Why We Put Surf Breaks on a GMT Bezel
Why We Put Surf Breaks on a GMT Bezel
By Brian Costello, Co-Founder of Seaborne Trading Company
GMT watches usually put cities on the bezel.
London. Tokyo. New York. Paris.
Very respectable. Very useful.
Also, if we're being honest, a little predictable.
When we started designing the Seaborne WaveCatcher GMT, we kept looking at the usual GMT format and thinking:
What if the bezel pointed somewhere you'd actually rather be?
Not Heathrow.
Not a conference room in Frankfurt.
Not an airport lounge where a turkey sandwich somehow costs $19.
Somewhere better.
So we put surf breaks on it.
First: What Is a GMT Bezel Supposed to Do?
A GMT watch is designed to help track another time zone.
Traditionally, that means the watch has an additional 24-hour hand, often paired with a 24-hour bezel or scale.
On many GMT watches, designers lean heavily into the travel theme.
You'll see:
World cities. Airline references. Pilot imagery. International business-travel language.
And that all makes perfect sense.
But none of it felt especially Seaborne.
We're less interested in helping you remember that Zurich exists.
We wanted the watch to make you think about places that make you want to go somewhere.
So We Asked a Different Question
Instead of:
“What cities belong on a GMT watch?”
we asked:
“Where would you rather be?”
That changed everything.
Because once you frame the question that way, the answer probably isn't an office tower.
It's a coastline. A beach. A wave. A boat.
Somewhere with warm water.
Somewhere you've been before.
Or somewhere you've been staring at on maps for years.
That's how the WaveCatcher bezel started taking shape.
Pipeline
If you're going to put legendary surf locations on a watch, Pipeline is difficult to ignore.
The North Shore of Oahu is one of the most recognizable places in surf culture, and Pipeline has become almost shorthand for serious surfing.
Even people who have never paddled out know the name.
And visually, Hawaii immediately brings you somewhere.
Warm water.
Palm trees.
North Shore winter swell.
A considerably better mental image than “GMT+10.”
Pipeline was an easy choice.
Cloudbreak
Fiji.
Offshore reef. Boat access. Ridiculous blue water.
One of those places that seems almost unfairly well designed.
Cloudbreak represents something we particularly like about GMT watches:
It's far away from almost everywhere.
This isn't somewhere most of us casually swing by after work.
It's somewhere you think about. Plan for. Save for.
Or simply daydream about while answering emails.
Which, frankly, is exactly what we wanted the WaveCatcher to encourage.
Maverick's
We didn't want the bezel to become a tropical-vacation brochure.
So:
Maverick's.
Cold water. Northern California. Big waves. Fog.
Sharks, because apparently the rest of this wasn't enough.
Maverick's brings a completely different kind of adventure to the bezel.
Not every meaningful place has palm trees.
Sometimes adventure is gray water, cold air and looking at the ocean while making the very reasonable decision to remain on shore.
We support that too.
Supertubes
Supertubes at Jeffreys Bay gave us South Africa.
Long right-hand walls. Speed.
One of the most recognizable surf destinations in the world.
It's another place where geography becomes part of the fun of a GMT.
You look down at the watch.
You're standing somewhere in New England.
And the bezel is reminding you that on the other side of the world, somebody is probably having a much more interesting afternoon.
We're comfortable with that kind of distraction.
Montañita
Then we wanted South America represented.
Montañita, Ecuador brought something slightly different.
Yes, there's surf.
But there's also a strong beach-town identity around it.
Travel. Nightlife. Warm water.
A place built around people coming and going.
That matters because the WaveCatcher isn't supposed to be some solemn tribute to elite surfing.
You do not need to be able to surf Pipeline to wear it.
Thank God.
The idea is bigger than that.
These are places connected to movement, water and adventure.
Montañita fits.
Why Surf Breaks Instead of Cities?
Because a watch doesn't always have to be deadly serious.
That's really the answer.
GMT watches are useful.
They're also fun.
You can track another time zone because your company has an office in Tokyo.
Or because your daughter moved to California.
Or because you're traveling.
All legitimate reasons.
But you can also look down and wonder:
What time is it at Cloudbreak right now?
Maybe you've been there.
Maybe you're going.
Maybe you have absolutely no intention of ever surfing it and simply enjoy knowing it exists.
Still counts.
And This Is Where the Caller GMT Makes Sense
The WaveCatcher uses the TMI Seiko NH34 automatic Caller GMT movement.
We've written more about the NH34 elsewhere, but the important piece here is that its 24-hour GMT hand can be independently set to another time zone.
Some watch enthusiasts prefer a Flyer GMT, where the local hour hand jumps independently when you travel.
That's an excellent setup if you're constantly crossing time zones.
But the WaveCatcher was built around a slightly different idea:
You're here. Where would you rather be?
Your regular hands show local time.
The GMT hand tracks somewhere else.
For that use, the Caller GMT makes perfect sense to us.
No, the Bezel Isn't a Scientific Instrument
This seems like a good place to make something clear.
The WaveCatcher bezel is not intended to replace:
A surf forecast. A nautical chart. GPS. A flight planner. Or common sense.
If you're paddling out at Maverick's because your wristwatch suggested it seemed like a good idea, there may be larger issues we need to discuss.
The bezel is part function, part story.
That's okay.
Watches are allowed to be both.
Watches Can Carry Places With Them
This is really where the idea connects back to Seaborne.
We've always liked the thought that certain places stay with you. Maybe it's the beach where you grew up. A harbor you keep going back to. A surf trip. A family vacation. The marina where you spent every summer.
A little town somewhere that you'd move to tomorrow if life were slightly less complicated.
Places become part of us.
A GMT watch is unusually good at representing that idea because the complication itself is about being in one place while keeping track of another.
That's more interesting to us than merely knowing that Paris is six hours ahead.
What About the Other Surf Destinations We Write About?
If you've spent time in our Journal & Musings, you'll notice we've also written about places like Rincon, Sultans and Uluwatu–Kuta.
Not every surf break is printed on the bezel. That's intentional too.
The WaveCatcher bezel gave us the starting point.
The Journal lets us keep going.
Because once you start talking about the world's great surf destinations, limiting yourself to five gets difficult pretty quickly.
So the bezel is the map.
The Journal is where we wander off it.
That seems very Seaborne.
Would We Do It Differently Now?
Probably not.
Could we have put traditional cities on the WaveCatcher and made the whole thing easier to explain?
Definitely.
Would it have been more conventional?
Absolutely.
But then it wouldn't really be the WaveCatcher.
We wanted a GMT that made someone look twice.
A watch that could be sitting on your wrist during a Monday morning meeting while quietly reminding you that Pipeline is out there.
That's worth a little extra explaining.
The WaveCatcher and the Seaborne Idea
There's a phrase behind everything we do:
Carry Your Adventure.
We don't mean you need to be climbing mountains, surfing giant waves or sailing across an ocean every weekend.
Most of us have jobs.And lawns.And emails.
Adventure can be something you've already done.
Something you're planning.
Or something that simply reminds you the world is bigger than whatever is on your calendar today.
That's why there are surf breaks on our GMT bezel.
Because London isn't going anywhere.
But we'd rather think about Cloudbreak.
Carry Your Adventure.
Frequently Asked Questions About the WaveCatcher GMT Bezel
Why does the Seaborne WaveCatcher GMT have surf breaks on the bezel?
We wanted the WaveCatcher to connect GMT functionality with places associated with surfing, travel and adventure rather than using the conventional list of international cities found on many GMT watches.
Which surf breaks are on the WaveCatcher GMT bezel?
The WaveCatcher bezel features Pipeline in Hawaii, Cloudbreak in Fiji, Maverick's in California, Supertubes at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, and Montañita in Ecuador.
Do you need to be a surfer to wear the WaveCatcher GMT?
Absolutely not. The surf destinations are part of the watch's story and represent travel, coastlines and places worth thinking about. No surfboard required.
Is the WaveCatcher GMT automatic?
Yes. The WaveCatcher uses the TMI Seiko NH34 automatic GMT movement.
Is the WaveCatcher a Caller GMT?
Yes. The NH34 is a Caller GMT, meaning its 24-hour GMT hand can be independently adjusted to track another time zone while the main hands continue displaying local time.
Why does a Caller GMT make sense for the WaveCatcher?
Because the WaveCatcher is built around the idea of being in one place while keeping track of another. Your main hands show where you are; the GMT hand can track somewhere else you'd rather be.
Are all the surf destinations featured in Journal & Musings printed on the bezel?
No. The bezel includes five core destinations, while Journal & Musings explores many additional surf locations around the world.
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