.jpg){kind=link}
The story of the Rolex GMT-Master
Built with Pan Am so pilots could read two time zones at once, the GMT-Master later rode on Apollo 13 with Jack Swigert, and its red and blue bezel became so familiar that people who have never heard the name still call it the Pepsi.
Chapters
- 2007 to todayCeramic bezels and the Jubilee
Ref. 116710LN of 2007 brought a black Cerachrom bezel and a heavier case with broader lugs, still 40 mm across. Two-colour ceramic followed with the blue and black Batman in 2013 and the red and blue Pepsi in white gold in 2014, then in steel as ref. 126710BLRO in 2018 with calibre 3285 and a Jubilee bracelet. In 2022 the left-handed Sprite moved the crown to 9 o'clock.
- 1982 to 2007The GMT-Master II arrives
Ref. 16760 of 1982 let the local hour hand jump in one-hour steps on its own, so the watch could follow a third time zone. Its thicker case earned the nickname Fat Lady and it introduced the black and red Coke bezel. Ref. 16710 slimmed the case again and ran until 2007, gaining solid end links in 2000 and losing drilled lugs in 2003.
- 1959 to 1972Flights, rockets and the Moon
In July 1959 Captain C. N. Warren navigated Pan Am's first non-stop New York to Moscow flight with a GMT-Master. In 1967 William J. Knight wore one when he flew the X-15 to Mach 6.7, and the watch looped around the Moon on Apollo 13 and stayed in lunar orbit with Ronald Evans on Apollo 17.
- 1959 to 1980The long reign of ref. 1675
Ref. 1675 added crown guards, swapped the fragile Bakelite for anodised aluminium inserts and grew to 40 mm. It stayed in production for more than 20 years, moving from glossy gilt to matte dials, and was the first GMT reference sold at retail on a matching Jubilee bracelet. A two-tone ref. 1675/3 with a brown and gold Root Beer bezel arrived in 1970.
- 1955 to 1959A pilot's watch for Pan Am
Pan Am wanted its crews to track home time and destination time on one watch, and Rolex answered with ref. 6542. A fourth hand circled the dial once every 24 hours against a rotating 24-hour bezel made of Bakelite with radium numerals. The case measured 38 mm and had no crown guards.
Worn by
The Apollo 13 command module pilot took his own GMT-Master on the April 1970 mission and wore it throughout, including the oxygen tank explosion and the return to Earth.
Wore a GMT-Master on 3 October 1967 when he flew the X-15 rocket plane to 7,274 km/h (Mach 6.7), a record that still stands.
Command module pilot of Apollo 17, the last Apollo lunar mission, wore his GMT-Master in December 1972 and made a spacewalk of over an hour on the way home.
His Thomas Magnum wore a Pepsi GMT-Master in Magnum, P.I. from the fourth season, and Selleck kept the watch when the show ended. He told the FHH it had been underwater and buried in sand without a problem.
Wore a GMT-Master as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964), which gave the 6542 one of its nicknames.
Moments
1967. On 3 October 1967 William J. Knight flew the X-15 to 7,274 km/h over the Mojave Desert wearing a GMT-Master.
1959. Pan Am's first non-stop New York to Moscow flight, carrying journalists to cover Richard Nixon's visit to the USSR, was flown by Captain C. N. Warren with his GMT-Master as a navigation aid.
1959. Rolex equipped each of eight British army men with a GMT-Master for a 51-week round-the-world drive through some 34 countries.
Collectors named the bezels after their colours: Pepsi for blue and red, Coke for black and red, Root Beer for brown and gold, Batman for blue and black, Sprite for green and black. Pepsi is not an official Rolex name.
Generations and strap changes
- 2022Ref. 126720VTNR Sprite
A left-handed GMT-Master II with crown and date at 9 o'clock and a green and black Cerachrom bezel, otherwise built like the 126710.
Offered on Oyster and on Jubilee bracelets.
- 2018Ref. 126710BLRO
The Pepsi ceramic bezel returned in steel with calibre 3285, Chronergy escapement and 70 hours of power reserve.
Jubilee bracelet returned as a factory option, with an Oysterlock clasp offering 5 mm of tool-free adjustment; 20 mm lug width.
- 2013Ref. 116710BLNR Batman
A blue ceramic insert with its upper half turned black through a patented process, and a blue GMT hand.
40 mm case, 20 mm lug width, Oyster bracelet only.
- 2007Ref. 116710LN
First GMT-Master II with a Cerachrom ceramic bezel, calibre 3186 with Parachrom hairspring, and green accents on the dial.
Maxi case kept the 40 mm diameter but brought thicker lugs.
- 1989Ref. 16710
The long-running second GMT-Master II on calibre 3185, offered with Pepsi, Coke or black bezels; late examples received calibre 3186.
Bracelet gained solid end links in 2000; drilled lugs were dropped in 2003, so spring bars must be released from the inside of the lugs.
- 1988Ref. 16700
The last GMT-Master, on calibre 3175, sold alongside the GMT-Master II with a Pepsi or all-black bezel until the line ended in 1999.
40 mm case, 20 mm lug width.
- 1982Ref. 16760 Fat Lady
The first GMT-Master II, with calibre 3085 and an independently set hour hand, a thicker case and the new Coke bezel. It was the first GMT bezel with a click spring.
- 1980Ref. 16750
Calibre 3075 added a quickset date; dials moved from matte to glossy lacquer with white gold surrounds, and water resistance rose to 100 m.