Reference:16713
GMT-Master -> 16713
The 16713 is the two-tone Rolesor branch of the 16710 generation, produced from roughly 1989 through 2007 with steel mid-case, yellow-gold bezel ring and crown, and the GMT-Master II independent-hour movement underneath. Collectors talk about it as the Root Beer reference, and the brown-dial, brown-bezel watch is the one most buyers picture. Rolex also built the 16713 with a black dial and black bezel throughout the run, in roughly comparable numbers. Both configurations are factory standard.
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| reference | 16713 |
| family | GMT-Master II |
| production | roughly 1989-2007 |
| movement | caliber 3185, with late 3186 noted in the Field Manual |
| case | 40mm steel-and-yellow-gold Rolesor Oyster case |
| crystal | sapphire with Cyclops |
| water resistance | 100m |
| bezel | black or brown in the direct branch examples; wider color assumptions remain unresolved |
| main dial split | brown Root Beer and black-dial branches |
Where it sits in the line
The 16713 sits in the 16710 generation, not the linked-hand GMT-Master world that produced the 16753 Root Beer. The brown colourway points back to that earlier two-tone, but the movement is full GMT-Master II with an independent hour hand. Reading the 16713 as a 16753 update is the most common mistake; it is closer to a Rolesor 16710 with a different bezel-and-dial palette.
Production outline
Production runs from roughly 1989 to 2007, parallel to the steel 16710. Within that span the reference splits cleanly into two configurations: brown dial with brown bezel insert (Root Beer) and black dial with black bezel insert.
Brown Root Beer branch
The brown branch is the most direct visual link to the earlier two-tone GMTs. Brown dial, brown aluminum bezel insert, gold-toned hour markers and gold-tipped GMT hand against the steel-and-gold Rolesor case — the palette is the same one the 16753 established.
Black branch
The black-on-black 16713 is the workhorse configuration of the reference and the version Rolex featured most often in period catalog imagery. *The Vintage Rolex Field Manual* describes the 16713 primarily as a black-bezel two-tone, while Ross Povey's GMT-Master survey in Revolution and Christina Bohn's Sotheby's Root Beer guide both treat brown and black as parallel production. Documented examples confirm both; bezel claims beyond those two colours need direct evidence.
Movement notes
Caliber 3185 powers most of the production run. *The Vintage Rolex Field Manual* lists late 3186 examples for the final years, but the changeover lands close to the end of the reference, so most surviving 16713s are 3185s. A 3186 claim deserves direct movement evidence rather than a date assumption. Both calibers drive the independent hour hand that defines the GMT-Master II, the architectural break from the linked-hand 3075 that ran in the 16753.
Dial map
Dial variation across the 16713 is narrower than on the steel 16710. The brown-versus-black split is the structural divide; within each, late watches drop the early gilt detail described below.
Brown Root Beer
Brown-dial examples carry the Root Beer name unambiguously. The dial is a warm chocolate brown with applied gold-coloured indexes — early watches still nipple, later watches flat baton, per the transitional detail covered below. The bezel insert matches in tone, slightly browner than the gold of the case.
Black dial
Black 16713s use the same dial architecture in the more conventional GMT-Master palette: gloss black with white-printed text and applied gold-coloured indexes, paired with a black aluminum bezel insert. The configuration is not a minor variant — it accounts for a substantial share of surviving watches and was sold alongside Root Beer throughout the run.
Transitional visual detail
Two early-production details place the 16713 as a transitional reference within the GMT-Master II line. *The Vintage Rolex Field Manual* identifies it as the last GMT branch to carry raised nipple indexes and the first to use a gilt coronet, both holdovers from the older two-tone vocabulary the 16753 closed out. Together those two cues make the early watches read warmer and more vintage-adjacent than the rest of the 16710-era family. Later production drops the nipples for flat applied batons and pulls the dial closer to the standard 16710 look.
Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes
The case is the standard 40mm Oyster of the 16710 era in two-tone Rolesor: 904L-grade steel mid-case with yellow-gold bezel surround, crown, and centre bracelet links. Sapphire crystal with Cyclops lens over the date — sapphire and Cyclops are the quickest way to confirm a 16713 against an earlier two-tone GMT.
Bezel inserts come in brown for the Root Beer configuration and black for the standard configuration. Coke or Pepsi readings of the 16713 turn up occasionally in dealer copy and forum threads but lack documentation in the published reference literature; treat them as unconfirmed pending direct evidence.
Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes
Both Oyster and Jubilee bracelets appear on surviving 16713s, and the surviving market does not split the bracelet choice cleanly along the brown-versus-black line: Root Beer watches turn up on Oyster, black watches turn up on Jubilee, and both also appear in the opposite pairing. Bracelet codes for the period are 78363 (Jubilee) and 78753 (Oyster) in two-tone, both with 503B end links. Born-with documentation across the reference is not deep enough to publish a delivery chart; treat bracelet presentation as a per-example question.
Special branches
Root Beer branch
The brown 16713 carries the Root Beer name within the GMT-Master II generation. It is the configuration the nickname names, and the one most secondary buyers shop the reference for.
Black branch
The black 16713 outsells assumption. A buyer searching the reference number expecting Root Beer brown finds black watches as often as brown, and reading the reference as Root Beer-only misrepresents what Rolex actually built.
Historical market and auction record
Auction-house presence for the 16713 is thin compared to the steel 16710, with most documented sales coming through Sotheby's retail and the secondary dealer market rather than catalogued evening-sale lots. The retail record is consistent enough to confirm the two-configuration, two-bracelet picture above without needing major auction backing.
Sources
- The Vintage Rolex Field Manual — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
- A Closer Look at the Rolex Root Beer — Christina Bohn, Sotheby's
- Master Stroke — The Rolex GMT-Master: Part II — Ross Povey, Revolution
- GMT-Master II 'Root Beer' (Reference 16713). A 40mm yellow gold stainless steel automatic wristwatch with date and dual time. 1991-1992 — unknown, Sotheby's
- GMT-Master II (Reference 16713). A 40mm yellow gold stainless steel automatic wristwatch with date and dual time. 1991-1992 — unknown, Sotheby's
- Rolex GMT Master 16713 Root Beer Dial — unknown, Bob's Watches
- Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16713 Black Dial — unknown, Bob's Watches
- WatchUSeek 16713 thread bundle — WatchUSeek community, WatchUSeek