Dubey & Schaldenbrand Aerodyn Duo

For years, dual-time watches were either robust but relatively inelegant tool watches, or high-end, extremely expensive examples of haute horlogerie. There really wasn’t much ‘in-between’ territory. In the past couple of decades, this has changed dramatically: There are now myriad GMT and other travel-type watches at various price points, especially at the affordable to mid-range end of the price spectrum. Dating to the early 2000s, this particular Aerodyn Duo dual-time watch from Swiss marque Dubey & Schaldenbrand is priced extremely attractively considering its construction, functionality, and good looks. Housed in a 33mm stainless steel tonneau case with a signed crown and a polished bezel, it features a gloss black and ‘gilt’ dial with Art Deco-style ‘Arabic’ indices, matching cathedral hands, a second time zone indicator at 12 o’clock, a day/night indicator at 9 o’clock, an outer ‘railroad’ minute track, and a date sundial at 6 o’clock. Elegant in the mold of a Frank Muller — itself a kind of contemporary adaptation of early 20th-century horological and design tropes — this timepiece turns a simple ETA 2892 automatic movement into the power station for a useful and unique travel complication: It can be set completely independently from the main time display, making for a quick and easy way to track a second time zone. On its signed brown leather strap with a signed steel pin buckle, this Aerodyn Duo is begging to accompany its next owner around the globe.  Maybe that next owner is you?