Spinnaker Bradner GMT Automatic Review

If you are a regular reader of our reviews, then you would know that we are pretty big fans of the watches from Spinnaker. We've had numerous Spinnaker watches in for review from their technical powerhouse of the Tesei Forged Carbon Automatic to the playful yet equally impressive seconde/seconde/ 47+3 Phantoms. One thing that was evident in all of the models we've reviewed from the brand is that a Spinnaker watch is a serious dive tool first and foremost.

Before we take a closer look at the new watch Spinnaker sent us to review, let's first go over a very brief history of the brand. Spinnaker was founded just over ten years ago, and is part of Solar Time Limited, which runs a few other enthusiast brands like AVI-8. Being part of a larger group means that Spinnaker can benefit from being part of a larger supply chain and manufacturing scale, which for the consumer means a better watch at lower prices.



Spinnaker is not one of those brands that spread their collections over every type of watch genre. Instead the brand focuses solely on producing maritime and dive-centric watches. The name Spinnaker comes from the "spinnaker sail", which is a specialized sail to maximize performance in light to moderate winds. Every model in the Spinnaker catalog also pays homage to important individuals, machinery or vessels in maritime history. Many Spinnaker designs also draw heavy influence from the early dive watches of the 1950s and 60s.

Spinnaker tries to keep the price of their watches well under $1,000 as well. Even the early dive watches from Blancpain and Rolex were originally affordable tools; only in the last decades did they truly become luxury items. Dive watches are meant to take abuse and not be kept in a safe and only worn to nice dinners. Although I am guilty of having dive watches that fall into that second category, I do also believe in the fact that a dive watch should primarily be a tool. I also practice what I preach, with various Spinnaker watches having been taken by us on our last few water bound vacations, while our divers from Blancpain, IWC and Rolex stayed home.



Another defining characteristic of Spinnaker is their eagerness to collaborate with the most exciting names in the watch world. Recent collaborations have seen the brand work with French designer seconde/seconde/, British artist The Dial Artist and massive watch Podcast, Scottish Watches. What is amazing about all of these collaborations is that each piece feels like something completely unique and special from the other collaborations.

Initial Thoughts

Today we will not be focusing on a collaboration piece, but rather an everyday catalog offering from Spinnaker. The watch in question is the Bradner GMT, which is a tribute to the American physicist Hugh Bradner. Brander is best known for his work on the Manhattan Project, and more pertinent for today, the invention of the neoprene wetsuit.



When the watch arrived, the first thing I noticed about the Bradner GMT was the subtle, yet well thought-out usage of color on the dial. The watch has a jet black dial with a faint sunray finishing to it. On this black dial, shades of orange are used for the GMT and depth text along with the GMT hand and ball of the seconds hand. The 60 minute zero marker on the minute track until 10 minutes is done with a deep orange matching the depth text, while from there to 20 minutes is done in a matching hue to the GMT wording. All the other markings on the dial are done in stark white to maximize contrast. Finally the inner rotating GMT ring is done in dial matching black for the night time hours and Deep Blue for the daytime hours.

The second thing I noticed about the Spinnaker Bradner GMT during my initial time with the watch were the two strap choices included with the watch. By default, the watch mounted onto a stainless steel beads of rice bracelet which is perfect for a vintage inspired timepiece. The second strap option in the box was an orange tropic rubber strap, which is also period correct. Of the two, I vastly prefer the rubber strap, since I love orange and am not a big fan of bracelets on watches. During the time I had the Bradner GMT, the watch was mostly on the tropic strap.



The final thing I took note of while looking at the Bradner GMT for the first time was the inner rotating GMT bezel. I'm completely familiar with inner rotating bezels, but they are almost exclusively done as a dive time bezel. One of the main differences between inner rotating dive and GMT bezels is how you are allowed to interact with them. With dive bezels, you can only turn them one way to keep a diver from dangerously increasing their dive time. On the GMT bezel you are allowed to turn the bezel in both directions to quickly adjust to new time zones. The bezel is also nicely lumed and the subtle change from black to dark blue depending on the time of day is a nice touch as well.

A Closer Look

Now that we have gone over a quick history of Spinnaker as well as my initial thoughts on the Bradner GMT, let's now take a much closer look at the watch. The Bradner GMT is crafted out of stainless steel and has a case diameter of 42 mm and a lug to lug length of 50 mm. The watch weighs in at 99 grams on the rubber strap and at its thickest point is 15.1 mm tall.



The Spinnaker Bradner GMT uses a raised and slightly domed sapphire crystal. Through the crystal clear sapphire you can see the jet black sunray finished dial we spoke about earlier. Spinnaker calls this dial color "Night Shadow". Around the outside of the dial is the printed minute track with each five minute interval getting an Arabic numeral and each other minute being represented by a small hash mark. 60 to 10 are printed in a deep orange, while 10 to 20 are done in a lighter orange. The rest of the minute markers are done in a brilliant white. Each hour marker is done white Swiss Newlite that glows green in low light. 6, 9 and 12 o'clock are done as large bar markers, with the rest of the hour markers are square shaped. 3 o'clock has a substantially smaller hour marker since it has to make way for the black backed date window.

There are four centrally mounted hands on the dial of the Bradner GMT being the hour, minute, GMT and seconds hands. The hour, minute and seconds hands have a satin finish to them and are coated with matching lume to the hour markers. The GMT hand is done in black with a bright orange arrow tip with matching lume. The hour and minute hands are skeletonized at their bases and then coated with lume. Finally the seconds hand is slender and the ball near the tip is outlined in dark orange and coated with lume.



Spinnaker branding is found at 12 o'clock in white with GMT underneath printed in bright orange. Automatic is printed in white at 6 o'clock with "600FT/180M" below it printed in dark orange. Around the very outside of the dial is the inner rotating GMT 24 hour bezel. Each even hour from 2 to 22 gets an Arabic numeral with every odd hour being done as a dot. The zero marker at 0/24 is represented by a large triangle. Every bezel marker is set with matching lume to the other dial markers as well. Finally the background of the day time hours is done in dark blue, while the night time hours get a black background.

Looking at the case of the Spinnaker Bradner GMT, you can see that the majority of the case is brushed in finish. This is fitting to a true tool dive watch. The only polished areas on the case of the Bradner GMT can be seen on the crowns. The profile view of the watch shows how sharply the lugs point down, which means even with a 50 mm lug to lug dimension that the watch can fit a wide variety of wrist sizes. You can also see from the profile that the Bradner GMT has a rather slim midcase that flows into the lugs.



The right hand side of the case features two crowns, one at 2 o'clock and one at 4. Both crowns are scalloped nicely and offer great grip. The top crown has no decoration, while the bottom crown has an engraving of the Spinnaker logo. Turning the top crown left or right moves the inner GMT ring back and forth. The bezel rotates smoothly and doesn't need to be hard set to each hour. The bottom crown screws down and aids in the 200 meters of water resistance. Unscrewing the crown allows you to manually wind the automatic movement in the resting position. Pulling the crown out to position one lets you set the date as well as move the GMT hand. Turning the crown towards you advances the date, while turning it away from you moves the GMT hand ahead by an hour. Pulling crown out to the final position (position two) stops the seconds hand and allows you to set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand and getting the crown to catch to screw back in takes no extra care. The Bradner GMT is a caller GMT, meaning the second crown controls the 24 hour indicator, but the local twelve hour hand is tied to the minute hand, making local time setting a bit slower than a flyer GMT.

The Spinnaker Bradner GMT uses the most standard lug width of 20 mm, meaning the watch can accept an endless number of aftermarket straps. In the box, the Bradner GMT is supplied with both a stainless steel bracelet and a rubber strap. The stainless steel bracelet uses a seven row beads of rice style construction. The larger outer two rows are brushed in finish and the inner five rows are polished beads of rice style. The bracelet tapers down from 20 mm at the lugs to 18 mm at the brushed clasp featuring Spinnaker branding. The clasp features a flip locking device that once opened then requires both pushers to be activated to open the clasp. The clasp doesn't feature any micro-adjustments, but does have three sizing holes to dial in the fit using a spring bar tool.



The secondary strap is an orange tropic rubber strap. Both this style of strap and the beads of rice bracelet are period correct for a vintage inspired diver. The Orange strap is extremely bright and matches some of the lighter colored orange elements on the dial. The tropic rubber strap is also very supple and required zero break in time to be comfortable. The strap tapers down from 20 mm at the lugs to 18 mm at the branded pin buckle that is also brushed in finish. Finishing off the rubber strap are two dark blue keepers that match the color found on the GMT ring.

Flipping over the Bradner GMT shows off the screw down display caseback. All the important information about the watch is engraved around the bezel of the case back. Looking through the caseback you can see a custom black rotor complete with the Spinnaker logo. Powering the Bradner GMT is the Seiko NH34 automatic movement. The movement beats away at 21,600 vph (3Hz) and has a power reserve of around 41 hours. On our timegrapher the Spinnaker Bradner GMT showed an accuracy of +9 seconds a day when averaged out over several positions, which is very accurate and should keep good time over an extended run period.



On The Wrist

Even being made out of stainless steel, the Bradner GMT doesn't show too much of a weight penalty for being crafted out of a dense material. At 99 grams and having a lug to lug of 50 mm, the Bradner GMT wears like a dream. Typically I like my personal watches to be at or over 50 mm in lug to lug length and under 100 grams in weight. The Bradner meets both of those requirements. On the wrist, the Bradner pretty much disappears and is only there when you want to check the time or look at the watch.

For the most part I only wore the Bradner GMT on the orange tropic rubber strap. Having grown up in Texas, my hatred for bracelets came quick when they would be too tight in the 100 degree weather outside and then be sliding on my wrist in the cool indoors. This has stuck with me to this day and if there is a strap option for a watch, I'll take it. The rubber strap was extremely supple and flexible, dealing with the current hot weather in Austin perfectly. The strap also did an excellent job keeping the watch centered on my wrist.



The Bradner GMT also went with my usual dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers perfectly. Spinnaker offers the watch in a huge variety of colors, so finding one that matches your personal style shouldn't be much of an issue. On the orange rubber strap, the Bradner GMT is a very casual watch, which suited me well. On the stainless steel bracelet, the watch could pass in more formal settings as well.

To test the legibility of a watch, I use a simple test where I see how easy it is to tell the time while driving at just a glance. In this test dive watches do the best with their high contrast dials and large markers, while complicated and skeleton watches do the worst since they favor design over legibility. It was really no surprise to me that the Bradner GMT aced this test. The stark white hands and markers contrast perfectly with the deep black dial. The only thing that could improve legibility would be the use of Arabic numerals for the hour markers, but that might have ruined the design. Also with the ample use of luminous material on the dial, low light time telling was a breeze.



When I wore the Bradner GMT out and about running boring everyday errands and to dinner and drinks, the watch received a decent amount of attention. I think this is mainly due to the fact that the watch was on a bright orange rubber strap. I feel if you put the Bradner GMT on a black strap or the stainless steel bracelet it wouldn't get noticed as much. Everyone I showed the watch to only had nice things to say and they all were blown away by its price.

Value and Position in the Market

Speaking of price, the Spinnaker Bradner GMT Automatic retails for $490. For that price you're getting a more than capable sports watch with a full 180 meters of water resistance. The Bradner GMT also has the ultra useful GMT function, which for travelers is essential. Powering the watch is the very reliable and easy to service Seiko NH34 automatic movement. Finally the watch comes with both a stainless steel bracelet and tropic rubber strap. Now is the time in the review where we take a look at other watches with similar specifications and features to see how good of a value the Bradner GMT is.



First up we have the Aquascaphe GMT from Baltic which has 39 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Aquascaphe has the classic dive watch look and also features a standard 24 hour bezel. The Aquascaphe has half of the water resistance of the Bradner GMT at 100 meters. The Aquascaphe is powered by a Swiss made SOPROD automatic movement with similar power reserve. The Aquascaphe is much more expensive than the Bradner GMT at $1,110.

Moving on is the Hyperion II from Lorier which has a 39 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Hyperion has a similar vintage sports watch look to it like the Aqauscaphe and also features a 24 hour bezel. The Hyperion also has half the water resistance of the Bradner GMT at 100 meters. The Hyperion is powered by a Japanese Miyota automatic movement with similar power reserve as the Bradner GMT as well. Like the Aquascaphe, the Hyperion is more expensive than the Bradner GMT at $699.



Next up is the Ocean Star Decompression Worldtimer from Mido which has a 40.5 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Ocean Star is much more complicated than the Bradner GMT since it not only has a 24 hour function, but it is also a worldtimer.Once again, the Ocean Star has the familiar look of a vintage dive watch. The Ocean Star has a matching 200 meters of water resistance to the Bradner GMT and is powered by a Swiss made ETA automatic movement with much more power reserve at 80 hours. All of this comes at a cost, with the Ocean Star being multiple times more expensive than the Bradner GMT at $1,490.

Finally we have the Seiko 5 Sports SKX GMT which has a 42.5 mm case made out of stainless steel. The Seiko has half of the water resistance of the Spinnaker at 100 meters and is powered by the same Seiko made automatic movement. The Seiko also has a slightly vintage look to it with the crown positioned at 4 o'clock. The Seiko is slightly more expensive than the Spinnaker at $495.



Looking at the four watches we compared to the Brander GMT, you can see just how great of a value it is. For the most part the Bradner GMT offers matching, if not better, specs than the other watches and comes in at a much lower price. One thing that becomes very obvious when comparing the Bradner GMT to the other watches is its 200 meters of water resistance, which in most cases in double what a sports GMT watch offers.

Closing Thoughts

So in the end, is the Spinnaker Bradner GMT Automatic for me? Yes for the most part it is. The watch has great wrist presence and is right in line with my personal likes of a 50 mm lug to lug length and under 100 grams of weight. The watch wears very well on my 7.25 inch wrist with zero lug overhang and a fair amount of wrist visible on each side of the case. The colors of the dial as well as the bright orange rubber strap give the Bradner GMT a playful look, which I appreciate as well. I also love the slightly vintage look of the watch and the inner rotating bezel is a nice touch for a GMT watch.



What I'm not a huge fan of comes down to my personal preferences and aren't a ding on the actual watch. First, I do not prefer watches made out of stainless steel. If the Bradner GMT was made out of titanium, carbon or ceramic, I'd be a much bigger fan of the watch. Truth be told, my main reason for liking those watches is the fact that they weigh much less than stainless steel. Since I like larger watches, this is important. Second, I'm just not a huge fan of the GMT complication. In all seriousness, I'm not a fan of the two most common complications in the chronograph and GMT. I just never find myself using either one of them. My grail watch of all time, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Montoya, features a chronograph and I have used it exactly zero times in the years that I have owned it. I do see the usefulness of both the chronograph and the GMT function, but like the chronograph, I never use the GMT function. I also have a very nice worldtimer watch, but it's a pain to set and I normally just leave it on Hawaiian time. I don’t travel much for work, which will more than likely change soon, so I really don't need to keep track of a second timezone. With Hourstriker, I do find myself checking my phone often to see the time in Hong Kong and Switzerland though, so maybe the GMT complication might become useful to me in the future.

Would I then recommend the Bradner GMT to somebody looking for a sporty GMT watch? I honestly would without hesitation. Based purely on price alone, the watch is extremely hard to beat. The fact that Spinnaker includes both a rubber strap and bracelet with the package is huge as well. For many people buying their first watch, they don't know that they can change straps and that millions of aftermarket straps are out there. Spinnaker is basically guiding newer watch collectors into the world of strap changes with releases like these. The Bradner GMT is also offered in over ten different color combinations, making finding one that works with your style a non-issue. Finally the 200 meters offered by the watch also allows you to wear the Bradner GMT in all situations and never be worried about it getting damaged. One potential issue with the Bradner GMT, and any GMT watch for that matter, is that you need to choose what type of GMT complication you want in either a caller or flyer GMT. Both have their positives and negatives and it will come down to how you will use the GMT function.



I'd really like to thank Spinnaker for sending us the Bradner GMT to review. Just like the other Spinnaker watches we've had in for review, the Bradner proves to be a solid offering at an unbeatable asking price. Like the dive watches of old, the model is meant to be worn without fear of damaging a five figure luxury diver. I'd say that we're looking forward to reviewing more pieces from Spinnaker in the near future, but the truth is that we already have the next one in the safe ready to be review. It's a bit of a special one as well, so please stay tuned.

For more information about the Bradner GMT Automatic please visit : Spinnaker

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: SP-5121-66

Retail Price: $490

Case Size: 42 mm

Lug to Lug: 50 mm

Thickness: 15.1 mm

Weight: 99 grams (On Rubber Strap)

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Bezel: Bi-Directional Inner Rotating 24 Hour Ring

Strap: Stainless Steel Beads of Rice Bracelet and Orange Tropic Rubber Strap

Movement: Japanese Made Seiko NH34 Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Date, Seconds and GMT

Power Reserve: 41 Hours

Water Resistance: 200 Meters