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Master Stroke — The Rolex GMT-Master: Part II
The last installment of our GMT story ended with the first of the new generation: the GMT-Master II. The birth of the GMT-Master II in 1983 heralded a number of new innovations to the line that still stand today, 35 years later. The first and arguably most important was the introduction of an independently settable 24-hour hand. This enabled the wearer to quickly move the 24-hour hand forwards or backwards (via jump hours) independently of the hour hand. In conjunction with the rotating bezel, this meant that the watch could track time in three time zones. The first using the regular hour and minutes hands and the second by monitoring the independent 24-hour hand. If you wanted to monitor a third, it could be done by rotating the bezel and monitoring a third time zone against the bezel markings.
The GMT-Master II (GMT2) story begins with ref. 16760, powered by the new Caliber 3085, which was based in the Caliber 3035. It was the first GMT-Master to have a sapphire crystal and where other sports references had received sapphire crystals during their transitional models, the transitional GMT-Master (ref. 16750) had an acrylic crystal. Sapphire crystals were, by this time, fitted to the Explorer 2 also, as they were much more hard wearing and helped with waterproofing qualities. Interestingly, the Explorer (ref. 1016) and Submariner non-date (ref. 5513) continued to use acrylic until the late-1980s. The ref. 16760 was housed in a particularly thick case with thicker crown guards, hence its nickname “Fat Lady”. Collectors have also dubbed this watch the “Sophia Loren”, due to the exaggerated lines and curves of the case shape… you just can’t get away from these Italian nicknames with vintage Rolex.
Ring the Changes
Up until the GMT2, Rolex had offered two bezel insert variations, “Pepsi” and all-black. The new line of watches was offered with a third option that kept with the cola-flavored drink theme, this time a black and red “Coke” insert. These inserts are totally interchangeable and so collectors can easily get three different looks from one watch by simply switching inserts. I must, however, urge some caution in suggesting “simply” switching bezel inserts. It is, in fact, quite an easy task to complete and takes only a few minutes, but the cost of Rolex parts seems to have skyrocketed in recent years and so be aware that buying spare inserts isn’t as cheap as it used to be. It is, however, still cheaper than buying another watch!
The Devil in the Detail
I often say this and it’s never been truer than it is at the moment – Rolex collectors love the detail. Every letter, dash, font size, coronet variant all matter and enable collectors to keep an overview of the chronology of each reference. An 18-year long run meant that there were a number of changes and variances to the 16710. Rolex began giving the steel watches codes depending on the bezel inserts fitted at the factory. The letters A, B and N were used to signify Coke, Pepsi and black respectively. So, there was now a 16710A (Coke), 16710B (Pepsi) and 16710N (black); triplets in the family but not all identical.
There were also changes in the luminous material used on the dials and hands. In 1989 tritium was still the compound used by Rolex for their lume. It is a very low risk substance, but is still radioactive and so the dial had to be marked as such. Until around 1997 the bottom edge of the dial was marked “SWISS-T<25” The “<25” signified that the present tritium was emitting less than 25mCi. Towards the latter part of 1998 Rolex moved to using a compound called LumiNova.
The introduction of the ref. 16760 Fat Lady wasn’t the death knell for the non-independent 24-hour hand, as many people had assumed. In a twist to the GMT tale, at the same time as the 16710 was introduced in 1989, Rolex also unveiled the ref. 16700. Aesthetically almost exactly the same as the 16710, the 16700 was powered by the Calibre 3135 movement and had a non-independent 24-hour hand. The acrylic glass 16750 with non-independent 24-hour was kept in the catalogue alongside the Fat Lady and so the 16700 was the sapphire successor to the 16750. The 16700 was cheaper than the 16710 and so there were two price points at which one could enter the steel GMT-Master line. The watches were only available with either Pepsi or black inserts and there were no two-tone or gold equivalents ever released.
Take Three
The third generation of the GMT-Master was unveiled in 2005. The gold GMT-Master 2 ref. 116718 was a considerable departure from its predecessors with a remodelled case profile, with much heavier lugs and crown guards. The aluminium bezel inserts of the past 50 years were gone and in its place was a new all-black ceramic insert with gold numbers. The watch was available in either black dial or green dial. A new green 24-hour hand on the black dial version complemented the “GMT-MASTER II” text that was also green. On the green dial the text was all in gold and was complemented by a gold 24-hour hand.
Flying colours
Vintage collectors love nothing more than a faded insert on their watch to add to the patina and unique look of their watches. Rolex, however, engineers each element of the watch to the very highest standards and the old aluminium insert was always a weak link in this respect. The manufacturing process of Cerachrom was very complex and, for the first five years, Rolex was unable to make the solid bezel in two different hues and so the initial bezels were mono coloured. They made them in black, blue and greeen for the Submariner, blue for the Yachtmaster 2, black for the Daytona and Sea-Dweller and brown for the platinum Daytona.
The Root Beer
The Root Beer GMT-Master has become something of a cultural icon. For many years it was the unloved member of the GMT family. It was neither Arthur nor Martha; a hybrid that didn’t know its place in the horological hemisphere. Not as esteemed or luxurious as its gold brother and not as much a cool tool as its steel sibling. And let’s not forget, it was born in the 1970s when styles were all over the place.
Jewelled Master
Rolex is renowned as one of the best gem-setters out there with its high-end wristwatches, with some of the finest specialists carrying out this work at the Rolex factory. One of the most interesting moves the brand made was to set their sports watches with precious stones. The Submariner, GMT-Master and most famously Daytona have all been adorned with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies. And serious collectors love them.