The new GMT-capable Auguste Reymond Cotton Club Worldtime has its day/night indicator painted in the shape of a blue moon crest. Like the Japanese Katana sword, it is mesmerizingly beautiful in its laconic simplicity.
The Auguste Reymond Cotton Club Worldtime is powered by the standard ETA 2893-2 automatic caliber, which is actually a good old ETA 2892 base movement with an added GMT module.
If you still worry about the quality of the movement, consider this: the same engine used in much more expensive Linde Werdelin 3-Timer GMT and (in its Top grade) in the Breitling Colt GMT + diver. That says something, doesn’t it?
Designed to be worn with formal attire, the Cotton Club Worldtime is presented in a compact stainless steel case.
Only 38.5 mm in diameter, it can be considered small by today’s megalomaniacal standards, but that is the size many people still actually expect from a dressy, no fuss, classic-styled watch.
The choice of the movement that comes without any modifications, but is decorated with the well-known Cotes de Geneve motif and traditional blued screws, dictates the dial layout.
As you can see from the photo, the gadget comes equipped with two hour-hands.
Although there exists a set of more elegant (and much more expensive) solutions to the problem of displaying time in two (or more) different time zones, the one with a pair of the hour hands still looks the most widely used by the established brands.
The first hand, the sword-shaped one, displays time in the main time zone in a usual 12-hour format.
The secondary hour hand, thin and arrow-shaped, runs around a 24-hour chapter ring telling the time in a military format. The night time is indicated with a blue moon crest painted over a silvered background: a nice, simple, and elegant design.
It also must be noted that the main hour and minute hands, as well as the indexes on the minute track, are filled with a generous amount of some luminous substance, so there will be no problem with night-time legibility.
As far as I understood, the watch will be offered at a price below €1000.
However, it doesn’t look like an average “affordable” timepiece where you can see with your bare eyes all those little details were the brand owner and the contract manufacturer saved a penny or two.
In fact, it looks sober and refined with its mirror-polished bezel, applied and polished Arabic numerals and an inevitable (at least for the Auguste Reymond Cotton Club series) blue cabochon adorning the oversized onion-shaped setting crown.
The only thing that somewhat spoils the great impression is the crocodile-patterned blue leather strap. With its rough contrast stitching, it just screams cost-cutting.
Well, you can always exchange the stock strap for a more expensive third-party job.
See also: Louis Moinet Geograph Limited Edition
Photos: Auguste Reymond
Auguste Reymond Cotton Club Worldtime specification
Movement: Automatic, Caliber ETA 2893-2, 21 jewels, 28,800 vph, Swiss Made
Movement decoration: Cotes de Geneve stripes, blued screws
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, second time-zone (GMT)
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case: Stainless steel, polished
Shape: Round
Size: 38.50 mm
Dial: Blue lacquered and silver-toned
Numerals: Arabic, applied
Hands: Sword-shaped
Water resistance: 50 meters
Strap: Crocodile-patterned blue leather strap with steel buckle
Crystal: Sapphire
Back: Transparent