This Affordable Seiko-Powered Watch Has a Surprising High-End Feature

A complication made famous by Patek Philippe, now in a $700 watch.

Published August 1, 2024

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It is a fantastic time to be in the market for an affordable travel watch.

I know I’ve beaten this drum before, so apologies in advance if you’re tired of this spiel, but the debut of Seiko’s NH34 and Miyota’s 9075 GMT movements in 2022 opened up the floodgates for the affordable GMT market.

Budget-minded enthusiasts can now choose from an almost comical number of desirable GMTs under $1,000 on the market from the likes of Seiko, Jack Mason, Nodus and more, and there’s literally never been a better time to be shopping for a travel watch that won’t break the bank.

But GMTs aren’t the only type of travel watch out there. World timers also exist, and they represent an even more romantic way to display multiple time zones, with their displays showing 24 simultaneous time zones around the globe.

Patek Philippe world time watch — Patek Philippe made the original world time watch, and it still makes the most recognizable examples.

Compared to GMTs, world timers are almost exclusively found in very prestigious luxury watches. Patek Philippe is the brand most associated with the complication, to give you an idea.

But affordable world time watches do exist, running on modified GMT movements. With the new aforementioned affordable GMT calibers saturating the market, it was only a matter of time before we got a cheap world timer powered by a Seiko NH34 movement.

It’s not surprising that such a watch has arrived, but what is surprising is how damn good it looks.

Haim Watch Company Viajero

$700 at Haim Watch Company

$800 (13% off)

World Traveler

The new watch in question is the Viajero from Chicago-based microbrand Haim Watch Company. Haim has been around for a minute and has a fairly robust catalog of affordable and attractive watches, but the Viajero has to be its most impressive offering to date — and likely the one that will put the brand on the map (pun very much intended).

The Viajero is very traditional in its design, drawing clear inspiration from some Patek World Time references like the 5231G whose dials depict parts of the world in hand-painted Grand Feu cloisonné enamel.

three haim world time watches — The Haim Viajero is available in three colorways inspired by different modes of travel: Air, Land and Water.

The dial of the Viajero is obviously not produced through such a meticulous and painstaking process, but it still isn’t anything to sneeze at. Designed to resemble a watercolor painting, the printed dial showcases an image of the world. What’s more, the dial is executed in a type of 3D relief and offers up a heavily textured topographical map of the world, providing a surprising amount of depth.

Metallic hour markers adorn the world map, while the hands are protractor-shaped to drive home the old-school cartography theme. Surrounding the map on the dial is a chapter ring featuring a 24-hour scale separated into day and night sections, like a GMT bezel. Finally, the 24 cities of the world appear on the watch’s rotating inner bezel.

Protecting the dial is a sapphire crystal with five layers of anti-reflective coating on its underside, meaning you should have a pretty clear view of all the intricacies below. That’s important, as world timers can be notoriously difficult to read.

a haim world time watch dial — The 3D topographical world map on the dial shows a surprising amount of detail.

The case is in stainless steel and is very well-sized at 38.5mm across, 12mm thick and 45.5mm lug to lug. Haim describes the case as “hand-finished” and most of it is mirror-polished, with the bezel being brushed. The strap is a handmade Epsom leather affair with a tang buckle in an art deco-inspired design that matches the traditional aesthetic of the watch.

Powering the watch, again, is a modified Seiko NH34A automatic movement, but Haim did more than turn the GMT into a functional world timer. The brand also added a custom rotor that looks spectacular. Viewed through the sapphire caseback, the bronze-toned rotor depicts a globe showing longitude and latitude and covers the entire pedestrian-looking movement.

a haim automatic watch caseback — A custom globe-shaped rotor adds a nice touch and is visible through a sapphire exhibition caseback.

Pricing and Availability

The Viajero is available in three colors, each inspired by a different mode of travel: blue for “Air,” green for “Land” and turquoise for “Water.”

The watches are sold directly through Haim’s website and are currently in a non-refundable reservation phase. If you reserve one now, you’ll pay $700. Presumably, that price will increase to $800 if you wait, as Haim has the current price marked as $100 off of SRP. There’s also an option to upgrade to a beads of rice stainless steel bracelet for an additional $100.

The Haim Watch Company Viajero is set to begin shipping to customers in early Q3 of this year.