Reference:gmt-master
The Rolex GMT-Master line starts as an airline watch and ends up as one of Rolex’s deepest collector rabbit holes. The core idea is simple enough: a 24-hour hand, a 24-hour bezel, and a second time zone for long-haul travel. But the family does not stay simple for long. Bakelite becomes aluminum, the GMT-Master becomes the GMT-Master II, steel splits from gold and two-tone, and color branches like Pepsi, Root Beer, and Coke pick up almost as much weight as the reference numbers themselves.
This page is the current index of the vintage and neo-vintage GMT references covered on Rolexopedia. It focuses on the references where the variation story is richest and where collectors spend the most time arguing about dials, inserts, bracelet fitment, and service parts.
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| family | GMT-Master / GMT-Master II |
| launch reference | 6542 |
| launch year | 1955 in the broad family histories, with some book-level tables treating 1954 as the start of the first gold branch |
| first major split | 1675 replaces 6542 around 1959 and establishes the long vintage core |
| functional break | 16760 in 1982, first GMT-Master II with independently adjustable local hour hand |
| last GMT-Master | 16700, through 1998-1999 depending on source |
| main vintage and neo-vintage set covered here | 6542, 1675, 16750, 16753, 16758, 16760, 16700, 16710, 16713, 16718 |
Where it sits in the line
The GMT-Master sits in the Rolex professional line as the travel watch rather than the dive watch, field watch, or chronograph. The Submariner is about elapsed time under water. The Explorer is about legibility and restraint. The GMT-Master is about keeping one foot in another time zone.
The family also has a cleaner internal split than it first appears.
- GMT-Master: linked local hour and 24-hour hand, with the bezel doing the work of a second time zone
- GMT-Master II: independent local hour hand, which turns the bezel into a third-time-zone tool
That mechanical split matters more than the nicknames. It is the real dividing line in the family.
Production outline
The airline start
- 6542 — the first GMT-Master, launched for the Pan Am era with a bakelite bezel and no crown guards
The long vintage core
- 1675 — the main vintage GMT-Master, approximately 1959-1979, with the reference’s widest variation story
The transitional GMT-Master years
- 16750 — the quick-set bridge between the long 1675 run and the GMT-Master II era
- 16753 — the two-tone GMT-Master II-period continuation of the Root Beer line
- 16758 — the solid-gold GMT-Master counterpart to the 16750
The split years: GMT-Master and GMT-Master II in parallel
- 16760 — first GMT-Master II, thick case, Coke identity, and the real functional break in the line
- 16700 — the last GMT-Master, running in parallel with GMT-Master II references until the end of the 1990s
The long neo-vintage GMT-Master II run
- 16710 — the long steel GMT-Master II with Pepsi, Coke, and black branches
- 16713 — the two-tone GMT-Master II branch inside the 16710 era
- 16718 — the solid-gold GMT-Master II branch inside the 16710 era
Modern ceramic references are not in this first upload tranche yet. This hub is built around the vintage and neo-vintage references already in the research layer.
Color and metal logic
The family is not only about reference numbers. Recurring branch identities matter almost as much.
- Pepsi starts with the steel 6542 and remains the default visual identity of the line
- Root Beer begins with the two-tone and gold branch around 1675/3 and carries into the later two-tone and gold references
- Coke arrives with the first GMT-Master II
- gold and two-tone GMTs are part of the family from the early period onward, not a late luxury afterthought
Reference guide
Early GMT-Master
- 6542 — first GMT-Master, bakelite bezel, no crown guards, steel and gold branches
Vintage core
- 1675 — the main vintage GMT-Master and the first full reference page that should go up with this family hub
Transitional GMT-Master
- 16750 — quick-set date, acrylic crystal, matte to glossy dial transition
- 16753 — two-tone Root Beer and black-dial branches in the GMT-Master II period
- 16758 — solid-gold transitional GMT with black and brown dial branches
GMT-Master II and late GMT-Master overlap
- 16760 — first GMT-Master II, Fat Lady / Sophia Loren, Coke core with unresolved bezel and dial questions
- 16700 — last GMT-Master, sapphire era, Pepsi and black branches
Long neo-vintage GMT-Master II
- 16710 — steel, long production run, Pepsi / Coke / black, late stick-dial and 3186 sub-branch
- 16713 — two-tone GMT-Master II, black and brown branches, branch map still thinner than steel
- 16718 — solid-gold GMT-Master II, black branch well documented, brown branch still thinner in direct sale material
Collecting context
The GMT-Master market behaves differently from the Submariner market even when the watches overlap in period. The Submariner tends to collect around case shape, military use, and dial text. The GMT-Master collects just as much around bezel color, travel mythology, and branch identity.
The same caution comes up again and again across the family.
- original delivery is not the same thing as period-correct fitment
- bracelet dates do not date the watch head
- service inserts are common, especially on the earliest references
- nickname language is useful, but it can flatten real differences between black, brown, Pepsi, and Coke branches if you let it
Sources
- In-Depth: The History of the Rolex GMT-Master and GMT-Master II — unknown, Monochrome
- The Rolex GMT-Master: A Complete Collector's Guide — Stephen Pulvirent, Sotheby's
- A Closer Look at the Rolex Root Beer — Christina Bohn, Sotheby's
- The Vintage Rolex Field Manual, Chevalier Edition — unknown, Morning Tundra