“I have wanted this watch for sometime and when it went on sale at a great price. The watch absolutely fantastic. The workmanship and quality of materials on this watch really really good. At the sale price Marc sold this makes this watch one of the highest value watches I own. The watch shipped shipped very quickly and was packaged very well. The screw pins on the bracelet made sizing a breeze. Great watch! Great price!”
“The Port Jefferson GMT is Islander Watch’s first “true traveler’s GMT function” offering and is based on the excellent Japanese “hi-beat” Miyota 9075 movement. It’s biggest advantage is its value proposition: It’s the least expensive true GMT watch out there at the moment and doesn’t sacrifice quality to get there.
With a sapphire crystal, deeply embossed, high quality case back, excellent 24-hour rotating bezel action, screw down crown (and 150M water resistance), a substantial “beads of rice” stainless steel bracelet and the Miyota 9075, 24-jewel, 28,800 bph, true GMT movement, it’s clearly intended as a watch the owner can rely on and wear anywhere, anytime.
The GMT version of the Port Jeff is a little bit thicker than the 3-hand + date version, which I also have and like very much. In other aspects it’s VERY similar. If you like one, you’ll probably like the other.
I’m a frequent traveler; “Office/Caller GMT” watches are useless to me because I can’t quickly and easily set the time and date as I pass through different time/date zones. They include only an independently set 24 hour hand that reflects a 2nd time zone. Setting the MAIN hour/minute hands still requires stopping the watch, which leads to the need to reset the seconds hand, too, if you like accuracy. And if you have to change the date in the evening or very early morning, it’s even more difficult to do because of the “8PM to 1 AM” “keep out” zone most date watches have for this function, to avoid damage. This is a major PITA when on a plane or in an airport going to or arriving in a new time/date zone. This watch is intended to report home time on the main hours/date indicators and a second time zone (that of the person you are calling from your office) on the 24-hour hand – hence “office/caller GMT”.
In contrast, the Port Jefferson GMT is a “true travelers GMT” where the MAIN hour hand can be “jumped” forward or back an hour at a time without disturbing the minutes, seconds or 24 hour hand or stopping the watch. The DATE follows the main hour hand and jumps forward OR backwards as the hour hand passes midnight – no worry about damage if setting the date between 8 PM and 1 AM as with many other date function watches. This is very forgiving of errors, easy to jump forward or back, depending on travel direction and just works great – at the cost of slightly more work to set the date initially by rotating the main hours hand through 24 hours for each date increment. But since you can do this forward or backwards and since you are jumping the hours hand and not the minute hand, this is a smaller issue than it seems and well worth the benefits. With this type of watch, the 24-hour hand is set to “home” time and the main hours hand (and date) are “jumped” in 1 hour increments to match the time/date zone travelled to – hence “traveler’s GMT”.
Where the Port Jefferson GMT has issues, they are relatively minor. For example, like the regular port Jefferson, the chapter ring under the sapphire crystal has no “cardinal” seconds/minute marks – rather it has teeny, tiny tic marks every ¼ second/minute and slightly larger ones every ½ second/minute. This can make setting the minute exactly, unless the hand is directly on one of the large, applied 5-second/minute markers, quite difficult. This somewhat silly styling feature is a common criticism of the Port Jeffs and probably should be fixed in future iterations, IMO. Still, it’s a minor nit and not a significant problem.
In terms of cost cutting, the “beads of rice” bracelet, while nice, still has relatively sharp edges rather than smoothly feathered corners. This can be an issue for those with significant wrist hair – like me. Also, this is not a “true” beads-of-rice bracelet where each “bead” in a link moves independently. Rather five beads are interleaved and rigidly fused together to make an single, rigid link, which allows changing links to be MUCH easier, but makes the bracelet less compliant and comfortable – which is one of the main attraction in classic (real) beads-of-rice bracelets. On the plus side, the links are held in with easily removed/inserted screw pins – and as usual, Marc supplies the appropriate jewelers screwdriver to do this with – so sizig it at home is a “breeze”. The bracelet was a trade between cost/convenience vs. comfort, and Marc made a good choice, IMO.
Unlike the regular, 3-hand Port Jefferson, the bezel is a lumed, aluminum insert rather than a lumed sapphire one – more cost cutting?. But it’s well done and I find it hard to criticize, especially since much, much more expensive Swiss true GMTs, like the Tudor 41 and 39mm GMTs, have non-lumed aluminum bezels that are not nearly as nice.
Initial action of the screw-down crown can be a little “gritty”. Not a big deal and will likely smooth out over time.
The internally AR coated “single domed” sapphire crystal appears nearly flat on top, presumably to control watch thickness. The VERY slight curve it does have contributes some artistic distortion only when viewed nearly side-on.
Accuracy-wise, my #ISL-248 in blue is running about +5 seconds/day right out of the box, averaged over four days of normal wear with most nights spent on a winder. This is great performance for a supposedly unregulated, non-COSC movement. I’ve found that Miyota Series 9000 movements are usually very stable and can often be regulated to even tighter tolerances, if desired.
Overall, the Islander Port Jefferson GMT is superb value and very good watch, with a few small concessions to style and cost. I can’t wait to travel with it!”
“I've purchased several Islanders and have never been disappointed, but this is one of the best. The colorway and design are beautiful and tasteful, it's very comfortable to wear, and it's been extremely accurate over the week or so that I've been wearing it. The price is slightly higher than many of the other Islanders, but well justified in terms of features and performance. This watch is highly recommended!”
“Very happy with the watch its self. Not a big fan of the beads of rice bracelet, and apparently there are no options available. Also, lugs are not thru drilled, making bracelet changes a little more difficult than I am used to.”
“Has quickly become one of my favorite watches, and I have around 15 or so. Beautiful finishing, running only a couple seconds fast, and no real flaws. When traveling, I can use it to track local time wherever I am, UTC for flying, and my home time using the bezel. Great package for the price! If you don’t have a GMT, this is a great start.”
