RGMT Globemaster GMT Jungle Green Review

Although I've been collecting watches for twenty-five years and in the watch industry for twenty years, my knowledge of brands over a vast majority of that time was limited to the top fifteen or twenty luxury brands. When we started Hourstriker just over two years ago I was suddenly exposed to a ton of watch brands I had never heard of. This has really been one of the most rewarding things about creating the site.

Today we are looking at a watch from a new brand that I just learned about a few weeks ago. RGMT produces military inspired watches that span from field watches to divers and pilot's watches. One thing that is common throughout their collections of watches is that the timepieces are all robust and can take just about anything you can dish out at them. This means each RGMT timepiece boasts a more than adequate water resistance rating and rugged case construction.



RGMT watches are fairly classic in their design with mostly round and cushion shaped cases. Being military inspired pieces, legibility is key to the dial of each RGMT watch. This means most watches feature easy to read dials with large hands and indices. RGMT even offers a host of Everyday Carry (EDC) accessories to go along with their watches. This includes binoculars, flashlights, pens and various carrying cases.

Initial Thoughts

RGMT sent us one of their newest watches in the recently released Globemaster GMT. The Globemaster is a large and imposing watch with a high contrast dial which features a caller GMT function. When the Globemaster GMT arrived, the first thing I noticed about the watch was its case size. Personally I collect larger watches with my largest pieces both being 48 mm. One of those watches is crafted out of titanium, while the other is ceramic. With those watches since they are made out of lightweight materials, the watches still feel rather light. The Globemaster on the other hand is made out of stainless steel and the watch just feels substantial in hand. The watch is 46 mm in case diameter and is 16.2 mm thick, on the rubber strap it weighs 135 grams. The Globemaster makes a very strong statement on wrist. The brand markets the watch towards adventurers and explorers, and with how rugged this case seems I believe it can take a real beating.



The next thing I noticed during my initial time with the Globemaster GMT was the depth to its dial. While the watch is thick, it doesn't seem to be wasted space. When looking though the highly domed sapphire crystal you can see the dial has a lot of height to it with different elements occupying different planes. The four centrally mounted hands are stacked with a decent amount of space between them and the dial never seems cluttered. The tall applied hour indices also add to the sense of depth found on the dial. Combined with the relief map of the earth on the dial, the overall impression of the Globemaster's dial and domed bezel make it seem like you're peering down on the earth from high above.

The final thing I noticed about the Globemaster GMT during my first viewing was the crown placement. The watch has a bullhead style crown where the crown is located at 12 o'clock. This positioning does have a practical purpose with it being much harder to get the crown snagged on something in the field than if the crown as on either side of the watch. This positioning also changes the lug structure a little bit, with the bottom lugs being standard lugs and the top lugs being slightly hidden with the case extending further than is found on the bottom to allow for the crown.



Technical Specifications

The RGMT Globemaster GMT is crafted out of stainless steel with a case diameter of 46 mm and a lug to lug length of 52.8 mm. The watch weighs in at 135 grams on the rubber strap at its thickest point is 16.2 mm tall. The full stainless steel bracelet adds around an additional 100 grams to that weight.

The Globemaster GMT has a highly domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. The curvature of the sapphire also adds some interesting distortions to the dial depending on which angle you're looking at the dial from. The Globemaster GMT has a matte black dial with an engraving depicting the Earth with Africa, Europe and Asia visible.



Around the outside of the dial are small hash marks printed in white for each individual minute. Each hour marker is represented by an applied bar hour marker covered with old lume, with 12 o'clock having twin indices. In regular lighting the lume appears yellow to beige and in low light glows a very strong green. In between each hour marker is an additional 24 hour scale printed in bright orange.

There are four centrally mounted hands found on the RGMT Globemaster GMT being the hours, minutes, seconds and GMT hand. The hour and minute hands are fence post styled and coated in matching lume to the hour markers. The seconds hand is done in a match orange with its counterbalance being a matching lumed circle. Finally the GMT hand is skeletonized and outlined in orange with matching lume.



At 12 o'clock is the white RGMT logo with GMT, Automatic and 300M found at 6 o'clock with GMT and 300M printed in orange and Automatic done in white. Finally at 6 o'clock is the blacked backed date window. The date window is framed in orange with the date text also being done in orange. With the large size of the watch and therefore the dial, the Globemaster GMT ends up being an extremely legible watch with its oversized indices and hands.

Moving on from the dial, the RGMT Globemaster GMT has a uni-directional 24 hour bezel. The bezel takes 120 clicks to make a full rotation and has a great feel and click to each turn. The bezel is nicely scalloped and is really one of the easiest and most fun bezels I've used in terms of bezel feel. The 0/24 hour marker is replaced with a pointer while each even hour gets an Arabic numeral done in a military font, while the odd hours get a dot marker. The bezel markings are done in a yellowish beige color to match the old lume hue. Finally the bezel is done in two colors with 6 to 18 done in a very dark green, while 18 to 6 is done in black. The bezel colors are very subtle and you really need to look closely at the watch to catch the difference in color.



The case of the Globemaster GMT is completely brushed in finish with no polished surfaces whatsoever. This shows how true of a tool watch the Globemaster GMT is. Looking at the profile of the watch, you can see that the lugs downturn sharply helping this large watch fit smaller wrists than most 46 mm watches would fit.

The top of the case features a non-screw down crown which is also nicely scalloped. Even without the use of a screwed down crown, the Globemaster GMT still boasts 300 meters of water resistance. In the resting position you can manually wind the automatic movement. Pulling the crown out to position one lets you set the date and also the GMT hand depending on which way you turn the crown. Finally pulling the crown out to position two stops the seconds hand and lets you set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minutes hand either. With the crown being at the top of the case, it does take a bit of practice and usage before you get used to using a crown in a not normal right hand side position. I have the same issues when using a destro left handed crown as well.



Flipping the watch over shows off the screwed down case back with a sapphire crystal display window. The important information about the watch is printed around the caseback bezel. Looking through the display window you can see the Japanese made automatic movement topped off by a black winding rotor with the RGMT logo printed in a matching hue to the dial markers and hands. The movement beats away at 21,600 vph (3Hz) and has a 41 hour power reserve. On our timegrapher the Globemaster GMT showed an accuracy of +6 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions, which is extremely accurate.

The lug width of the RGMT Globemaster GMT is 22 mm and the watch comes with both a green rubber strap as well as a stainless steel bracelet. The green rubber strap tapers down from 26 mm at the lugs to 22 mm at the brushed stainless steel pin buckle complete with a RGMT logo. The rubber strap is extremely supple and needed no break in to be comfortable.



The stainless steel bracelet has a three link construction with each link being brushed. The bracelet tapers down from 22 mm at the lugs to 20 mm at the clasp. The clasp has a flip-lock with the RGMT logo on it. Once un-locked two additional pushers need to be pushed to release the clasp. The links are sized using a pin and collar style system as well.

On The Wrist

The RGMT Globemaster GMT is a large watch, but on my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area the watch fits well. The lug to lug length of 52.8 mm is right in my preferred sizing of just over 50 mm and the height of 16.2 mm looks proportionate. Once again, on the wrist the Globemaster GMT looks very imposing, which is exactly what RGMT was going for.



I am not a fan of bracelets on a watch, so the bulk of the time I wore the Globemaster GMT, it was on the supplied green rubber strap. I'm not a fan of heavy watches and on the stainless steel bracelet the Globemaster GMT is well over 200 grams. I'm a bit strange in this sense, with most collectors associating heft with quality. Besides the weight penalty, I'm not a fan of bracelets just because we live in a very hot climate where wrist swelling and contraction makes sizing a bracelet nearly impossible in the summer.

The rubber strap does a great job of keeping the watch centered on the wrist and manages to keep the Globemaster GMT from feeling top heavy. The green rubber strap is extremely flexible and was comfortable from the first time I put it on, requiring no break in. The Globemaster GMT served as a great wrist companion for everyday errands and while it didn't completely disappear on the wrist, the watch never gave me any wrist fatigue. We've also been having a string of temperatures in the high 90s here in Austin and the rubber strap of the Globemaster GMT breathed well while being worn in these hot temperatures.



To test the legibility of a watch I use a simple test of seeing how easy it is to tell the time while driving at just a glance. Typically dive watches with their high contrast dials and large hands and indices do the best, while skeletons and complicated pieces do the worst since legibility isn't that important. Going into this test I thought that the RGMT Globemaster GMT would do well with its large hour markers and hands as well as its high contrast dial. As no surprise, the Globemaster GMT excelled at telling the time at just a glance. Only changing the hour markers from bar markers to Arabic numerals could have helped with the legibility, but that would probably affect the design aesthetics of the watch. Finally with so much lumed material on the dial, telling the time in low light situations was a breeze.

The muted greens and blacks of the Globemaster GMT went rather well with my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. The watch wears as a casual piece, which aligns perfectly with my lifestyle. Wearing the Globemaster GMT out does attract some eyes. I'd imagine this is mostly due to the size of the watch and interesting green rubber strap. I showed the watch to a few of our friends while we were out and everyone had mostly good things to say about the watch. The only questionable comments were from a few people on the size of the watch, which is understandable. Everyone was also shocked with the low retail price of the watch.



Value and Position in the Market

Speaking about the price, the RGMT Globemaster GMT has a retail price of $420 even currently being listed on sale for $269. For that price you're getting a very sturdy and well built stainless steel watch packaged with both a rubber strap and stainless steel bracelet. The watch is powered by an accurate automatic movement with both date and GMT complications. The Globemaster GMT is also a great "Go Anywhere Do Anything" (GADA) watch with its 300 meters of water resistance. As with all of our reviews, now is the time to look at other watches with similar specifications and functions and see how the Globemaster GMT holds up value wise.

First up we have the Seiko 5 Sports SKX GMT which has a 42.5 mm case crafted out stainless steel. The watch is powered by an in-house automatic movement similar to the one found in the Globemaster GMT with 41 hours of power reserve. The 5 Sports SKX GMT has much less water resistance than the Globemaster at only 100 meters. The Seiko also uses a Hardlex crystal instead of the sapphire found in the RGMT. Finally the 5 Sports SKX GMT is slightly more expensive than the Globemaster GMT at $495.



Next up we have the Promaster GMT from Citizen which has a 44 mm case made out of stainless steel. The watch is powered by an eco-drive movement which eliminates the need for batteries, instead being powered by light. The Promaster GMT also has less water resistance than the Globemaster GMT at 200 meters. Like the Seiko, the Citizen is also more expensive than the RGMT at $550.

Moving on is the Ocean Star GMT from MIDO which has a 44 mm stainless steel case. The Ocean Star GMT is powered by an ETA automatic movement with an 80 hour power reserve. The MIDO also has less water resistance than the RGMT at 200 meters. The Ocean Star GMT is much more expensive than the Globemaster GMT at $1,380.



Finally we have the Seastar 1000 Powermatic 80 GMT from Tissot which is crafted out of stainless steel and has a 46 mm case diameter. The watch is powered to a similar ETA automatic movement to the MIDO with 80 hours of power reserve. The Tissot has the same water resistance as the RGMT with 300 meters. The Seastar 1000 Powermatic 80 GMT is also much more expensive than the Globemaster GMT at $1,275.

Looking at the specifications of the RGMT Globemaster GMT compared to the four above watches, you can see that the Globemaster GMT is at or near the top of all specifications. When you combine that with the fact that the Globemaster GMT is the least expensive of the group, you really start to see the value of the RGMT.



Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the RGMT Globemaster GMT for me? While the watch ticks most of the boxes of things I look for in a personal watch including lug to lug length and an interesting lumed dial, there is one thing holding the watch back from being my ideal watch. I'm a huge fan of larger watches, but not heavy watches. While the Globemaster GMT isn't a heavy watch, it would be much closer to what I collect personally if it was crafted out of titanium and was 30 percent lighter. Even at 135 grams on the rubber strap, the watch isn't exactly heavy, but just the material choice in stainless steel keeps it from aligning with my very strict personal collecting guidelines.

Would I then recommend the Globemaster GMT for somebody looking for a larger field or GADA watch? When you look at the price of $420, and especially the sales price of $269, the Globemaster GMT is an exceptional value. If you are fine with a larger watch, the Globemaster GMT could be a great choice. The 46 mm case is actually made more wearable with the short downturned lugs only making the lug to lug 52.8 mm. The dial is extremely interesting and has great depth to it. There is also a nice usage of lume throughout the dial making the watch easy to read in low light conditions. The 300 meters of water resistance means that the Globemaster GMT can pretty much go anywhere you could possibly take it. Finally the GMT function is extremely useful and the automatic movement tested to be very accurate on our timegrapher. If the look of the Globemaster GMT appeals to you, I'd highly suggest you take a close look at it if you're in the market for this type of watch.



I'd really like to thank RGMT for sending us this Globemaster GMT to review. The watch served as a great introduction to the brand and I'm really excited to see what other watches the brand will release in the coming months. Hopefully we'll get some other pieces in from RGMT which are in other styles like a dedicated diver.

For more information about the Globemaster GMT please visit : RGMT

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: RG-8067-33

Retail Price: $420

Case Size: 46 mm

Lug to Lug: 52.8 mm

Thickness: 16.2 mm

Weight: 135 grams

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Bezel: Uni-Directional 120 Click with 24 Hour Timer

Strap: Green Rubber Strap with Pin Buckle and Stainless Steel Bracelet

Movement: Japanese Made Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date and GMT

Power Reserve: 41 Hours

Water Resistance: 300 Meters