Travelling with Watches

Having spent approximately every other week for the last year and a half travelling between Cyprus, Greece and the UK, I think it’s fair to say I have been on the move. Having a watch collection that I like to rotate through, inevitably means taking a few treasured watches along for the ride!

Which Watch?

Almost all of my travelling in the last 18 months has been for business, but there is still some limited downtime between the meetings and sitting in the hotel room sending emails to colleagues. So, which sorts of watches have I found myself taking with me and why? Let’s jump in!

At least one chronograph

On every trip, I wear a chronograph for the actual flight / travelling portion. Why? I like to time the flight time with it! I know roughly how long the flight will take but my mind is usually on many topics and I forget the precise time we set off. As soon as the engines spool up and we start the take off roll, I start the chronograph so I can keep track of the elapsed time and how long I still have remaining before arrival. Obviously, I need a chronograph which can time the length of flight, so I take either my IWC Pilot’s Chronograph Le Petit Prince Edition or my Bremont ALT1-P

Something smart!

Most of my time in the day is spent in an office, or in meetings with clients, so it is good to have a dress watch, or something relatively smart that can be dressed up. For this I will often travel with my Bremont ALT1-C Polished Black .

Something basic!

When you’re in a strange city or place, it’s quite easy to accidentally wander into a bad area of town while taking a walk in the evening. That and you look a bit lost like a tourist wandering around. If I am going out for an explore, it is good to have something basic and understated to go out with to avoid drawing too much attention. For this I will take something like my Seiko SPRC49 from Seiko’s Black Series, or a retro style Casio piece.

Something durable!

If I have any time to kill while living out of a hotel room, exercise is on my mind and I like to go to the gym or out for a run. Obviously for this sort of activity, I will run with a G-Shock if I have decided to take one with me. My Casio DW5600BB is perfect for this and has certainly been on a few trips. The main issue with my G-Shocks is the shaped rubber strap which means they won’t go in a watch roll. However, the watches are tough enough that I just tuck them into a gap in my suitcase.

Transporting My Watches

My watch roll on one of my many trips abroad

The best way I found to transport my watches, by far, has been in a watch roll, which I then tuck inside a shoe or trainer in my carry on suitcase to offer some additional protection from the bag being squashed a little in the overhead lockers. I only ever travel with a carry on for business as I am typically only travelling for a few days at a time. My laptop bag has too many magnetic fields for my liking, so I don’t put the watches in there. I picked up a nice hand made leather watch roll on Etsy which does the job very nicely.