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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 linked-hand GMT-Master operating logic while running well into the…
|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".
 
The [[Reference:16700|16700]] is the last GMT-Master, and that is exactly why it matters. It keeps the older linked-hand GMT-Master operating logic while running 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.
 
The reference looks simple from across a table. Up close, the end date is not agreed on, and the lume transition is told two different ways depending on which reference work you trust.


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


[[File:Ref 16700 hero.webp|thumb|right|340px|alt=Last GMT-Master, sapphire|Last GMT-Master, sapphire]]
[[File:Ref 16700 pepsi-bobs.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Late Pepsi 16700|Late Pepsi 16700]]


== 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 16700 is the final GMT-Master rather than the first GMT-Master II. It follows the [[Reference:16750|16750]], runs in parallel with GMT-Master II references already on sale, and keeps the older GMT-Master hand logic instead of adopting the independent-hour system. On a GMT-Master I the local hour hand and the 24-hour hand are linked, so setting one drags the other. The 16700 preserves that behaviour to the end of the line. It is the late, sapphire-era way to stay on the original side of the family split.
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 ===


A specific subset of collectors chases the 16700 over the contemporary [[Reference:16710|16710]], and the reasoning is concrete. 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 the GMT-Master was designed around in the 1950s. The 16710, as a GMT-Master II, trades that for an independent 24-hour hand aimed at tracking a second timezone from a fixed home base. For a collector who wants the original GMT-Master operating feel with sapphire crystal and a quickset date, the 16700 is the only watch in the catalogue that delivers it. That is the whole pitch.
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.


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


Production ran from 1988. The exit year is contested. The Field Manual closes the reference at 1998. Monochrome and Sotheby's extend it through 1999, and Sotheby's 2025 [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-gmt-master-the-complete-collectors-guide complete GMT-Master guide] states plainly that the 16700 was produced for 20 years and retired in 1999. Neither side has published a case number or archive extract that settles the matter. Serial ranges from the late 1990s are consistent with either reading, and late examples in the market circulate as "1998" or "1999" depending on papers dates rather than any agreed cutoff.
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 reference is steel-only in the current source set and branches in two bezel directions, Pepsi and black.
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.


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


Caliber 3175 is the final GMT-Master movement. It keeps the linked local hour and 24-hour hand behaviour that defines the GMT-Master I line, adds the quickset date, and carries late-generation five-digit reliability into a watch that still feels mechanically like an older GMT-Master.
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.


The Field Manual and Monochrome both treat the 16700 as the last classic linked-hand GMT-Master, which is the reading the watch's mechanics support. Sotheby's 2025 cheat sheet appears to overstate the 3175 as if it had the independent flying GMT hand of a GMT-Master II, which it does not.
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|alt=Late Pepsi 16700|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|alt=Black-bezel 16700|Black-bezel 16700]]
The dial carries two bezel branches and one open lume question.


<span id="pepsi-branch"></span>
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.
=== Pepsi branch ===
 
<span id="open-vs-closed-69-date-wheel"></span>
=== Open vs closed 6/9 date wheel ===


The Pepsi side keeps the family's default red-and-blue visual identity alive to the end of the GMT-Master line, which for many buyers is the whole reason to pick a 16700 over a contemporary GMT-Master II.
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="black-branch"></span>
<span id="lume-transition"></span>
=== Black branch ===
=== Tritium to Luminova / Super-LumiNova transition ===


The black-bezel side is a genuine late-run branch with its own look and following, not a catalogue footnote. Late black 16700s turn up with full papers sets and have a quieter, more dressy read on the wrist than the Pepsi.
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.


<span id="lume-transition"></span>
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.
=== Lume transition ===


This is the main unresolved dial issue. The Field Manual reads the late 16700 as tritium to about 1997, Luminova for 1998, then Super-LumiNova. Monochrome skips the Luminova step and has the watch move straight from tritium to Super-LumiNova in 1997. Both readings are in print from sources the article otherwise leans on, and neither has been overturned.
<span id="stick-dial-late-examples"></span>
=== "Stick" dial (late examples) ===


Early and mid-run 16700s carry tritium dials and are uncontroversial: the T SWISS T foot resolves the question on sight. The friction sits on 1997 and 1998 examples with a SWISS or SWISS MADE foot, which one source reads as Luminova and the other as Super-LumiNova. For a late non-tritium 16700, the defensible collector position is "post-tritium luminescent" and a close look at the dial foot and lume colour. Buyers who want the question closed usually restrict themselves to early-1997 or earlier tritium dials, where both references agree.
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.


<span id="case-bezel-crystal-and-crown-notes"></span>
<span id="case-bezel-crystal-and-crown"></span>
== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes ==
== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==


[[File:Ref 16700 pepsi-bezel.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Pepsi bezel close-up|Pepsi bezel close-up]]
[[File:Ref 16700 pepsi-bezel.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Pepsi bezel close-up|Pepsi bezel close-up]]
The case is the familiar 40mm steel Oyster of the late five-digit period. Sapphire and a Cyclops lens over the date separate the 16700 immediately from the acrylic [[Reference:16750|16750]] it replaces. The bezel palette stays clean: Pepsi and black are the only insert colours the source set supports.


The Field Manual records one detail that carries real authentication weight. Open 6/9 date wheels, where the numerals on the date disc are drawn with open loops, run until about 1992, with closed-style wheels after. A late-serial 16700 presenting an open-6/9 wheel is a prompt to examine the dial and hands more carefully, since service departments occasionally swapped date discs during movement work and a disc that does not line up with the expected production year is one of the easier tells on an otherwise clean watch. Overlap at the boundary is plausible and no public Rolex service record nails the switchover to a month, so 1992 works as a flag, not a verdict.
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.


<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 options include the Oyster 78360 with 501B or 593 end links, the later Oyster 78790A with solid end links, and the Jubilee 62510H with 502B end links. Surviving sale records skew heavily toward Oyster presentation, though Jubilee is period-correct and was offered on the reference.
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.


Late black examples turn up with full presentation sets more often than the Pepsi equivalents in the current record, which gives the branch unusually strong box-and-papers coverage for a late five-digit GMT.
<span id="chuck-yeager-real-mccoys-special-edition"></span>
== 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.


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


The 16700 trades as a usable late-vintage GMT-Master rather than an auction trophy. The Pepsi side carries the classic family look and commands the stronger general-market premium, while the black bezel attracts a narrower collector audience that values the quieter late-run alternative. Neither side has produced a headline auction lot on the scale of earlier GMT-Master references, which is consistent with a watch still within living dealer memory and close to service-stock supply.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! 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 ==
 
* [[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
 
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]].


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* The Vintage Rolex Field Manual, Chevalier Edition — unknown, Morning Tundra
 
* [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://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.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.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-gmt-pepsi-the-key-references The Rolex GMT Pepsi: The Key References] (Sotheby's)
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-gmt-master-ref-16700-pepsi.html Rolex GMT-Master Ref 16700 Pepsi] — unknown, Bob's Watches
* [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.bobswatches.com/rolex-gmt-master-ref-16700-black-dial.html Rolex GMT-Master ref 16700 Black Glossy Dial] — unknown, Bob's Watches
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/wrist-game-or-crying-shame-rolex-gmt-master-16700/ Wrist Game or Crying Shame: Rolex GMT-Master 16700] (Fratello)
* WatchProSite 16700 thread bundle — WatchProSite community, WatchProSite
* [https://langedykvintagewatches.com/articles/rolex-gmt-master-16700/ Rolex GMT-Master 16700 vs 16710] (Vintage)
* [https://millenarywatches.com/rolex-caliber-3175/ Rolex Caliber 3175 reference guide] (Millenary Watches)
* [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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