Best travel wrist watch
 

Is there a good digital atomic watch that will last longer without frequent battery change-particularly for multiple time zones? I have vision problem and large digital watches with light make it easy.
The ones that I have looked at have cheap plastic bands that get cut or broken with frequent use.

You can get versions of the Casio Pathfinder series with metal bracelets instead of the standard plastic strap. Mine just has the plastic strap, but it's got daily atomic updates, world time zones, is solar powered and never needs to have batteries replaced, has HUGE battery reserves, has a nice electro-luminescent backlight (similar to Timex Indiglo), altimeter, 5 different alarms, various timers, and much more.

Certainly not a dress watch, but infinitely practical and reliable.

(Edited to add this link)
http://pathfinder.casio.com

I second the Pathfinder vote. I bought the 1300 model in titanium for my mother who wanted an easy to read, no maintenance watch she could wear for swimming. Very light, weight and fulfills all your requirements.

There are also analog watches with really big hands and the features you want which look more dressy like on this interesting site
http://www.seiyajapan.com/c=i24TUm0E...d_Germany.html

Besides that you can get very sturdy nylon webbing straps in a range of colors to fit on most G-Shock watches. I am sure a leather strap is possible, too.

Otherwise, Junghans, one of the first to combine the solar and the radio technologies in a single wristwatch has nice ceramic and titanium models, too.

Let us know if you find something.

I have one of the Casios and it is great. It is solar powered and I have had it a couple years and it is still going. I have the plastic band and it doesnt look dressy but it is very tough, it seems very unlikely to get damaged or broken.

What about an analog atomic watch with two dials/two time zones? Would prefer an Omega but will settle for a Casio or a Futaba if that's all that is available.

Wondering if this is possible (or if I had a dream :D) to have an analog metal watch, with a dial that turns according to what timezone you are in... say you go from SEA to NYC... turn it to the right 3 clicks... will have 12 'clicks' and takes (requires) a full click to rotate... (could pose a problem for those timezones that are half of one :p)

Is there such a product?

There are plenty of watches with excellent travel functionality from $80 to $xxx (indecently expensive).

The Casio G-Shock multiband with Atomic Solar fall into the cheap category. This with its automatic EL backlighting and a simple strap change would be the cheapest solution for the OP.

Then there are the Casio Pathfinder. The 1300 series model in Titanium is great and can be had for around $225. Got it for my mom. No strap change needed here as the bracelet is actually nice. Looks slightly more dressed but is not a design icon like the 5600 model mentioned above. The numbers are even bigger here. If you cannot read those I recommend a talking watch. ;)

My father in law got the M16 watch with GMT bezel that has 24 hour time zone indication. You turn the bezel and this way you can actually check two zones at once. See here http://westcoastime.stores.yahoo.net/m16typidivbe.html
The pictured watch does not have the 24 hour bezel but it is an option. This is the same movement Omega and Tag and Breitling use in tons of their watches. WCT also sell great straps.

Then there are various Seiko Brightz (sic) models between 500-1000. They have the metal lunette (outer ring/bezel) engraved with city names.

After that around $1000 there are some beautiful Citizen combined analog digital models.

Also combined analog and digital are some nice Breitling Aerospace and Chronospace models. You can find the same movement in Rado and Tag, by the way. Around $2k.

Finally around $ 6k there is the famous Rolex GMT Master II. There is actually a new model out but the older one is still available and I like it even better. Same goes for the Explorer II which has the same movement and second (2nd) hour hand that runs on a 24h cycle but cannot turn the bezel.

Above that there are absolutely gorgeous watches by JLC Geographic here
http://www.jomashop.com/jaeger-le-co...c-1718470.html

and by Girard Perregaux with its beautiful Worldtimer here
http://www.jomashop.com/girard-perre...-651-fk6a.html

The Swiss ones are all mechanic whereas the Japanese models are all high-tech.

In the Japanese Range you should find something at www.seiyajapan.com. Some of the mechanic watches have excellent readability especially the M16 with its gas vial light indices and high contrast face. The Rolexes are very easy to read, too.

Personally, I mostly use a Citizen and Breitling for traveling or my cheapo Casio if I go somewhere dangerous. If I didn't already have a nice assortment of watches I'd gladly go for the three Swiss ones I named.

Another vote for Casio Pathfinder. The manual is good reading on a mileage run.

Casio G-Shock GW-500A
Solar Charged so you'll never need to replace battery (it also goes into sleep mode automatically for conservation)
Atomic synchronization (Boulder, CO)
Home & Away time zone
This model is also made in Japan (vs Thailand)

built SOLID. this is my camping/hiking watch and it is a tank.

I have an Omega Seamaster GMT and love it:

http://www.omegawatches.com/index.php?id=288

Any analog time-zone watches other than the generic silver/gold color? I can't seem to find anything that has a more stylish look like red/black.

Personally, my favorite world time watch is the Tisot T-Touch Navigator 3000. I don't own one (yet), but it's on my permanent xmas list.

Puh-lenty. Not sure of your budget, but offerings from JLC, Panerai, and Ulysse Nardin are certainly more stylish.

Clarification: In your use of analog, I'm assuming mechanical and not quartz.

I have one of those. Noticed them at my local Costco a couple of years ago, and grabbed one for myself. Indeed a good option for a travel watch. Doesn't meet the "atomic" criteria the the OP mentioned, so I didn't mention it earlier.

It's what I usually wear for work trips to Europe. Nice enough looking to wear for business stuff, casual enough to not be overkill outside the office setting, and not nearly expensive to lose (or have stolen) as my Speedmaster Pro.

Got an update on cheap and good travel watches.

http://www.princetonwatches.com/shop/GW6900-1.asp

This is the cheapest that I found that has 6 bands of reception for the atomic clock signal. Two in Japan and one each in UK, USA, Germany, China. Sorry for the Aussies! ;)

It also has a daily alarm plus 4 reminder alarms.

Most importantly it is the G-shock (and probably the watch) with the most time zones and cities. It has 31 (!) time zones and 48 cities PLUS UTC. This means that even half hour zones are included and that you get a good choice of cities.

I haven't read the manual for this one but there are Casios where you can actually suppress those cities that you don't want to show when you circle through the worldtime mode.

Obviously, the look is not very elegant but most men in most environments wouldn't get reprimanding glances for wearing it in a business environment.

Or you could take the bracelet off and use it as a pocket watch.

Till