Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre Unique Travel Time Review

Amanico provides an in-depth, real-world review of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre Unique Travel Time (UTT) after wearing it for ten days during a US road trip. This comprehensive report, enriched by the author's extensive experience with travel watches, offers valuable insights into the UTT's functionality and wearability in diverse environments, moving beyond initial impressions to a truly lived experience.

The Duometre UTT was on my wrist for 10 full days, as JLC gave it to me for my US Trip.

Here, you will find all the links about this 5 days road trip, which drove me between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

1/ The Travel Plans:



jlc.watchprosite.com The arrival at Los Angeles:



jlc.watchprosite.com A day at the sea:



jlc.watchprosite.com Las Vegas:



jlc.watchprosite.com On the road from Las Vegas to Costa Mesa:



jlc.watchprosite.com Laguna Beach:



jlc.watchprosite.com Beverly Hills:



jlc.watchprosite.com

10 days, this is enough to fully appreciate a watch, especially when you lived so many and totally different situations, from the luxury places, restaurant, boutiques, hotels, to the trip in itself, with grandiose but sometimes rough landscapes, without forgetting the long travel by plane, where you loose any notion of time, as you are travelling through various time zones.

One thing which explains why I didn't write this report before:

It is evident that you are able to describe your feelings on a watch while you have it, it is indeed mandatory to try it, to test it- I was on to write to TASTE it- it is also very important to let some time pass to measure the impact the watch had on you, the weight of its absence, once you gave it back to its legitim owner, the manufacture.

Now, I can let my heart speak...

First of all, I have to confess a huge weakness for Travel Watches, and I have several in my collection.

Rolex GMT 6542 and 1675:



Rolex Explorer II 16550 ( Left ) and 16570 ( Right ) :



More sophisitcated, the Ulysse Nardin Sonata, whose first purpose is the alarm, but not only, as you can get a second time zone by using the pushers forward and backward, naturally:



And a Patek Philippe, a watch for dreams, a dream of a watch, which is the unique World Time watch I have:



Needless to say that I know each of these watches very well, owning them for several years, and having travelled with them very often.

The Rolex is the base of the GMT, the first one, historically, and the simpler: You can read your second time zone by turning the bezel ( 6542 and 1675 ) or by using the crown ( 16550 / 16570 ) or both of these solutions ( crown and bezel ) with since the GMT 16710, which offers you the possibility to read three different time zones.

The Ulysse Nardin is a real travel watch, as yo can set the second time zone by the pushers, which is, of course, more sophisticated than the Rolex GMTs.

The Patek is totally different thing, since you can read, instantly, the hours of the 24 cities of the world, without having to do anything. The only small inconvenient is when you want to change your home time to your destination time, when you travel.

Indeed, the pusher of the Patek World Time will " drive " you forward and forward only, which is ok if you travel to eastern places ( GMT + ), but fastidious if you travel west ( GMT - ). In this last case, you will have to use the pusher more, till you find the time of the correct city.

I will write an in depht comparison article about the Duometre Unique travel Time and the Patek World Time, don't worry about that.

The interesting thing, during this trip, was to discover what the Duometre could bring to me, based on my experience on other travel watches.

There are two sides to focus on: The watch in itself, and its utility.

1/ The watch in itself:

It is not a mystery that I love the Duometre family, which is, to me, the most interesting horological offer from the Grande Maison.

But, as for the Duometre UTT, I wanted to have a definitve opinion.

Indeed, I was not very enthusiast when I saw the first press picture, and I was eager to see the watch in the real to have an opinion on it.

In the real, this was a different story. I started to like it, to understand it.

During the quick trip I had at Le Sentier, in December, I spent the whole day with it on my wrist, and then, the watch grew on me.



The definitive answer, or better said, the confirmation, came with the trip in the US.

First of all, this is a very comfortable watch, which I wasn't used to, with my ex Duometre à Chronogrpahe, BECAUYSE of its folding buckle, which systematically pinched my wrist when I wanted to close it, and which didn't perfectly center the watch, once worn.

The comfort on the wrist is essential, when a watch has some weight, whch is the case of the Duometre, exclusively made of precious metal ( gold or platinum / white gold only, for the UTT, even if we can expect colored gold in the future, but no other white precious metal. ).

The pin buckle is much more comforable, no doubt about that, at least on my wrist. And I have to say that recently, JLC designed this important part of the watch in a nice way, with an applied and stylized logo.



The strap is, for once, satisfactory, as on any Duometre, by the way.

Made in Navy Blue Crocodile, it oozes Quality, and contributes to the comfort of the watch, but as every good leather strap, it will need a few hours to get more suppleness. Which I could verify, after a one week loan.



The presence on the wrist is very convincing.

The case is big, and quite thick ( 42, 5 mm / 13, 65 mm ), but the lugs don't go over the wrist on a normally sized wrist such as mine ( 17 cm ), and it is refined, very elegant.

The dial was the part which made me doubt, to say all...

Why? Because I am a big fan of World Time Watches, and of the Duometre.

At the beginning, I didn't know what it was... Was it a Travel Time with, secondarily, a World Time, or is this a Dual Time, final point?

Then, the ( partial ) map of the world has a lot of visual impact on the dial, it is a bit desorienting, at first glance and even a bit longer, for a Duometre Fan.

Can we live with that?

We use to answer " Time will tell ", and time told me.

Let me first answer to the second question, about the presence of the map of the world on the dial.

The Duometre UTT, as any other Duometre, shares an aesthetical signature: One subdial for the time, another for the complication ( or the sophistication ).

Most of the time, the finish of the dial , when it comes in white metal cases, is silver grained.

I am very happy with the silver grained dial, and to see the Duometre signature on the UTT, but would it not be a bit boring to not distinguish the UTT from the other members of this family?

This is the purpose of this map of the world, located at 6 o' clock, better it is the soul of the watch.

When, on a world time- which, once again, is not the case of the UTT- the 24 cities of the world make you dream of trips, journeys... , here, on the UTT, the map of the world achieves this goal.

And yes, you spend a lot of time admiring this slightly domed " Earth ", which is made of brass and of blue varnish.



A travel watch... Travelling by plane, with class.

The light here was magical, and gives you a pretty good idea of the charm of this dial:



As an elegant watch, it works very well, naturally, in a formal context. But trips are not always business trips, hopefully, and the UTT can be THE watch of casual moments, as you could see in my previous saga series, or here, back in the Grey Paris:



Ok, this is a nice watch, pleasant to wear, but now comes the second side of this report.

2/ The utility of the Duometre UTT.

You will tell me that it is needless to have a travel watch for one week to see if it is an useful tool drunig your trip.

AND you will be right.

BUT the Duometre UTT is not a travel watch like the others.

The common point between the UTT and any other Travel Watch is that they share two different time zones, by definition, as said in the introduction.

But the UTT does it in a complete, flawless and very sophisticated way.

The globe at 6 o' clock won't help you too much, here, to know what time it is the place you travel to, or in the place you live.

- Complete:

You have the indication of the time zone you are ( 12 + / 12 - ) on a ring which surrounds, the globe, the night and day indicator, and a subdial dedicated to the time zone ( hours AND minutes ), plus a reminder of the different time zones of the world, on the case back.

- Flawless:

The use of the pushers is not a painful exercize. when you want to set your time zone. Which is a pretty good point.

Sophisticated:

Sophisticated because of its completeness, first:

There are not many Travel Times which offer you the possiblity to read the time zone at the minute.

Therefore, I also love a lot the idea of being able to use the 2d time zone as your OWN time.

I mean that, if you are always late, you can set it a bit forward, 10 or 20 minutes, or more, if you are a lost case in terms of ponctuality.



It will also allow you to travel in countries where the time zone is not only different in hours, but also in minutes.

Sophiticated also because of the solutions chosen by Jaeger-Lecoultre for the UTT:

The most visible is the hour, which is digital AND jumping, for the time zone subdial.

Invisible is the fact that the minute hand of the time zone can be set with INCREMENTS, each minute, which gives you a lot of pleasure, and a very qualitative feeling.

And, last but not least, have a look at the Cal 383... You will be definitely convinced that it is one the finest, if not THE finest UTC movement:

Oooh yes, I can say I also spent a lot of time looking at / admiring the movement. I am a Duometre addict, in need of my horological fix, if I may say so.

CONCLUSION:

An on the wrist review wouldn't be good without some distance.

Indeed, judging a watch when it is with you is one thing, feeling its absence is another interesting point of view, as it is when the watch is not there with you anymore that you have some answers.

The empty space is big, here, since I gave it back.

I miss its presence on the wrist, its concept, its utility, this delicious horological shyzophrenia which makes you read two times at the same time, its touch of poetry with the map of the world, ans, of course, its movement.

It will not only be a souvenir, as this post card suggests it:



It will go directly in my wish list, with one question which remains unanswered: Which Duometre will I get first, the UTT or the Chronographe?

Hmmmm.... Both?



I just can't wait to live that moment, again...



Best, and thanks for reading.

Nicolas