Think about all the big birthday celebrations you’ve been to. Chances are, they all have one thing in common — they commemorate numbers that end in a zero. For whatever reason, we favour round numbers more, quite possibly because we use a decimal system of counting. Numbers that end with a zero have that sense of completion about them, and we gravitate towards them as a result. We throw extravagant parties for our 20th and 30th birthdays, usually remembering very little of them the next day.
As we progress through the decades, powering through 70th or even 80th birthdays, we still remember very little of them the day after, but perhaps for different reasons. Perhaps we should try and break this pattern of amnesiac decadal birthdays and aim for something that’s truly memorable, for once. How does an extra-special 24th birthday celebration sound to you?
The accepted explanation of why we use the decimal system of numbers is that humans first used their fingers as a convenient base to count — a universally accepted standard across various early civilisations. In contrast, however, we tend to think of units of time in duodecimal form, using 12 instead of 10 as the base. There are 12 months in a year, two cycles of 12 hours in a day, and the most common celestial calendar system we use today consists of constellations divided into 12 signs of the zodiac. Proponents of the duodecimal counting system point to its versatility, being what is known as a superior highly composite number, divisible by several integers. I suppose we should think of 24, being twice 12, as being doubly superior?
In the same chronometric vein, it seems only logical that we should reckon the passing of years in cycles of 12 rather than cycles of 10, which means that — stay with me, I do have a point, and I’m getting there in just a few seconds! — we’re looking at a rather exceptional birthday for our sister magazine GMT.
Founded in 2000 by our publishing patriarch Brice Lechevalier (still wearing his editorial cap and personally running the magazine to this day), GMT is Switzerland’s longest-running consumer print quarterly dedicated to watchmaking, with numerous deep ties to the industry’s leaders and key personalities. As part of the 24th anniversary festivities that will be running throughout the year in the form of special events and activities, you may have seen a rather interesting watch that was launched just two weeks ago, a watch that’s completely on theme for the occasion.
The TAG Heuer x GMT Carrera Twin-Time Automatic special edition is a limited run of 24 watches (there’s that number again!) with a second time-zone indication, which is also known as a GMT function. A unique sand-coloured dial — exceptionally on trend for this year — features the GMT magazine logo at the 6 o’clock position. The 24-hour rehaut also substitutes the midnight marker for “24” instead of “0” as is most usually the case in similar models. Its steel case emphasises the everyday nature of this timepiece, acknowledging the position of GMT magazine as an accessible daily reference for many watch lovers.
Little sneak peek of what you can expect to see later this year — you’ve probably already guessed, as it’s part of GMT Publishing’s ongoing project conceived for horological bibliophiles. The next installment of the Millennium Watch Book series is now available for pre-order, and if you’ve followed our discussion this far, you won’t be surprised to hear that this year’s Book is all about GMT and world-time watches!
The expansion of GMT magazine into overseas markets, gaining local editions in Korea, India and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region makes it a truly international media brand, not forgetting the co-branded Tatler GMT, released together with our friends over at Tatler Asia in Hong Kong. Dedicating the 2024 Millennium Watch Book to timepieces that focus on time zones was a natural decision.
It's conventional on birthdays to get presents for the person being celebrated, so this is a welcome change in gift-giving dynamics. A new watch and a new book, expressly created for the GMT family and everyone who loves watchmaking… and that’s just the beginning. Here’s to a new way of counting milestone birthdays, here’s to a new way of buying birthday gifts and here’s to GMT!
