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Reference:gmt-master-ii-6digit-family

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The 6-digit family is the current GMT-Master II generation and the direct bridge from today's catalogue back into the 2018 reset. It starts with the steel Pepsi 126710BLRO and the Root Beer pair in 2018, adds the Jubilee Batman in 2019, the left-handed 126720VTNR in 2022, the yellow-gold GRNR pair in 2023, the steel GRNR in 2024, and the Tiger Iron stone dials in 2025.

The platform is simple: caliber 3285, a slimmer 40mm case than the Super Case, and a two-colour Cerachrom catalogue that now runs across five colorways.

Core map

  • 126710BLRO (2018-2026): first steel ceramic Pepsi; first Jubilee GMT since 1675 era
  • 126711CHNR (2018-present): Rolesor Everose Rootbeer revival; first two-colour Cerachrom
  • 126715CHNR (2018-present): solid Everose Rootbeer; Tiger Iron dial added 2025 as -0002
  • 126710BLNR (2019-present): Batman transition to Jubilee and caliber 3285
  • 126720VTNR (2022-present): left-handed green-and-black Destro; first modern left-crown Rolex sports watch
  • 126713GRNR (2023-present): Rolesor yellow-gold GMT with grey-and-black Cerachrom
  • 126718GRNR (2023-present): solid yellow-gold GMT; Tiger Iron dial added 2025
  • 126710GRNR (2024-present): steel grey-and-black ceramic GMT; "Bruce Wayne"

The steel Pepsi was dropped from the catalogue at Watches & Wonders 2026 per Robb Report. The white-gold Pepsi went with it. The rest of the family is current production.

Where the family changes

Caliber 3285

Every 6-digit reference uses caliber 3285. The important upgrades over 3186 are the Chronergy escapement, 70-hour reserve, and the tighter Superlative Chronometer standard. The movement itself does not branch inside this family.

SJX's launch coverage treated the Chronergy escapement as the headline technical change. Monochrome and Robb Report both anchor the 70-hour reserve as the consumer-facing improvement.

The architecture does not change for the left-handed 126720VTNR. Rolex reorients the case, dial, and date-wheel printing rather than mirror the movement internally. The date wheel numerals are oriented for the 9 o'clock window, which means the printing on the Destro's date wheel differs from the printing on the right-handed 3285 applications, even though the movement plate does not.

Case proportions vs. 5-digit ceramic

The most immediately visible generation change is the case. Fratello puts the 126710-generation case at 40mm wide and 12.5mm tall, compared with the Super Case geometry of the 116710 references. The lugs are narrower. The crown guards are less blocky. Monochrome's 126710BLNR review describes the 6-digit case as visibly less thick in photography at the same angle as a 116710BLNR, and the dimensional figures across the family — roughly 11.9-12.5mm thick depending on case material and reference — all sit under the Super Case height.

The dimensional change is the reason the 126710BLNR launched on Jubilee rather than Oyster in 2019. The slimmer case wears differently on the five-link bracelet, and the bracelet choice was the headline change at launch. Time+Tide's 2020 Batman vs Batgirl comparison treats the drape difference as the primary wrist consequence of the generation shift.

The case architecture is otherwise shared. Monobloc middle case, screw-down crown and caseback, Triplock crown, 100m water resistance, sapphire crystal with Cyclops over the date window. The only reference that departs from this layout is the 126720VTNR, which mirrors the crown and date window to the left side without changing the underlying dimensions.

The Jubilee return

Jubilee had been absent from the GMT-Master II Professional line since the 1675 era. The 2018 steel Pepsi brought it back, and the 2019 Batman extended the same choice to the blue-black watch. That bracelet return is one of the defining shifts of the 6-digit family.

The community named the Jubilee-bracelet 126710BLNR "Batgirl" in 2019. When Rolex reintroduced an Oyster option on the same reference in 2021, the split held: Batman stayed the Oyster-bracelet configuration, Batgirl stayed the Jubilee. Sotheby's adopted the Batgirl name in cataloguing by 2020.

The Jubilee is fitted with the Oysterlock folding clasp and the Easylink 5mm comfort extension. It drapes differently from the Oyster across all the references it is offered on. Launch coverage split on whether the bracelet was the headline or the complaint. Time+Tide took the positive side, aBlogtoWatch and Monochrome stayed neutral and let the bracelet speak. The choice has since become the defining configuration decision inside the 6-digit family.

The 2023 yellow-gold 126713GRNR and 126718GRNR ship on Jubilee only. The yellow-gold 126718GRNR Jubilee is the first full-gold Jubilee on a GMT-Master since the early 1980s. The predecessor 116718LN shipped exclusively on Oyster across its fourteen-year run.

Two-colour Cerachrom iteration

The 6-digit generation extended the two-colour ceramic catalogue. The 5-digit ceramic era had shipped two combinations — blue-and-black on the 2013 116710BLNR, red-and-blue on the 2014 116719BLRO. The 6-digit family added three more.

The 2018 CHNR Root Beer pair was the first two-colour Cerachrom after BLNR and BLRO. Its brown-and-black insert and Everose numerals give the old Root Beer idea a colder, more modern look than the vintage yellow-gold versions.

The green-and-black VTNR insert on the 2022 126720VTNR added the fourth colour pair. The green reads as a colour-history callback to the 2007 Fiftieth Anniversary green bezel announcement on the 116710LN. The combination is exclusive to the Destro.

The grey-and-black GRNR insert added the fifth modern two-colour Cerachrom pairing. Rolex names the code from gris noir. In practice the grey half often reads almost black indoors and shifts warmer in direct sun, which is why the bezel photographs less clearly than it wears.

The full modern two-colour Cerachrom catalogue now runs across BLNR (blue-black), BLRO (red-blue), CHNR (brown-black), VTNR (green-black), and GRNR (grey-black). Rolex has not released a two-colour red-and-black Coke insert. Robb Report noted the long-rumoured Coke ceramic that collectors had speculated about for years never arrived.

Branch map

The 6-digit family splits by case material and by bezel colourway. Both axes carry collector weight, and the nickname catalogue tracks both.

By metal

  • Steel (Oystersteel): 126710BLRO Pepsi, 126710BLNR Batman/Batgirl, 126720VTNR Sprite/Destro, 126710GRNR Bruce Wayne/Ghost. The 2026 discontinuation removed the steel Pepsi from the current catalogue.
  • Rolesor Everose: 126711CHNR Rootbeer. The only modern two-tone ceramic reference in Everose rather than yellow gold.
  • Rolesor yellow gold: 126713GRNR Zombie/Bumblebee. Returned yellow Rolesor to the GMT-Master II after a four-year absence.
  • Solid Everose gold: 126715CHNR solid Rootbeer, with 2025 Tiger Iron dial variant.
  • Solid yellow gold: 126718GRNR, with 2025 Tiger Iron dial variant.

By colourway

  • Red-and-blue (BLRO): 126710BLRO steel, 2018-2026. The 2026 discontinuation without announcement is the collecting event of the generation.
  • Blue-and-black (BLNR): 126710BLNR steel, 2019-present. Jubilee (Batgirl) and Oyster (Batman) configurations both current.
  • Brown-and-black (CHNR): 126711CHNR Rolesor Everose and 126715CHNR solid Everose, both 2018-present. The Tiger Iron 126715CHNR-0002 from 2025 is the only catalogued dial variant inside the pair.
  • Green-and-black (VTNR): 126720VTNR left-handed, 2022-present. Exclusive colourway; no right-handed VTNR exists in the catalogue.
  • Grey-and-black (GRNR): 126713GRNR Rolesor, 126718GRNR solid yellow gold, 126710GRNR steel. The Rolesor and solid-gold variants launched in 2023; the steel followed in 2024.

Nicknames

The 6-digit family carries an unusually dense nickname catalogue. Most names are collector-press shorthand rather than Rolex-official terminology.

Reference Nickname(s) Origin
126710BLRO Pepsi Descends from the 1950s 6542; applies only to red-and-blue
126710BLNR Jubilee Batgirl Coined in 2019 enthusiast coverage for the Jubilee-bracelet launch
126710BLNR Oyster Batman Carried from the 116710BLNR; applied to the Oyster variant after 2021
126720VTNR Sprite, Destro Sprite for the green bezel; Destro (Italian for "right-handed") for the left-crown case
126711CHNR Rootbeer, Cough Syrup Rootbeer carries from the 1970s; "Cough Syrup" is Fratello's 2019 framing
126715CHNR Rootbeer Inherited from the 1970s solid-gold 1675/8 and 16758
126710GRNR Bruce Wayne, Ghost Bruce Wayne reads the grey bezel as Batman's alter ego; Ghost reads it as the blue half disappearing
126713GRNR Zombie, Bumblebee, Dark Knight Time+Tide's April 2023 reader poll returned "Dark Knight" as the winner; enthusiast copy circulates "Zombie" and "Bumblebee"
126718GRNR — No dominant nickname yet

"Bruce Wayne" is a collector nickname. Rolex does not use it in any catalogue or product page. The same goes for every other nickname on the list. Rolex's own reference suffixes parse as French colour codes: BLNR for bleu-noir, BLRO for bleu-rouge, CHNR for chocolat-noir, VTNR for verte-noir, GRNR for gris-noir.

Collecting context

The 6-digit family is still mostly current production, so the market is driven by waitlists and allocation rather than by classic vintage scarcity.

The 2018 steel Pepsi set the pattern. Waitlists ran for years, auction-house examples appeared almost immediately, and the 2026 discontinuation pushed prices up again. The white-gold Pepsi left the catalogue at the same time.

The Batman/Batgirl pair has held the steadiest active-production demand. The Root Beer pair has the strongest precious-metal auction footprint, with the Rolesor watch trading more actively than the solid Everose version. The yellow-gold GRNR pair launched hot in 2023, and the steel Bruce Wayne reached the market in 2024 without much auction history yet.

The Destro sits in the same low-auction-footprint category. Its market is still mostly dealer and private-sale driven.

Sources

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