View the Rolex GMT Master II photo gallery.

The Rolex GMT Master II is a great looking and very functional high-end Swiss timepiece. It's a beautiful watch which is sophisticated in both appearance and operation, yet it somehow manages to present itself as understated and modest. The Rolex GMT Master II has a long and interesting history, and is certainly one of the most popular Rolex Professional models.

The big feature of the Rolex GMT Master II is the additional 24-hour hand which tracks hours against the bi-directional rotating bezel in "military time" as opposed to standard 12-hour time. It was originally created for Pan Am pilots back in the early days of transatlantic flights. Pan Am pilots used GMT time, so they wanted a watch that would allow them to monitor both GMT and local time simultaneously. The watch's movement became more sophisticated over the years, and now allows the standard hour hand and the date to be set independently of the other hands which makes moving from one time zone to the next very smooth and simple.

Features of the Rolex GMT Master II include:

View the Seiko Kinetic Scubamaster photo gallery.

It took a long time to add the Seiko Scubamaster "Stingray" to my collection of divers. I don't remember where I first came across this watch, but since the moment I saw it, I was smitten. After over a month of frantic and persistent searching, I finally came across someone who was willing to part with the exact watch I was looking for. That was about a year ago, and despite all the other watches I've gotten since, it continues to see more than its fair share of wrist time.

The Seiko Kinetic Scubamaster is not the most expensive watch I own, but it is probably the rarest and most unique. In fact, I think it comes pretty close to being the ultimate diver watch. It is feature rich, extremely tough, very accurate, and has a bold, distinguished look. Here's a feature-by-feature breakdown: