Timex's space-age Marlin Jet titanium automatic GMT sports a domed Hesalite crystal

Timex now sells two automatic GMT watches at exactly $549. One is the Deepwater Meridian 200 we covered earlier today. It's a 42 mm steel diver with a ceramic bezel. The other is the Marlin Jet Titanium Automatic GMT, and interestingly, it shares neither the material nor the intent of the former. It opened for preorder in July, ships in October, and hasn't been covered here until now.

The Marlin Jet is Timex's space-age branch. The timepiece is built around a domed Hesalite crystal that covers the entire top of the case, grooved bezel included. Hesalite is acrylic. It scratches more readily than sapphire and buffs out with polish.

The case is titanium at 40 mm across and 14.5 mm thick, brushed and polished, with flanks curving into a screwed exhibition caseback. Titanium takes weight off the wrist compared with steel. That weight reduction matters even more on a case this tall — 14.5 mm is no joke.

The dial is champagne with a shimmer to it. It's concave, and framed by a raised metallic flange sporting the Marlin wordmark below six o'clock. Applied indexes mark local time, printed Arabic numerals run the 24-hour scale, and a red-and-white triangle-tipped hand tracks the second zone. A date window sits at three.

Timex doesn't explicitly specifiy the movement on the product page. However, it has been identified as the Seiko NH34A, running at 3 Hz with roughly 41 hours of reserve. The NH34A is a caller GMT, so the 24-hour hand adjusts independently while the local hour hand does not. If you're tracking a distant zone from home, it's great, since you don't have to reset it on arrival.

The strap is natural leather with quick-release spring bars. Only one colorway is offered for this one, under reference TW3A00500. Preorders are still open as of writing.