Last year’s Rolex GMT Master 2 came with an utterly new type of bezel insert made from ceramic, but with the unique, and at the time, unheard of distinction, of having two colours at once.  Called “Cerachrom”, it was the result of intense research and development, with the two colours appearing perfect under a loupe, and with their borders having no bleeding whatsoever.

As a technical breakthrough, this was unprecedented, signalling the brand’s fastidious commitment to improving aspects of their watches related to durability and reliability and quite apart from the often gimmicky things that other brands would resort to, to get attention. Here was a serious innovation that would after-all, be scratch-resistant, allowing it to perform its intended function year after year.

Deftly chosen as well was the watch that would showcase this new technology, and no other watch in the range could do it as well, or as fittingly as the GMT Master 2, with a well known history of two tone bezels in iconic models of the past. The first two-tone Cerachrom bezel in the GMT Master 2 of last year was black and blue, a colour scheme that had not been seen before in a watch like this. Handsome in a totally new way, this was a watch that many Rolex buyers took to quickly, bringing it comfortably into the stable of colour schemes that was possible with this watch.

“Where however was the Pepsi bezel?” grumbled the purists and vintage Rolex lover?

Well…. grumble no more. Your Pan AM inspired “Pepsi” bezel was just announced today at Baselworld, and well, what else can I say but that Rolex has heard you:

Behold:

One thing to note about this watch, is that unlike the GMT Master 2 that came last year, this year’s version comes in 18K white gold. I do not know the reason why, but my best guess is that perhaps helps to  underline the importance of this watch in the history of the brand. With that of course, something as obvious and pedestrian as stainless steel was sidelined in favour of this implementation in a noble metal.