Since its founding by Eugène Meylan in 1914, Glycine has been producing watches at its factory in Bienne, Switzerland. Meylan was an uncompromising watch engineer who strove for perfection and nothing less. He had a profound understanding of both the market demands and the possibilities offered by the technological advances of the time. Today, offering excellent value at reasonable prices is an important part of Glycine's philosophy. The company's strong foundation, coupled with its emphasis on rugged and reliable products, make Glycine a respected name in Swiss watchmaking today. 

Since the early 60s, Glycine has served the market with this line of sturdy and captivating watches, made for exacting conditions of wear and use. The precise automatic and chronograph movements are housed in a high-grade steel case of rugged construction, offering excellent value for money.

Combat watches stand out for their classic design, enduring strength and reliability. All through the years, this line of watches has enjoyed unbroken popularity in military and sport circles. We have covered in-depth in our blog article, on all things about the Combat SUB right here: Glycine’s Combat SUB: The Aviator’s Soaring Military Divers. And today, Glycine coalesces the best of its aviation and nautical worlds together.

The Combat SUB 42 Sports GMT Blue/Red Ref. GL0381 is robustly constructed with 316L stainless steel. It measures at 42mm and 10.85mm thin for unsurpassed comfort on all wrist sizes. The short lugs to lugs length of 49mm together with the unique downward curving lugs meant the watch wraps around the wrist like a pair of gloves. What is good looks without performance. The large screw-down crown is easy to grip and screws in and out without any sense of roughness in the screw threads contributed largely by the larger than usual screw tube.

Entirely hand finished and Made in Switzerland, the watch is satin brushed throughout to a very high standard, again synonymous with Glycine. First for the Combat SUB to clad a GMT bezel, The 48 clicks bidirectional rotating bezel clicks positively in place with little play for added confidence. The bezel featured a beautiful two-tone blue and red hues, accompanied with vintage cream 24-hour markers for an extra retro appeal. The Combat SUB is water resistant to a modest 200m.

The Combat SUB comes with a sapphire crystal with three layers of anti-reflective coating on the underside for added clarity under different lighting conditions. Now, it adds on a functional magnifying cyclop to enhance the visibility of the date display underneath.

The design theme continues onto the dial and probably one of the highlights of the watch. The matte black dial is matched with a golden cream coloured minute track, following through with the vintage theme using faux-patina indexes. The applied index is filled with a good amount of SuperLuminova in a vintage cream tone for superb glow-in-the-dark. For an excellent contrast, the GMT hand is executed in a bold, deep red for added visibility. 

Used to be powered by vintage movement Felsa Bidyanator automatic movements, the Combat SUB got its upgrade by having a Glycine GL293 GMT movement which is essentially an ETA2893-2/SW330, operating at 28,800 bph (4 Hertz) with hacking and hand winding capabilities. It has 25/26 jewels with a power reserve of 42 hours. With this movement, the Airman follows a more current style time reading by driving the main hour hand around twice per day, having a slim GMT hand doing the 24-hour duty. All that can be seen through its stainless steel, screw-down case-back - a first also for the Combat SUB line. The Combat SUB 42 Sports Blue/Red Ref. GL0381 comes with a 22mm Glycine 3-link style stainless steel bracelet, secured with a well constructed push-button fold over clasp.

Overall, the Glycine Combat SUB 42 Sports GMT Blue/Red Ref. GL0381 exhibits very great value given the history and build of the watch. Contrasting against many of the Combat SUB models, this release packs a really attractive vintage twist for a GMT timepiece. The contemporary size with unique curved lugs makes this watch ultra comfortable on many wrists. The unique Glycine looks, the GMT function, and the sapphire makes this an exceptional bargain and hard to beat. The Combat SUB GMT definitely fits Glycine's philosophy that Mr Eugène Meylan set out in 1914.