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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 16700 GMT-Master}}
{{#seo:
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex GMT-Master 16700 — BezelBase
|title=Rolex GMT-Master 16700 (1988–1998) — Production & Dial Guide | BezelBase
|description=The `16700` is the last GMT-Master, which is exactly why it matters. It keeps the older GMT-Master operating logic while living well into the GMT-Master…
|description=The 16700 is the last classic GMT-Master — the final reference with the synchronized "caller" 24-hour hand. 1988 to 1999, caliber 3175 31 jewels, Pepsi and black bezels only, Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's 50-piece special edition.
|keywords=Rolex, 16700, GMT-Master, specifications, reference guide
|keywords=Rolex, 16700, GMT-Master, caller GMT, caliber 3175, Chuck Yeager, Real McCoys
|type=article
|image=Ref 16700 pepsi-bobs.webp
|image_alt=Late Pepsi 16700
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-04-18T03:22:07Z
|modified_time=2026-08-04T00:09:47Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}
}}


<small>[[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master]] -> '''16700'''</small>


<small>[[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master]] → '''16700'''</small>
The 16700 is the last classic GMT-Master, the final reference built around the synchronized "caller" 24-hour hand. Production ran from 1988 to 1999, and for most of that time the 16700 sat in the catalogue beside the GMT-Master II 16710 (1989–2007). Caliber 3175 was made for this reference and no other, running 31 jewels at 28,800 vph with a 48-hour reserve, hacking seconds, quickset date, adjustment to five positions and temperature, and COSC certification. The one branch with a market of its own is the Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's special edition of 1997, fifty pieces with the caseback engraved "General Chuck Yeager, Bell X-1, October 14th 1947".


[[File:Ref 16700 hero.webp|thumb|right|340px]]
<span id="core-facts"></span>
 
 
The [[Reference:16700|16700]] is the last GMT-Master, which is exactly why it matters. It keeps the older GMT-Master operating logic while living well into the GMT-Master II era, which makes it the cleanest late option for a buyer who wants sapphire crystal and modern case refinement without stepping into the independent-hour-hand mechanics of the GMT-Master II.


At a glance the reference looks simple. In practice it carries the same kind of late-run tension that many long Rolex references do: the end date is not perfectly clean, and the lume transition is not told the same way by every source.
[[File:Ref 16700 pepsi-bobs.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Late Pepsi 16700|Late Pepsi 16700]]


<span id="core-facts"></span>
== Core facts ==
== Core facts ==


Line 28: Line 32:
|-
|-
| family
| family
| GMT-Master
| GMT-Master (final reference of the original GMT-Master line)
|-
|-
| production
| production
| 1988-1998 in the Field Manual, with broader family histories pushing the run through 1999
| 1988 to 1999 (Sotheby's, Bonhams, Fratello consensus); Vintage Rolex Field Manual reads 1988 to 1998 — minority view
|-
|-
| movement
| total examples
| caliber 3175
| no published Rolex production figure across any source. Bonhams describes it as "notably fewer units produced than its counterpart [the 16710]"; Sotheby's says "smaller quantities despite its decade-long run"
|-
|-
| case
| case
| 40mm steel Oyster case
| 40mm steel Oyster
|-
|-
| crystal
| crystal
| sapphire with Cyclops
| sapphire with Cyclops over date
|-
|-
| water resistance
| water resistance
| 100m
| 100m
|-
| movement
| caliber 3175, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, 48-hour reserve. COSC chronometer-rated, hacking, quickset date, Glucydur balance with Microstella screws, Breguet hairspring, Kif shock. One-reference-only caliber
|-
| GMT mechanic
| caller GMT — main hour hand sets in one-hour clicks, 24-hour hand stays linked to the local hour hand. Last GMT-Master with this synchronized layout
|-
|-
| bezel
| bezel
| bidirectional 24-hour aluminum insert in Pepsi or black
| bidirectional 24-hour aluminium insert. Pepsi (red/blue) and all-black are the only factory configurations. Coke (red/black) on a 16700 is not factory — aftermarket or service swap
|-
| bracelet
| Oyster 78360 with 501 / 580 end-links + folding clasp through most of the run; later Oyster 78790 with Oysterlock from late production; Jubilee 62510H with 502B optional
|-
|-
| key identity
| key identity
| last GMT-Master with linked-hand GMT logic
| last GMT-Master with linked-hand "caller" GMT logic; only sapphire-crystal example of that classic mechanism
|}
|}


Line 55: Line 68:
== Where it sits in the line ==
== Where it sits in the line ==


The [[Reference:16700|16700]] is the final GMT-Master rather than the first GMT-Master II, and that distinction is the whole point of the watch.
The 16700 closes the original GMT-Master line. One hour-hand mechanism, a 24-hour hand fixed to it, one reference number. It follows the [[Reference:16750|16750]] and ran alongside the GMT-Master II [[Reference:16710|16710]] from 1989 to 1999. After 1999 the catalogue carried only the GMT-Master II, through the 116710LN and on to the current 126710 series. That leaves the 16700 as the only sapphire-crystal watch built around the classic synchronized-hand mechanism, and for most buyers that pairing is the whole appeal.
 
<span id="caller-vs-flyer-gmt"></span>
=== Caller vs flyer GMT ===


* it follows the [[Reference:16750|16750]]
The 16700 is a caller GMT. The 16760 (cal. 3085) and the 16710 (cal. 3185 / 3186) are flyer GMTs, and the distinction splits the family cleanly.
* it runs in parallel with GMT-Master II references
* it keeps the older GMT-Master hand logic instead of using the independent-hour system


The watch has a loyal following for exactly that reason. It is the late, sapphire-era way to stay on the original side of the family split.
On a caller GMT the main hour hand sets in one-hour clicks from the crown and the 24-hour hand stays locked to it, following wherever it goes. The second zone is read off the bidirectional 24-hour bezel: rotate the bezel to the home offset, glance at the 24-hour hand, and the reading is the time at home. That is the phone call the name describes. On a flyer GMT the 24-hour hand turns once per day independent of the local hour hand, and the local hand jumps in one-hour increments without disturbing minutes or seconds. The traveller resets the local hand on arrival, the 24-hour hand keeps tracking home, and the bezel adds a third zone.


A subset of collectors specifically chases the [[Reference:16700|16700]] over the contemporary [[Reference:16710|16710]]. The reasoning is consistent across forum threads and the Monochrome retrospective. The linked-hand mechanism means the local hour hand jumps in one-hour steps when travellers set the date, which is the original travel logic that the GMT-Master was designed around. The [[Reference:16710|16710]] trades that for an independent 24-hour hand aimed at tracking a second timezone from a fixed home base. Neither is objectively better. The [[Reference:16700|16700]] is the one that still behaves the way the 1950s patent drawings behave, and for a certain kind of buyer that is the whole purchase.
Collectors who chase the 16700 over the contemporary 16710 are after the older travel logic. Because the hands are linked, the local hour hand steps forward whenever the date is advanced, which is the GMT-Master operating feel of the 1950s carried into a sapphire-crystal case.


<span id="production-outline"></span>
<span id="production-outline"></span>
== Production outline ==
== Production outline ==


The broad production frame is easy enough to state, but the exact finish line is not clean.
Every published account starts the run in 1988. The end year is where they split. Most editorial and auction-house coverage takes it to 1999; Colin A. White's ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' (Morning Tundra) closes it a year earlier at 1998, and that reading stands alone. Late examples circulate in the market as 1998 or 1999 watches on the strength of their papers date, with no agreed cutoff behind either label.
 
* the Field Manual uses 1988-1998
* Monochrome and Sotheby’s extend the watch through 1999


The Sotheby’s complete GMT-Master guide states plainly that the [[Reference:16700|16700]] was produced for 20 years and that the line was retired in 1999. The Field Manual holds to 1998 in its reference table. Both numbers appear regularly in auction catalogues and dealer pages, and neither side has published a case number or archive extract that settles the question publicly. The safest article line is that the reference belongs to the 1988-1999 transition zone, with the final year dependent on which reference work the buyer trusts. Serial ranges from the late 1990s are consistent with either read, and most late examples in the surviving market are sold simply as “1998” or “1999” with an accompanying papers date.
Rolex has never published an output figure. Bonhams describes "notably fewer units produced than its counterpart [the 16710]"; Sotheby's has it made in "smaller quantities despite its decade-long run". Directionally the 16700 is the rarer of the two, with no number to attach to that.
 
The watch stays steel-only in the current source set and is directly supported in two bezel branches.
 
* Pepsi
* black


<span id="movement-notes"></span>
<span id="movement-notes"></span>
== Movement notes ==
== Movement notes ==


Caliber 3175 is the final GMT-Master movement.
Caliber 3175 is the last GMT-Master movement and the only one Rolex built for a single reference. The specification is consistent across the published literature and the major-house lot catalogues: 31 jewels, 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 48-hour power reserve, hacking seconds, quickset date, Breguet hairspring, Glucydur balance with Microstella screws, Kif shock protection, COSC chronometer certification, adjusted to five positions and temperature.


* linked local hour and 24-hour hand
What the 3175 lacks is an independently adjustable GMT hand. That belongs to the 3085 in the 16760 (1983–1989) and to the 3185 / 3186 in the 16710 (1989–2019). Sotheby's collector guide describes an "independently adjustable flying GMT hand" on the 16700; the line is an error in print, and every other documented account has the 3175 working as a caller GMT.
* quick-set date
* late-generation five-digit reliability with the older GMT-Master operating feel


One important contradiction should stay visible. The Field Manual and Monochrome both treat the [[Reference:16700|16700]] as the last classic linked-hand GMT-Master. Sotheby’s 2025 cheat sheet appears to overstate the watch as if it had the independent flying GMT hand associated with GMT-Master II references. The direct article should stay with the more conservative reading.
The 3175 supersedes the 3075 of the 16750 and ends the linked-hand GMT line. Its own production span, 1988 to 1999, is the 16700's.
 
Service history is worth checking on watches from the end of the run. Antiquorum Lot 88 recommends "an overhaul at buyer's expense" and Sotheby's Lot 10 records "very minute corrosion spots" on the movement, which together suggest intervention is common on late-1990s examples. How often Rolex service fitted a 3185 in place of a 3175 during an overhaul is not documented anywhere in print. Since the 3175 shared no parts with the parallel 16710, a swap of that kind would have to be a deliberate movement replacement.


<span id="dial-map"></span>
<span id="dial-map"></span>
== Dial map ==
== Dial map ==


[[File:Ref 16700 pepsi-bobs.webp|thumb|right|280px|Late Pepsi 16700]]
[[File:Ref 16700 black-branch.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Black-bezel 16700|Black-bezel 16700]]
[[File:Ref 16700 black-branch.webp|thumb|right|280px|Black-bezel 16700]]
The current source set supports a simple but real branch split.
 
<span id="pepsi-branch"></span>
=== Pepsi branch ===


The Pepsi side keeps the family’s default visual identity alive right to the end of the GMT-Master line.
Glossy black with applied white-gold-surround indices is standard across the whole run. What changes underneath is the date wheel, the lume compound, and a late dial subset collectors call the stick dial.


<span id="black-branch"></span>
<span id="open-vs-closed-69-date-wheel"></span>
=== Black branch ===
=== Open vs closed 6/9 date wheel ===


The black-bezel side is a real late-run branch with its own look and appeal, not an option-list footnote. The direct late black example in the package makes that clear.
Date discs with open-loop 6 and 9 numerals run to about 1992, closed-style wheels after that; the Field Manual records the cutoff. An open-6/9 wheel on a late-serial 16700 is a reason to look harder at the dial and hands. Service departments swapped date discs during movement work often enough that a disc out of step with the expected production year is one of the easier tells on an otherwise clean watch. Overlap at the boundary is likely, and no public Rolex service record pins the switchover to a month, so an off-year wheel prompts scrutiny without condemning the watch.


<span id="lume-transition"></span>
<span id="lume-transition"></span>
=== Lume transition ===
=== Tritium to Luminova / Super-LumiNova transition ===


This is the main unresolved dial issue.
Tritium dials, marked "SWISS T<25", run to about 1997. What replaced them is where the sources part. Sotheby's dates the Luminova start to 1997 with Super-LumiNova arriving on later examples; Monochrome skips the Luminova step entirely and moves the watch straight from tritium to Super-LumiNova in the same year. Both readings are in print from credible sources and neither has been overturned. Some Luminova examples went out on T<25-marked dial stock left over from the changeover.


* the Field Manual says tritium to about 1997, then Luminova in 1998
For a late non-tritium 16700 the defensible collector position is "post-tritium luminescent", backed by a close look at the dial foot and the colour of the lume. Buyers who want the question settled stay with early-1997 or earlier tritium dials, where both sources agree.
* Monochrome says the watch moved from tritium to Super-LumiNova in 1997 and skipped Luminova


The gap is real and worth explaining. The Field Manual reads the late [[Reference:16700|16700]] as following the broader Rolex rollout pattern in which non-radioactive Luminova replaced tritium first, with Super-LumiNova taking over after roughly a year of overlap. Monochrome treats the [[Reference:16700|16700]] as a watch whose transition happened late enough that it went straight to Super-LumiNova without the intermediate Luminova batch. Collectors who buy late tritium examples (T SWISS T dial foot) rarely have any dispute. The friction sits on the 1997-1998 boundary, where a SWISS or SWISS MADE foot may be read as Luminova by one reference and Super-LumiNova by another. The practical collector workaround is to treat the lume on a late non-tritium [[Reference:16700|16700]] as “post-tritium luminescent” and let the dial foot printing and lume colour speak for themselves. Buyers who need certainty tend to look for early-1997 or earlier tritium dials, where both sources agree.
<span id="stick-dial-late-examples"></span>
=== "Stick" dial (late examples) ===


<span id="case-bezel-crystal-and-crown-notes"></span>
Sotheby's listings from the late 1990s use "stick" for a dial subset carrying numerals only, with no Roman 6 or 9. Documented examples go back to 1991 Pepsi listings. Nobody has mapped the variant to a serial range.
== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes ==


[[File:Ref 16700 pepsi-bezel.webp|thumb|right|280px|Pepsi bezel close-up]]
<span id="case-bezel-crystal-and-crown"></span>
The case is the familiar 40mm steel Oyster shape of the late five-digit period. Sapphire and a Cyclops crystal immediately separate the watch from the acrylic [[Reference:16750|16750]] it replaces.
== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==


The bezel palette is cleaner than the later GMT-Master II references.
[[File:Ref 16700 pepsi-bezel.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Pepsi bezel close-up|Pepsi bezel close-up]]


* Pepsi is directly supported
The case is the familiar 40mm steel Oyster of the late five-digit period, rated to 100m as the 16750 was. The visible break with the 16750 is the crystal: sapphire with a Cyclops over the date where the older reference had acrylic.
* black is directly supported


The Field Manual also adds one smaller detail that still matters. Open 6/9 date wheels, where the numerals on the date disc are drawn with open loops, are said to run until about 1992, with closed-style date wheels following after that. The detail is worth more than it first looks. A late-serial [[Reference:16700|16700]] presenting an open-6/9 date wheel is a signal to examine the dial and hands more carefully, because service departments occasionally swapped date discs during movement work, and a wheel that does not line up with the expected production year is one of the easier authentication tells on an otherwise clean watch. The rule is not airtight. Overlap at the boundary is plausible, and no public Rolex service record nails the switchover to a month. Treat the 1992 line as a guideline for flagging, not a verdict.
The bezel is a bidirectional 24-hour aluminium insert, catalogued in two colourways, Pepsi in red and blue and all-black. Pepsi dominates the surviving population. Coke inserts in red and black do turn up on 16700s, but the configuration was never catalogued for the reference, so those are aftermarket fittings or service swaps. Factory Coke belongs to the 16710 and the 16760.


<span id="bracelets-end-links-clasps-and-packaging-notes"></span>
<span id="bracelets-end-links-clasps-and-packaging"></span>
== Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes ==
== Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes ==


The Field Manual gives the strongest current fitment map.
Period-correct delivery through most of the production window is the Oyster 78360 on a folding clasp, with 501 end-links early and 580 from mid-run. Bonhams Lot 4, a 1988 watch, carries that bracelet with a signed folding clasp stamped RS11, an unusual code.


* Oyster 78360 with 501B or 593 end links
Late production moves to the Oyster 78790A with Oysterlock, documented on late-1990s examples across the published literature. The Jubilee 62510H on 502B end-links was the dressier option.
* Oyster 78790A with SEL
* Jubilee 62510H with 502B end links


The direct sale set mainly shows Oyster presentation, not because Jubilee is impossible, but because that is how the best current examples in the package survive.
Antiquorum Lot 88 (Geneva, June 2020) documents a 1996 head on a 93150/501B Oyster bracelet. The 93150 is a service or later replacement reference that became standard on the 16710, so on a 16700 it points to a service-era fitment.


Packaging is decent for a first pass. The late black example in particular gives the article box-and-papers support instead of leaving the section at pure abstraction.
<span id="chuck-yeager-real-mccoys-special-edition"></span>
== Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's special edition ==


<span id="special-branches"></span>
A 50-piece special edition of the 16700 was produced in 1997 by The Real McCoy's, the Japanese vintage-clothing reissue brand, with the caseback engraved "General Chuck Yeager, Bell X-1, October 14th 1947, [n]/50, The Real McCoy's." It commemorates Yeager's supersonic flight in the Bell X-1 in October 1947. Three auction-house lots document the run: Bonhams sold No. 14/50, case U443556, as a full set on 24 November 2018; Phillips Hong Kong XI offered No. 21/50, case U453541, on 28 November 2020 with an estimate of HK$ 120,000–250,000; and Sotheby's Hong Kong Important Watches catalogued a c.1999 example, case A245609, in 2019 at HK$ 160,000–320,000.
== Special branches ==


<span id="pepsi"></span>
Antiquorum catalogued a 16710 Real McCoy's in its Monaco sale of 16 July 2017. That watch belongs to the same limited-edition programme but is not a 16700.
=== Pepsi ===


The last classic Pepsi GMT-Master, and one of the cleanest visual arguments for why some collectors stay with the [[Reference:16700|16700]] rather than moving into GMT-Master II references.
<span id="historical-market-and-auction-record"></span>
== Historical market and auction record ==


<span id="black-bezel"></span>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
=== Black bezel ===
|-
! Sale !! Lot !! Year !! Serial !! Variant / config !! Hammer
|-
| Bonhams || 25956/4 || 2020 || R-serial || 1988 Pepsi, 78360 / RS11 clasp || GBP 10,687.50 incl. premium
|-
| Antiquorum Geneva || 329-88 || 2020 || T254282 || 1996 Pepsi delivered Dec 1996, full set with original Beyer receipt || CHF 11,875
|-
| Sotheby's Geneva Important Watches || 10 || 2019 || T848499 || c.1996 Pepsi, cal. 3175, with extra black bezel || est. CHF 6,000–8,000
|-
| Sotheby's Fine Watches Online || 417 || 2024 || W752611 || c.1995 Pepsi, faded bezel, tritium dial || est. EUR 8,000–12,000
|-
| Bonhams || 25232/969 || 2018 || U443556 || 1997 Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's No. 14/50, full set || HK$ 106,250 incl. premium
|-
| Phillips Hong Kong XI || 862 || 2020 || U453541 || c.1997 Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's No. 21/50 || est. HK$ 120,000–250,000
|-
| Sotheby's Hong Kong Important Watches || 2023 || 2019 || A245609 || c.1999 Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's || est. HK$ 160,000–320,000
|}


A real late branch rather than a side-option footnote.
The 16700 trades as a watch people wear. Pepsi carries the family look and the stronger general-market premium; the black bezel draws a narrower audience that wants the quieter version. Standard examples cluster around GBP 8,000–15,000 and CHF 8,000–15,000 at the major houses, moving on dial generation, lume status, and paperwork. The Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's edition sits in a tier of its own, with all three documented lots clearing well above HK$ 100,000.


<span id="historical-market-and-auction-record"></span>
== Related references ==
== Historical market and auction record ==


The current market layer is modest but usable.
* [[Reference:16710|GMT-Master 16710]] — Pepsi, Coke & Black (1989–2007)
* [[Reference:16713|GMT-Master 16713]] — 1989–2007
* [[Reference:16718|GMT-Master 16718]] — 1989–2007
* [[Reference:16760|GMT-Master 16760]] — "Fat Lady", Coke Bezel (1983–1988)
* [[Reference:16750|GMT-Master 16750]] — 1979–1988
* [[Reference:16753|GMT-Master 16753]] — 1979–1988


* one late Pepsi example anchors the final Pepsi side of the line
See also the [[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet & clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].
* one late black example anchors the black-bezel side and gives stronger packaging detail


This is enough for a first article pass, but a true auction-house [[Reference:16700|16700]] lot would still make the market section much better.
== Sources ==


== Sources ==
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-gmt-master-the-complete-collectors-guide The Rolex GMT-Master: A Complete Collector's Guide] — Stephen Pulvirent (Sotheby's)
* The Vintage Rolex Field Manual, Chevalier Edition — unknown, Morning Tundra
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-gmt-pepsi-the-key-references The Rolex GMT Pepsi: The Key References] (Sotheby's)
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-gmt-master-and-gmt-master-ii-1955-2024-iconic-traveller-watch-in-depth-review/ In-Depth: The History of the Rolex GMT-Master and GMT-Master II] — unknown, Monochrome
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-gmt-master-and-gmt-master-ii-1955-2024-iconic-traveller-watch-in-depth-review/ In-Depth: The History of the Rolex GMT-Master and GMT-Master II] (Monochrome)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-gmt-master-the-complete-collectors-guide The Rolex GMT-Master: A Complete Collector's Guide] — Stephen Pulvirent, Sotheby's
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/wrist-game-or-crying-shame-rolex-gmt-master-16700/ Wrist Game or Crying Shame: Rolex GMT-Master 16700] (Fratello)
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-gmt-master-ref-16700-pepsi.html Rolex GMT-Master Ref 16700 Pepsi] — unknown, Bob's Watches
* [https://langedykvintagewatches.com/articles/rolex-gmt-master-16700/ Rolex GMT-Master 16700 vs 16710] (Vintage)
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-gmt-master-ref-16700-black-dial.html Rolex GMT-Master ref 16700 Black Glossy Dial] — unknown, Bob's Watches
* [https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-caliber-3175/ Rolex Caliber 3175 reference guide] (Millenary Watches)
* WatchProSite 16700 thread bundle — WatchProSite community, WatchProSite
* [https://www.everestbands.com/blogs/bezel-barrel/gmt-16700-the-solution-before-smart-phones GMT 16700: Solution Before Smart Phones] (Bands)
* [https://www.swisswatchexpo.com/thewatchclub/2023/10/03/rolex-gmt-master-16700-vs-gmt-master-ii-16710/ Rolex GMT-Master 16700 vs GMT-Master II 16710]
* [https://www.grayandsons.com/blog/5-things-to-know-about-the-gmt-master-16700/ 5 Things to Know About the GMT-Master 16700]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/gmt-master/16700-0001 Rolex GMT-Master 16700-0001]
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/watch-review/vintage-week-gmt-master-ref-16700.html Vintage Week: GMT-Master Ref. 16700 Ultimate Guide]
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-gmt-master-ref-16700-pepsi.html Rolex GMT-Master Ref 16700 Pepsi]
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-gmt-master-ref-16700-black-dial.html Rolex GMT-Master Ref 16700 Black Glossy Dial]
* [https://bulangandsons.com/products/rolex-gmt-master-16700-tritium-dial-with-box-and-booklets-w2094 Rolex GMT-Master 16700 1990 tritium dial with box and booklets]
* [https://www.windvintage.com/rolex-gmtmaster-reference-16700-w-black-insert Rolex GMT-Master Reference 16700 with Black Insert] (Wind Vintage)
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25956/lot/4/ Rolex GMT-Master Reference 16700 — Bonhams Lot 4] (Bonhams, 2020)
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-16700-gmt-master-lot-329-88 Rolex Ref. 16700 GMT-Master — Antiquorum Lot 88] (Antiquorum, 2020)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/important-watches-ge1901/lot.10.html Rolex 16700 Pepsi — Sotheby's Geneva Important Watches Lot 10] (Sotheby's, 2019)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/fine-watches-2/gmt-master-pepsi-reference-16700-montre-bracelet GMT-Master Pepsi Reference 16700 — Sotheby's Fine Watches Online Lot 417] (Sotheby's, 2024)
* [https://www.bonhams.com/auction/25232/lot/969/ Chuck Yeager 14/50 16700 — Bonhams Lot 969] (Bonhams, 2018)
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/HK080220/862 Chuck Yeager 21/50 16700 — Phillips Hong Kong XI Lot 862] (Phillips, 2020)
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/important-watches-hk0892/lot.2023.html Chuck Yeager 16700 — Sotheby's Hong Kong Important Watches Lot 2023] (Sotheby's, 2019)
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra


[[Category:GMT-Master]]
[[Category:GMT-Master]]
[[Category:Working Draft]]

Latest revision as of 23:53, 9 August 2026


GMT-Master -> 16700

The 16700 is the last classic GMT-Master, the final reference built around the synchronized "caller" 24-hour hand. Production ran from 1988 to 1999, and for most of that time the 16700 sat in the catalogue beside the GMT-Master II 16710 (1989–2007). Caliber 3175 was made for this reference and no other, running 31 jewels at 28,800 vph with a 48-hour reserve, hacking seconds, quickset date, adjustment to five positions and temperature, and COSC certification. The one branch with a market of its own is the Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's special edition of 1997, fifty pieces with the caseback engraved "General Chuck Yeager, Bell X-1, October 14th 1947".

Late Pepsi 16700
Late Pepsi 16700

Core facts

detail value
reference 16700
family GMT-Master (final reference of the original GMT-Master line)
production 1988 to 1999 (Sotheby's, Bonhams, Fratello consensus); Vintage Rolex Field Manual reads 1988 to 1998 — minority view
total examples no published Rolex production figure across any source. Bonhams describes it as "notably fewer units produced than its counterpart [the 16710]"; Sotheby's says "smaller quantities despite its decade-long run"
case 40mm steel Oyster
crystal sapphire with Cyclops over date
water resistance 100m
movement caliber 3175, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, 48-hour reserve. COSC chronometer-rated, hacking, quickset date, Glucydur balance with Microstella screws, Breguet hairspring, Kif shock. One-reference-only caliber
GMT mechanic caller GMT — main hour hand sets in one-hour clicks, 24-hour hand stays linked to the local hour hand. Last GMT-Master with this synchronized layout
bezel bidirectional 24-hour aluminium insert. Pepsi (red/blue) and all-black are the only factory configurations. Coke (red/black) on a 16700 is not factory — aftermarket or service swap
bracelet Oyster 78360 with 501 / 580 end-links + folding clasp through most of the run; later Oyster 78790 with Oysterlock from late production; Jubilee 62510H with 502B optional
key identity last GMT-Master with linked-hand "caller" GMT logic; only sapphire-crystal example of that classic mechanism

Where it sits in the line

The 16700 closes the original GMT-Master line. One hour-hand mechanism, a 24-hour hand fixed to it, one reference number. It follows the 16750 and ran alongside the GMT-Master II 16710 from 1989 to 1999. After 1999 the catalogue carried only the GMT-Master II, through the 116710LN and on to the current 126710 series. That leaves the 16700 as the only sapphire-crystal watch built around the classic synchronized-hand mechanism, and for most buyers that pairing is the whole appeal.

Caller vs flyer GMT

The 16700 is a caller GMT. The 16760 (cal. 3085) and the 16710 (cal. 3185 / 3186) are flyer GMTs, and the distinction splits the family cleanly.

On a caller GMT the main hour hand sets in one-hour clicks from the crown and the 24-hour hand stays locked to it, following wherever it goes. The second zone is read off the bidirectional 24-hour bezel: rotate the bezel to the home offset, glance at the 24-hour hand, and the reading is the time at home. That is the phone call the name describes. On a flyer GMT the 24-hour hand turns once per day independent of the local hour hand, and the local hand jumps in one-hour increments without disturbing minutes or seconds. The traveller resets the local hand on arrival, the 24-hour hand keeps tracking home, and the bezel adds a third zone.

Collectors who chase the 16700 over the contemporary 16710 are after the older travel logic. Because the hands are linked, the local hour hand steps forward whenever the date is advanced, which is the GMT-Master operating feel of the 1950s carried into a sapphire-crystal case.

Production outline

Every published account starts the run in 1988. The end year is where they split. Most editorial and auction-house coverage takes it to 1999; Colin A. White's The Vintage Rolex Field Manual (Morning Tundra) closes it a year earlier at 1998, and that reading stands alone. Late examples circulate in the market as 1998 or 1999 watches on the strength of their papers date, with no agreed cutoff behind either label.

Rolex has never published an output figure. Bonhams describes "notably fewer units produced than its counterpart [the 16710]"; Sotheby's has it made in "smaller quantities despite its decade-long run". Directionally the 16700 is the rarer of the two, with no number to attach to that.

Movement notes

Caliber 3175 is the last GMT-Master movement and the only one Rolex built for a single reference. The specification is consistent across the published literature and the major-house lot catalogues: 31 jewels, 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 48-hour power reserve, hacking seconds, quickset date, Breguet hairspring, Glucydur balance with Microstella screws, Kif shock protection, COSC chronometer certification, adjusted to five positions and temperature.

What the 3175 lacks is an independently adjustable GMT hand. That belongs to the 3085 in the 16760 (1983–1989) and to the 3185 / 3186 in the 16710 (1989–2019). Sotheby's collector guide describes an "independently adjustable flying GMT hand" on the 16700; the line is an error in print, and every other documented account has the 3175 working as a caller GMT.

The 3175 supersedes the 3075 of the 16750 and ends the linked-hand GMT line. Its own production span, 1988 to 1999, is the 16700's.

Service history is worth checking on watches from the end of the run. Antiquorum Lot 88 recommends "an overhaul at buyer's expense" and Sotheby's Lot 10 records "very minute corrosion spots" on the movement, which together suggest intervention is common on late-1990s examples. How often Rolex service fitted a 3185 in place of a 3175 during an overhaul is not documented anywhere in print. Since the 3175 shared no parts with the parallel 16710, a swap of that kind would have to be a deliberate movement replacement.

Dial map

Black-bezel 16700
Black-bezel 16700

Glossy black with applied white-gold-surround indices is standard across the whole run. What changes underneath is the date wheel, the lume compound, and a late dial subset collectors call the stick dial.

Open vs closed 6/9 date wheel

Date discs with open-loop 6 and 9 numerals run to about 1992, closed-style wheels after that; the Field Manual records the cutoff. An open-6/9 wheel on a late-serial 16700 is a reason to look harder at the dial and hands. Service departments swapped date discs during movement work often enough that a disc out of step with the expected production year is one of the easier tells on an otherwise clean watch. Overlap at the boundary is likely, and no public Rolex service record pins the switchover to a month, so an off-year wheel prompts scrutiny without condemning the watch.

Tritium to Luminova / Super-LumiNova transition

Tritium dials, marked "SWISS T<25", run to about 1997. What replaced them is where the sources part. Sotheby's dates the Luminova start to 1997 with Super-LumiNova arriving on later examples; Monochrome skips the Luminova step entirely and moves the watch straight from tritium to Super-LumiNova in the same year. Both readings are in print from credible sources and neither has been overturned. Some Luminova examples went out on T<25-marked dial stock left over from the changeover.

For a late non-tritium 16700 the defensible collector position is "post-tritium luminescent", backed by a close look at the dial foot and the colour of the lume. Buyers who want the question settled stay with early-1997 or earlier tritium dials, where both sources agree.

"Stick" dial (late examples)

Sotheby's listings from the late 1990s use "stick" for a dial subset carrying numerals only, with no Roman 6 or 9. Documented examples go back to 1991 Pepsi listings. Nobody has mapped the variant to a serial range.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Pepsi bezel close-up
Pepsi bezel close-up

The case is the familiar 40mm steel Oyster of the late five-digit period, rated to 100m as the 16750 was. The visible break with the 16750 is the crystal: sapphire with a Cyclops over the date where the older reference had acrylic.

The bezel is a bidirectional 24-hour aluminium insert, catalogued in two colourways, Pepsi in red and blue and all-black. Pepsi dominates the surviving population. Coke inserts in red and black do turn up on 16700s, but the configuration was never catalogued for the reference, so those are aftermarket fittings or service swaps. Factory Coke belongs to the 16710 and the 16760.

Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes

Period-correct delivery through most of the production window is the Oyster 78360 on a folding clasp, with 501 end-links early and 580 from mid-run. Bonhams Lot 4, a 1988 watch, carries that bracelet with a signed folding clasp stamped RS11, an unusual code.

Late production moves to the Oyster 78790A with Oysterlock, documented on late-1990s examples across the published literature. The Jubilee 62510H on 502B end-links was the dressier option.

Antiquorum Lot 88 (Geneva, June 2020) documents a 1996 head on a 93150/501B Oyster bracelet. The 93150 is a service or later replacement reference that became standard on the 16710, so on a 16700 it points to a service-era fitment.

Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's special edition

A 50-piece special edition of the 16700 was produced in 1997 by The Real McCoy's, the Japanese vintage-clothing reissue brand, with the caseback engraved "General Chuck Yeager, Bell X-1, October 14th 1947, [n]/50, The Real McCoy's." It commemorates Yeager's supersonic flight in the Bell X-1 in October 1947. Three auction-house lots document the run: Bonhams sold No. 14/50, case U443556, as a full set on 24 November 2018; Phillips Hong Kong XI offered No. 21/50, case U453541, on 28 November 2020 with an estimate of HK$ 120,000–250,000; and Sotheby's Hong Kong Important Watches catalogued a c.1999 example, case A245609, in 2019 at HK$ 160,000–320,000.

Antiquorum catalogued a 16710 Real McCoy's in its Monaco sale of 16 July 2017. That watch belongs to the same limited-edition programme but is not a 16700.

Historical market and auction record

Sale Lot Year Serial Variant / config Hammer
Bonhams 25956/4 2020 R-serial 1988 Pepsi, 78360 / RS11 clasp GBP 10,687.50 incl. premium
Antiquorum Geneva 329-88 2020 T254282 1996 Pepsi delivered Dec 1996, full set with original Beyer receipt CHF 11,875
Sotheby's Geneva Important Watches 10 2019 T848499 c.1996 Pepsi, cal. 3175, with extra black bezel est. CHF 6,000–8,000
Sotheby's Fine Watches Online 417 2024 W752611 c.1995 Pepsi, faded bezel, tritium dial est. EUR 8,000–12,000
Bonhams 25232/969 2018 U443556 1997 Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's No. 14/50, full set HK$ 106,250 incl. premium
Phillips Hong Kong XI 862 2020 U453541 c.1997 Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's No. 21/50 est. HK$ 120,000–250,000
Sotheby's Hong Kong Important Watches 2023 2019 A245609 c.1999 Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's est. HK$ 160,000–320,000

The 16700 trades as a watch people wear. Pepsi carries the family look and the stronger general-market premium; the black bezel draws a narrower audience that wants the quieter version. Standard examples cluster around GBP 8,000–15,000 and CHF 8,000–15,000 at the major houses, moving on dial generation, lume status, and paperwork. The Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's edition sits in a tier of its own, with all three documented lots clearing well above HK$ 100,000.

Related references

See also the GMT-Master family index, movement reference, bracelet & clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.

Sources

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