Islander Melville GMT with Blue Hammer Dial #ISL-222

Islander is the watch brand of Long Island Watch, one of the most respected independent watch retailers in the enthusiast community. They design watches specifically for people who know what they want. They're well-spec'd, honestly priced, and built without compromise. We carry Islander because they represent exactly the kind of value that watch enthusiasts actually get excited about.

The Islander Melville GMT is a caller GMT, which means the GMT hand is independently settable, so you can track a second time zone without disturbing the local time display. It's powered by the Seiko NH34 automatic, which handwinds and hacks, and the blue hammer dial is the design detail that makes this watch impossible to mistake for anything else. Inspired by the texture of hammered vintage jewelry, the dial has a depth and dimensionality that a flat printed surface simply can't replicate. The smooth GMT scale ring contrasts the textured main dial, and if you look closely at the seconds hand, you'll find a tiny hammer used as the counterbalance. It's a small piece of wit in an otherwise serious watch. All watches come with a 1 year warranty through Islander.

Specifications:

Case Diameter: 40mm

Lug-to-Lug: 47.5mm

Thickness: 13mm

Lug Width: 20mm

Case Material: Stainless steel brushed and polished

Crystal: Domed sapphire with inner AR coating

Movement: Seiko NH34 automatic, handwind and hacks

Power Reserve: 40 hours

Water Resistance: 100 meters

Strap/Bracelet: Blue leather

Our Take

At $299 for a caller GMT on an NH34 with a sapphire crystal and a dial this distinctive, the Melville is one of the harder watches in the lineup to argue with on value alone. But the value story isn't even the most interesting thing about it. You could argue it's the hammer dial. The textured finish gives the blue dial a quality that shifts with the light, and the orange accents on the GMT hand and markers create a contrast combination that's bold without being garish. The tiny hammer counterbalance on the seconds hand is the kind of detail that takes a few wears to notice and then becomes the thing you point out to everyone. The screw-down crown on a 100m watch is an Islander signature that speaks to how they think about building things. They didn't have to do it, they just prefer the extra security. This is a GMT watch for someone who wants the complication done properly at a price that doesn't require justification.

Who This Watch Is For

• Watch enthusiasts who've been wanting to add a GMT to their collection without spending GMT money. The NH34 caller function is the real deal at a fraction of what most GMT watches cost
• Frequent travelers or anyone who regularly deals with multiple time zones and wants a dedicated tool for it that's also genuinely good looking
• Buyers who appreciate design details that reward close inspection. The hammer dial texture and the seconds hand counterbalance are the kinds of things that make a watch interesting to live with long term
• People comparing this to other entry-level GMTs: the combination of a caller movement, hammer dial, sapphire crystal, and screw-down crown at $299 is a package that's genuinely difficult to match at this price point