Fratello’s Top 5 GMT Watches Of 2025 — Featuring Nomos, Tudor, Rolex, And More

Another Friday, another list! This week, we continue the series of our favorite watches of 2025. This week, we’re focusing on our favorite GMT watches released in the past 12 months. After last week’s list of dive watches, GMT watches are an easy second category. Just like last week, we picked our five favorites from a wide selection of possible candidates. Let’s find out what they are.

Before we get into our list, though, allow me to give a quick word on the overall number of options. As with dive watches, there were some great GMT watches that came out this year. All in all, though, there weren’t so many options that picking our favorites was a daunting task. It makes us rethink the idea that divers and GMTs are two categories that watch brands focus on too heavily. It’s all relative, of course, but we can certainly conclude that other categories have gotten more attention this year. Now, with that out of the way, let’s get into our five favorite GMT watches of 2025.

Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer

Our first pick was one of the biggest hits during this year’s Watches and Wonders. And Nomos backed up the release of its new Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer with a series of brilliant follow-ups. This made the brand’s new traveler’s watch one of our favorite releases of the year. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the brilliance of this new series.

Nomos presented the Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer during Watches and Wonders in a lineup of two regular models and six limited editions. The standard versions came with sunburst dials in silver and blue, while the six limited editions featured a series of colorful dials, showcasing that Nomos is one of the leading brands in terms of color usage. And as you might know, the base color of these dials only tells part of the story. The true magic lies in the combination of colors used for the dial and the GMT display at 3 o’clock. That’s where the new Club Sport Neomatic Worldtimer series truly shines.

Limitless design options

Later in the year, the inaugural models were followed by the limited-edition Night Navigation series. These three variants presented a new aesthetic with black sunburst dials featuring green, blue, or orange accents. However, the clever use of color for the sub-dial at 3 o’clock demonstrated a keen eye for color usage.

Lastly, we saw a new 30-piece limited edition for Mansour Jewellers presented during Dubai Watch Week. It comes with a stunning purple dial with a white city ring that displays “Abu Dhabi” in Arabic at UTC+4 in red. The purple dial is paired with a toned-down gray sub-dial featuring a teal and red frame at 3 o’clock. All these versions perfectly illustrate the extensive range of options that the design offers.

Each dial sits inside a 40mm stainless steel case with a 9.9mm thickness and a 48mm lug-to-lug length. It makes the watches very wearable for a wide variety of wrist sizes. Inside the Club Sport Neomatik Worltimer, Nomos uses its in-house DUW 3202 caliber. This automatic movement operates at 21,600 vibrations per hour, has 37 jewels, and offers a 42-hour power reserve. The caliber was fully designed, developed, manufactured, and assembled at the brand’s manufacturing plant in Glashütte, Germany.

As I mentioned in several articles, the power of the series is not just in the aesthetic. Importantly, the GMT function also enables you to read the time in a second time zone easily, and clicking the pusher at 2 o’clock to adjust the 12-hour hand is hugely addictive. That alone is a reason to acquire one of these standout GMTs. For me, at least, the Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer was the most exciting GMT of the year.

Dennison ALD Dual Time

Another great and fun option that came out this year was the Dennison ALD Dual Time. This new line further builds on the success of last year’s inaugural ALD series. The Dual Time debuted with two dial designs courtesy of Emmanuel Gueit, the designer of the famous Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore. Additionally, the two layouts feature natural stones to elevate the fun factor of these watches to the max.

The design concept behind the series is simple. The new ALD Dual Time models display the time in two time zones with two sets of hands on one dial made of stone. The first configuration has a split-screen style with two contrasting stones. The second has a single natural stone and a sunburst sub-dial for one set of hands. We prefer the simpler layout using one color, but if you like a fun, extravagant watch, the contrasting-stone dials are the go-to options.

A fun, affordable option that is very wearable

The watches feature a redesigned 37 × 35.6mm case with a 6.1mm profile. Despite Gueit having to make the cases wider than the first ALD models, they are still very wearable, as we found out. Dennison offers the case in regular 316L stainless steel or with a PVD gold-tone finish. When it comes to dial options for our favorite layout, the brand offers aventurine, tiger eye, malachite, or lapis lazuli dials with a color-matched circular sunburst display.

Inside the case, two Ronda quartz movements power the watch, as Mike explained. All versions come fitted with an Epsom calfskin strap with a case-matching pin buckle. The colors of these straps all match the dial colors for a consistent look.

As you will understand, though, it will be a lot of fun to find other strap options to mix things up regularly. For just under €765, the Dennison ALD Dual Time is a great second pick for this list. Not long after the introduction of the series, the brand unveiled the Dual Time Capsule Collection II, which displayed the great creative potential of the latest addition to the Dennison lineup.

Tudor Black Bay Pro Opaline

The next pick is the Tudor Black Bay Pro Opaline. When it was first announced, it felt like an obvious extension of the Black Bay Pro line. Furthermore, we could argue that the lack of updates in the case design was a missed opportunity. But ask any of the Fratello writers, and they will tell you that this version with a white opaline dial is a surprisingly fresh take on the Black Bay Pro. The Tudor creative team did a good job making this “Polar” version of its popular GMT not an obvious translation of the existing black-dial model.

The biggest win for this white-dial version is that it feels less like a Rolex and more like a Tudor. The brand’s designers created a white opaline dial with white luminous indexes with black edges. As I said in my review, the lume color is not as white as the dial, but it creates a crisp overall look that we love. Additionally, the dark yellow GMT hand is a bit more classic than the more obvious signal-orange hand in the Rolex Explorer II. It simply makes this Black Bay Pro look rather refined and classy compared to its modern counterpart from The Crown.

Is this new Black Bay Pro still too thick?

What has remained is the 39mm × 14.6mm case with its slab-like flanks. It seems like a missed opportunity, as Tudor has shown that a thinner 39mm GMT is possible with the Black Bay 58 GMT. But I want to go on record once more and state that I wore the black-dial version of the Black Bay Pro the majority of 2024 and truly fell in love with it. The chunky case can be too much for some, but I honestly started appreciating it as a sign of a robust everyday wearer. Add that I am chasing an equally chunky Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 16600, and you will understand that proportions were more of a visual hangup than a practical deterrent for me.

Inside the case, Tudor uses its in-house MT5652 caliber. This movement, a COSC-certified chronometer with a silicon balance spring and a 70-hour power reserve, also powers the black-dial model. It is a great option for the current Black Bay Pro. But for the next step, we would love to see the brand move to the METAS-certified MT5450-U. In the meantime, this new opaline-dial version will win over many who prefer a lighter dial over a black one. Add that the Tudor designers did a great job creating this new dial, and this Black Bay Pro deserves the third spot on the list of our favorite GMTs of 2025.

Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Extreme GMT

In all fairness, we haven’t had the Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Extreme GMTs in for a hands-on review yet. But if they are even half as impressive as we think they are, they still deserve a spot on this list. The Extreme GMT version of the brand C63 Sealander looks more than capable for any adventures you can throw at it. The watch features a 41 × 48mm stainless steel case with a brushed finish. It dons a black ceramic bezel with a luminous GMT scale on top, giving the watch an 11.65mm profile, including the sapphire crystal.

You can choose from two dials. The first comes in a light military green, and the second is matte black. Both feature large Globolight hour indexes that light up brightly in the dark. The cream-colored markers on the bezel and dial perfectly match the luminous hands, creating a rugged and cool adventure-style aesthetic.

The perfect affordable GMT pick for 2025

Inside the case, Christopher Ward utilizes the Sellita SW330-2, which operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers a 56-hour power reserve. Despite being a caller-style GMT caliber, it is a great and reliable powertrain for this new GMT. Finishing the look is an orange Cordura strap that matches the orange GMT hand nicely. However, a black Cordura strap is also an option. Also, if you prefer a bracelet, the brand offers both models on its Oyster-style Bader bracelet that complements the case’s finish nicely.

Once again, Christopher Ward impresses with a new release. Right after the debut of the C63 Sealander Extreme GMT, the brand unveiled the new C1 Jump Hour Mk V and the C1 Bel Canto Lumière, which immediately stood out. But this new duo of GMTs thoroughly impressed us just through the images and press materials. Each version is available for €1,695 on a strap and €1,895 on a bracelet.

Rolex GMT-Master II “Tiger Iron” ref. 126715CHNR-0002

Our last pick is the new “Tiger Iron” version of the Everose gold Rolex GMT-Master II. Technically, this is simply an exotic dial variation of the current GMT-Master II, but its dial is rather spectacular. Sure, upping the extravagance won’t be for everyone, but we adore this new dial because it matches the colors of the watch perfectly. This new GMT-Master II features a stone dial crafted from a blend of tiger eye, red jasper, and hematite stones. As a result of this mix of stones and their various patterns, every single dial looks unique.

We have seen dials that look predominantly gray, as well as ones with a vibrant mix of gray, yellow, and red. I am a big fan of the latter because it will draw you in time and again. You can also get this dial variation for the yellow gold GMT-Master II, but the colors suit the Everose gold model better.

An extravagant last pick for this list

Just like any current-production GMT-Master II, this new model has a 40mm case with a 12mm thickness and a 48mm lug-to-lug. Inside the Everose gold bezel frame lies a black and brown Cerachrom insert that matches the dial colors nicely. Under the dial ticks the in-house caliber 3285, which runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and provides a 70-hour power reserve. The case is matched with an Everose gold Oyster bracelet to finish the glitzy look.

At €51,250, the Rolex GMT-Master II “Tiger Iron” ref. 126715CHNR-0002 is by far the most expensive pick on the list. However, after considering four more affordable options, this extravagant last one also serves as a great reminder of the special stone dials that Rolex uses for its watches.

Final thoughts on our five favorite GMT watches of 2025

There you have it — the list of our five favorite GMTs of 2025. As you can see, some are new versions of existing models. Does that make it a bad year for GMTs? We usually see far more exciting ones, so there might be some truth to that. But what do you think about this year’s GMT watches? Let us know in the comments section what some of your favorites are. We will see you next week for our third year-end list.