Rolex 116713LN GMT-Master

From BezelBase
Revision as of 22:05, 8 August 2026 by Admin (talk | contribs) (Text audit: voice, clarity, source links)


GMT-Master -> 116713LN

The 116713LN is the two-tone ceramic GMT-Master II of the six-digit era. It arrived at Baselworld 2006 as the second GMT-Master II to carry a Cerachrom bezel, a year behind the solid yellow-gold 116718LN, and the first of the pair to put steel in the case. Rolex ran the new bezel on precious metal before it ran on a sports-steel watch, and the all-steel 116710LN did not arrive until 2007. The Rolesor then held its position in the line alongside the steel version for the next decade, until the 2019 generation change.

The variant tree is unusually bare. One gloss-black dial, one black Cerachrom insert, and no branches inside the reference at all.

Rolesor, black Cerachrom bezel
Rolesor, black Cerachrom bezel

Core facts

detail value
reference 116713LN
family GMT-Master II
production Baselworld 2006 debut; discontinued around 2019 in the 126710/126711 generation shift
movement caliber 3186 with blue Parachrom hairspring
case 40mm Rolesor (Oystersteel and 18k yellow gold) Oyster case
crystal sapphire with Cyclops
water resistance 100m
bezel black Cerachrom with gold-filled 24-hour graduations
key identity second ceramic-bezel GMT-Master II and the first with steel in the case; the only two-tone yellow-gold ceramic GMT

Where it sits in the line

Rolesor ceramic era catalogue context
Rolesor ceramic era catalogue context

The 116713LN is the direct ceramic-era successor to the 16713, the two-tone yellow-gold GMT-Master II of the five-digit generation. Where the 16713 divided cleanly into a brown Root Beer branch and a black-dial branch, the 116713LN consolidated the reference onto a single black-on-black configuration. The Rootbeer colour scheme left the two-tone GMT-Master II at this point and did not return until the ceramic 126711CHNR launched in 2018, by which time the gold side had also shifted from yellow to Everose.

The 116713LN is the middle step in the Cerachrom rollout. Rolex introduced it at Baselworld 2006, a year after the yellow-gold 116718LN and a year ahead of the all-steel 116710LN in 2007, which reversed the usual pattern of launching a sports reference in steel first and adding precious-metal versions later. The Rolesor inherited the role the 116718LN had held since 2005, carrying the newest bezel and dial technology before the steel watch got it. Once the 116710LN arrived, the 116713LN held the two-tone position for another decade.

The reference closes with the 2019 generation change, when Rolex replaced the 116710LN, 116710BLNR, and the 116713LN with the six-digit 126710 family. The two-tone Rolesor position then sat empty in ceramic until the green-and-black 126713GRNR in 2023, which returned to two-tone yellow gold but on Jubilee rather than Oyster and in a new colourway rather than reviving black.

Production outline

The reference launched at Baselworld 2006 and ran to roughly 2019. Rolex never published an end date, so the boundary is read off the generation change. Examples dated across the full run survive, and Sotheby's and Bonhams both catalogued lots — 2014 and 2017 — while the reference was still in production.

Movement notes

Caliber 3186 powered the reference throughout, running at 28,800 vph with a 50-hour power reserve and a blue Parachrom hairspring. Caliber 3285 superseded it on the ceramic Rootbeer pair in 2018, moving the reserve to 70 hours and adding the Chronergy escapement, but it never reached the 116713LN. One movement generation runs from launch to discontinuation.

Dial map

Black dial on two-tone Rolesor
Black dial on two-tone Rolesor

A single gloss-black lacquer dial ran the whole production, with Chromalight plots in yellow-gold surrounds and a black Cerachrom insert carrying gold-filled 24-hour graduations. The green GMT hand is the simplest marker separating the 116713LN and its Cerachrom siblings from the aluminum-insert 16713. Inside the reference there is one dial, one bezel colour, and nothing else.

That consolidation is worth tracing. The vintage 1675 and 16753 carried brown-and-gold Rootbeer dials as the yellow-gold GMT identity, and the 16713 split yellow-gold production between brown and black. With the 116713LN, black became the only option. When Rolex brought the Rootbeer back in 2018 it did so in Everose, on a different six-digit reference.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Black Cerachrom bezel on Rolesor
Black Cerachrom bezel on Rolesor
Caseback detail
Caseback detail

The case is the Maxi-case geometry shared across the Cerachrom-era GMT-Master II. Compared with the 16713, the crown guards are larger, the lugs are thicker, and the case sides are more squared. The 40mm footprint is unchanged, but the wrist presence is heavier. The dial carries correspondingly larger applied hour markers and a wider Mercedes handset, the configuration commonly called the Maxi dial.

The Cerachrom insert is the defining technical change over the aluminum 16713. Rolex replaced the 120-click aluminum bezel with a 24-click unidirectional Cerachrom ring, scratch-resistant and colourfast in a way the aluminum insert was not. The 24-hour graduations are deposited into the ceramic through a patented nano-particle gold process rather than printed or painted on, which gives the markings their gold tone and keeps them flush with the surface. Cyclops over the date and the Triplock crown carry over unchanged.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

Oyster Rolesor bracelet
Oyster Rolesor bracelet

The 116713LN shipped on the Rolesor Oyster bracelet, reference 97203, with solid end links and the Oysterlock clasp carrying the Easylink 5mm comfort extension. The Jubilee, which became the default two-tone GMT bracelet on the 2023 126713GRNR, was not offered on the 116713LN during its run. The auction record shows Oyster fitment throughout.

Special branches

The reference has no production branches of the kind that split the earlier 16713 or the 16710. One dial, one bezel, one bracelet, run straight through the whole production, and collector interest tracks the reference as a whole rather than any configuration inside it.

Historical market and auction record

Auction coverage is thin. The reference appears in Sotheby's online and Bonhams catalogues across its production run without producing headline lots the way the steel sports references do, and most trading sits on the dealer side rather than the auction floor.

Related references

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

Sources

Retrieved from "https://bezelbase.org/index.php?title=Reference:116713LN&oldid=6930"