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Retro World watch face in SteelRetro World watch face in Black

Steel · 2 colourways in one purchase

Updated WORLD TIME · Digital

Retro World

80s World Time LCD Watch Face

Retro World is the 80s world-time LCD watch, rebuilt to fill your Garmin's round screen: a slim bronze bezel with minute marks, a black plate and a big LCD with real seven-segment digits and a wide world map. On a touch watch, touch and hold the map anywhere: that time zone lights up, its city blinks, its time sits at the top - summer time worked out for you, +1 or -1 when it is already tomorrow or still yesterday there - and the small analog dial jumps to the exact time of that place. The big segment time is always your own.

4
Fields
20
Metrics
2
Colourways
68
Watches
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about €5 · one-time purchase · no subscription · v1.5.0

01 The face

A world map on the LCD, 48 cities.

Retro World is the 80s world-time LCD watch, rebuilt to fill your Garmin's round screen: a slim bronze bezel with minute marks, a black plate and a big LCD with real seven-segment digits and a wide world map. On a touch watch, touch and hold the map anywhere: that time zone lights up, its city blinks, its time sits at the top - summer time worked out for you, +1 or -1 when it is already tomorrow or still yesterday there - and the small analog dial jumps to the exact time of that place. The big segment time is always your own. Without touch, choose from 48 cities in the settings. Three colourways in one purchase: Bronze, Steel and Black (a negative display). Train with my Gym Notes app? Retro World can show today's workout under the little window ("CHEST + BACK", "REST"). Off by default.

  1. 01World map with the city's time zone
  2. 0248 cities, summer time automatic
  3. 03Touch the map: the dial shows that time
  4. 044 data fields, 19 metrics each
  5. 053 colourways in one face
  6. 06A bigger LCD: slim bezel, big glass
  7. 07Big segment time, 12/24 h
02 Live preview

Live preview

Switch colourways, themes, accents and settings, or pick your watch to see the face on its own screen.

Retro World: Bronze

Bronze · shown on a 454 × 454 AMOLED screen

Colourway 3

Accent 9

Settings 3

Always-on 2

Every state above is a screenshot of the face running in Garmin's simulator with that setting.

03 Make it yours

What you can change

Frame colour round the LCD

12 colours or the colourway's own (setting "Frame colour").

The date your way (setting "Date line")

With the week, without it or with the month, or off - the date segments stay unlit like a real LCD.

Touch and hold the world map (touch watches) to pick the zone there, or choose the world city in the settings ("World city", first in the watch's menu): 48 cities from Pago Pago to Auckland - New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, Dubai, Tokyo, Sydney and more - plus UTC.

Change every metric

Each of the four fields shows any of 19 metrics - battery, Body Battery, recovery time, heart rate, steps, weekly running distance, weather, calories, floors, active minutes, distance today, stress, notifications, altitude, sunrise/sunset, respiration, pulse ox, battery days left, air pressure. Or set it to "Empty".

All 3 colourways in one purchase (setting "Colourway"); 12 or 24-hour time as your watch is set; the AM/PM marker (on by default) and the hour's leading zero are settings too ("AM/PM marker", "Leading zero").

Always-on display like the face or minimal, dim to bright; the full face on solar/MIP watches.

Gym Notes workout (off by default). Change everything on the watch or in the Connect IQ app.

04 Metrics

20 metrics for every field.

Each of the 4 fields shows any of them, or nothing at all. Swap them any time on the watch or in the app.

Health6

  • Body Battery
  • Recovery time
  • Heart rate
  • Stress
  • Respiration
  • Pulse Ox

Activity6

  • Steps
  • Running this week
  • Calories
  • Floors climbed
  • Active minutes
  • Distance today

Weather & sky4

  • Weather
  • Altitude
  • Sunrise / sunset
  • Air pressure

Watch4

  • Battery
  • Notifications
  • Battery days left
  • Next event
05 Settings guide

Settings

Straight from the face's own settings. Change them on the watch (hold UP/MENU on the face, then Watch face › Customize) or in the Connect IQ app (My Device › Watch Faces › Retro World › Settings).

Time & date

Leading zero
As the watch · Always · Never
AM/PM marker
On · Off
Date line
Day, date and week · Off · Day and date · Day, date and month

Look

World city
49 choices: PPG Pago Pago, HNL Honolulu, ANC Anchorage, LAX Los Angeles, DEN Denver …
Gym Notes workout
On · Off

Colour

Frame colour
13 choices: The colourway's own, Gold, Silver, Red, Orange …

Always-on

Sleep mode
Minimal: time + heart rate · Full dial
Always-on display
Like the face · Minimal
Always-on brightness
Dim · Normal · Bright
06 Fits these watches

68 Garmin watches.

Forerunner 16

vívoactive 2

Venu 7

Approach 5

Descent 3

Instinct 2

D2 4

Enduro 2

07 What's new

Version 1.5.0

First released 6 Oct 2026. Updates are free and install by themselves.

  1. 1.5.03 Nov 2026
    • New setting "Frame colour": the frame lines round the LCD in Gold, Silver, Red, Orange, Lime, Green, Teal, Cyan, Blue, Violet, Magenta or Pink.
  2. 1.4.11 Nov 2026
    • Steps now count towards your own daily step goal from Garmin Connect (it was fixed at 10,000), so 7,500 steps of a 7,500 goal is 100%. Thanks for spotting it!
  3. 1.4.029 Oct 2026
    • New always-on display that looks like the face: its ring, its hands and its own colours - and no digital time when you have switched it off. Brightness: dim, normal or bright (setting "Always-on brightness"); the old minimal screen is still there (setting "Always-on display").
    • New date formats (setting "Date line"): the date with the week, without it or with the month (FRI 02 W40, FRI 02, FRI 02 OCT).
  4. 1.3.029 Oct 2026
    • New setting "Date line": show the date, or turn it off (the date segments stay unlit) - change it on the watch or in the Connect IQ app.
  5. 1.2.028 Oct 2026
    • Bigger and easier to read: the bezel is now a slim ring at the very edge, so the whole LCD - the time, the date and every field - is about 8 % larger.
  6. 1.1.025 Oct 2026
    • New setting "AM/PM marker": keep AM/PM on the display (as before) or switch it off.
    • New setting "Leading zero": the hour as the watch shows it, always with a zero (09:41) or never (9:41).
08 Questions

FAQ

Something else? Ask us.

Summer time follows the rules in use in 2026 (Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand)?

Summer time follows the rules in use in 2026 (Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand); a country that changes its rules later needs an update of the face.

The map lights a 15-degree band around the city's zone - a picture of the zone, not its exact political border?

The map lights a 15-degree band around the city's zone - a picture of the zone, not its exact political border.

Picking a zone on the map needs a touch watch (touch and hold)?

Picking a zone on the map needs a touch watch (touch and hold); watch faces get no swipes or button presses, so other watches use the World city setting.

Why do I see "--" for body Battery, recovery time and weekly running distance?

Body Battery, recovery time and weekly running distance are shown only when the watch provides them; otherwise "--".

Weather is the current value synced from the phone?

Weather is the current value synced from the phone.

The weekday is shown in English, like on the LCD watches it comes from?

The weekday is shown in English, like on the LCD watches it comes from.

On solar/MIP watches (64 colours) the LCD is shown in plain grey and black, without the faint unlit segments?

On solar/MIP watches (64 colours) the LCD is shown in plain grey and black, without the faint unlit segments.

How do I change a field or a colour?

On the watch: hold the middle-left (UP/MENU) button on the watch face, choose Watch face, then Customize. In the phone: open the Connect IQ app, go to My Device, Watch Faces, Retro World, then Settings. Every change shows at once.

Is it a subscription?

No. You buy it once in the Connect IQ store and keep every future update.

Does it drain the battery?

The face is built to be as frugal as a Garmin face: it redraws once a minute and the always-on screen is dimmed and minimal on AMOLED watches.

Retro Worldabout €5 · one-time
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