called a GA version in which the bar style hand was the 12 your hand and the main arrow hand was the 24 hour hand. that model was not very common... i think it was made on the recommendation of one particular pilot. i think that it was easy to jump the 12 hour had forward by an hour at a time so you could set it to the local time without having to reset the watch. on the white dialed version the extra hand was blue and has Super-LumiNova as well. it looked very cool and easy to spot if you knew what you were looking for.

there was a double 24 model that had the broad arrow hand that was 24 hour, and a hand that had two small arrows on either end that was also 24 hours. it had both an inner bezel and and outer bezel so you could read 4 time-zones at once.

all of these are easy to find pictures of on google.

ps. i have a prefer the purist, however the GA version is interesting, but more so if i were a pilot often in different time-zones, and i would really liked to have had the double 24, but would never need all of those time-zones at once.


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## Skeleton-Key

Thank you for clarifying that. I'm surprised that they made that design choice; it seems contrary to the overall design of the watch. I guess I'll stick with the purist for any Airmen.


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## myke

purist for me as well. i like the main hands to turn over in 24 hours. Thats what great about the watch to me.


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## r-gordon-7

I know this is a revived old thread, but in reading through it, there seems to be one potential answer to the OP's question ("_Why would someone pick GMT over Purist_") that hasn't directly been mentioned yet - maybe just because it's too obvious, but here goes... With the Purist Airman one gets the ability to simultaneously display "only" two time zones (via the 24 hr hour hand & via the bezel), whereas with the GMT Airman one gets the ability to simultaneously display three time zones (via the 12 hr hour hand, via the GMT hand & via the bezel).

That being said, there are of course all the other reasons previously stated as to why one might prefer one version over the other - and I certainly agree with the other posters noting the GMT, having a "12 hr" hour hand but only a 24 hr numbered dial face, is oddly and unnecessarily confusing/incomplete. The twelve "slash" indices on the GMT dial face should include the numbers 1-12 to help clarify that its hour hand is indeed a "12 hr" and not a "24 hr" hand.

Personally, I'd prefer a 3 time zone Purist (with the time zones displayed via a regular 24 hr hour hand, a thin red GMT style hand & the bezel ) but that's something Glycine doesn't make (with the exception of several years ago having made the limited edition Double 24 which as noted in prior posts displayed 4 time zones).


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## Don Logan

tylehman said:


> OK for the most part on the GMT model airman the arrow hand in the 12 hour hand. (the tail is "rendered useless", but often still there.) therefor the lumed arrow hand is read as just a regular 12 hour hand. you will notice the the lume markers often have every other one marked differently so that you can easily read the 12 hour hand on the dial. the bar hand is the 24 hour GMT hand and is read using the numbers on the dial and bezel.


Ok I am really sorry I am hoping someone can help make my understanding as clear as possible. My next watch is going to be a GMT or a 24 hour watch and I am both excited and intimidated a bit. I've never owned either type and which ever one I decide on won't be cheap for me. So pardon me for over explaining any of the following, I do it only for clarity.

When I first saw the Airman GMT models I got excited, 2 birds one stone I thought. But I was lead to believe the 24 hour dial and the tail on the lumed hour hand are simply aesthetic, not being able to serve the same purpose as the purist because of the 12 hour movement. I thought to myself "oh...cool" but not really for me. I mean I totally get it, it does look cool. But I am sensing most in here like moi would prefer the function over simply looking cool.

BUT am I now reading this correctly? That while the local/traditional hour hand makes 2 full revolutions over a 24 hour period (12 hour hand), the GMT hand makes 1 full revolution over a 24 hour period(24 hour hand)? Do I have that right?

If that is the case then the 24 hour dial is not simply just for the aesthetic at all. It is completely functional. Your second time zone that you track with the GMT hand is a 24 hour hand therefore you need a 24 dial to read it. Right?









So in the picture above:
The local time is 22:09 - 10:09 pm.
The time in the second time zone(tracked by the red GMT hand) is 9:09 am.
The time in the third time zone(tracked by the bezel) is 2:09 am.

Do I have any of this correct?


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## tylehman

Don Logan said:


> View attachment 10973754
> 
> 
> So in the picture above:
> The local time is 22:09 - 10:09 pm.
> The time in the second time zone(tracked by the red GMT hand) is 9:09 am.
> The time in the third time zone(tracked by the bezel) is 2:09 am.
> 
> Do I have any of this correct?


mostly correct. the main hour hand is 22:09 or 10:09 you need to know if it is day time or night time.
the red gmt hand is 9:09
the outer dial get locked in place by the crown at 4 o'clock. and is read using the same red gmt hand. in this case the bezel in not set on any hour so it is not really telling you anything. if the 2 on the outer bezel were lined up with the 24 on the dial then it would be 11:09 in the third timezone.


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## Cubex

Thank you so much for this info....I was going crazy with my Base 22.


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## tortugajay

Hi all,

Please help! I am considering picking up a used Airman 18 GMT (for a nice price) and just removing the 12 hour hand. Will that have the same effect as a Purist, or are the mechanisms different?

Thanks!


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## ned-ludd

tortugajay said:


> I am considering picking up a used Airman 18 GMT (for a nice price) and just removing the 12 hour hand. Will that have the same effect as a Purist, or are the mechanisms different?


On inspection I've decided that Purists are mostly GMTs with the 12-hour hand removed. Here's a close up photo of one of my Purists.









I suspect, though, that the GMT/24 hand quickset feature has been removed or disabled at the factory. My home-converted Airman 8 still has a working quickset and it's a bit of a pain if I accidentally activate it because it means I have to go 'around the horn' to get the 24-hour hand back in synch with the date wheel. That doesn't happen on any of my factory Purists.

So if you're willing to occasionally be obliged to re-synch the 24-hour hand, by all means convert your GMT to a purist by removing the 12-hour hand.

It'll look a bit funny with just a red GMT hand, though. You may care to do what I did and get a Purist hand set from Glycine ([email protected]).


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