Rolex 116710BLNR GMT-Master

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GMT-Master -> 116710BLNR

The 116710BLNR is the original Batman. Rolex launched it at Baselworld 2013 with a blue-and-black two-tone Cerachrom bezel, the first two-colour ceramic insert the brand had ever shipped. Case, movement, and bracelet came straight from the all-black 116710LN that had been in the catalogue since 2007; the bezel was the whole of the change. It was enough to make the Batman the most-discussed steel GMT-Master II of its generation, and the secondary-market run that followed still shapes how collectors read the reference.

Batman is a collector name, taken from the DC colour scheme, and it stuck fast enough that the factory code is now the less familiar of the two. That code, BLNR, parses as bleu noir.

First two-tone ceramic bezel
First two-tone ceramic bezel

Core facts

detail value
reference 116710BLNR
family GMT-Master II
production 2013-2019
movement caliber 3186
case 40mm Oystersteel Oyster case, Super Case generation
crystal sapphire with Cyclops
water resistance 100m
bezel two-colour blue-and-black Cerachrom
key identity first Rolex with a two-tone ceramic bezel

Where it sits in the line

The 116710BLNR is a bezel variant of the 116710LN, sharing the 40mm Super Case, caliber 3186, Oyster bracelet, and dial platform. What changes is the blue-and-black Cerachrom insert, the blue 24-hour hand, and the deletion of the green "GMT-Master II" signature line the 116710LN carried.

Rolex replaced it with the 126710BLNR in 2019, moving to the slimmer 126710-generation case, caliber 3285, and a Jubilee bracelet at launch. The 116710BLNR and the 116710LN left the catalogue together at that same Baselworld.

Production outline

Production runs from 2013 through 2019 with no catalogued specification change across the six years. Fratello's Baselworld 2013 launch-day coverage records CHF 8,500 as the introduction price; period market figures put the reference at roughly EUR 7,250 at launch and around EUR 8,200 by the time Rolex retired it.

Movement notes

Caliber 3186 runs the whole production. It carries a blue Parachrom hairspring, Paraflex shock protection, and the revised GMT wheel Rolex used across its Super Case sports references. Power reserve is 48 hours.

The same 3186 powers the 116710LN, so the two ceramic-bezel references are mechanically identical and separate only above the dial. Caliber 3285 replaced it on the 126710BLNR in 2019, bringing a 70-hour reserve and the Chronergy escapement.

Dial map

Blue/black Batman dial
Blue/black Batman dial

A single dial ran the whole production, glossy black in the Maxi layout with 18K white-gold markers, Chromalight plots, and a blue 24-hour hand. The printed text omits the green "GMT-Master II" signature that appears on the 116710LN, which is the fastest way to separate the two in a photograph.

Beyond the hand colour and that signature line, the dial is the 116710LN's, unmodified. Rolex changed the bezel and left everything under the crystal alone.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes

Caseback detail
Caseback detail

The case is the Super Case generation that Rolex introduced across its sports catalogue from 2005 onward. Compared with the 16710, the crown guards are heavier, the lugs wider, and the watch wears thicker. Rolex used 904L steel through this period.

The bezel is where the reference earns its place. Rolex produced the blue-and-black insert as one ceramic ring rather than joining two halves, and that is the technical point worth holding onto: it gave the colour split its clean edge and set up every later two-colour ceramic GMT. In daylight the blue moves with the angle. In low light the insert reads almost black.

The crystal is sapphire with a Cyclops. The crown is the Triplock system shared across Rolex's modern sports references, and the reference carries 100m water resistance.

Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes

Oyster bracelet detail
Oyster bracelet detail

The 116710BLNR ships exclusively on an Oyster bracelet with solid end links. The Oysterclasp carries the Easylink 5mm comfort extension. Glidelock, the longer micro-adjustment system Rolex uses on the Submariner and Deepsea, does not appear on the GMT-Master II. The Jubilee reaches the Batman family only with the 126710BLNR in 2019.

Full-set packaging is the Rolex presentation box, the International Guarantee card, and the swing tags, which is the configuration auction catalogues expect on a complete example.

Special branches

The 116710 family carries two published configurations, the all-black 116710LN and the blue-and-black Batman, so the 116710BLNR has no sub-branches inside it. The one grouping collectors do pull out is late production. Full sets with 2019 guarantee-card dates mark the final year of the original Batman and sit right against the 126710BLNR handover; Sotheby's catalogued one of them.

Historical market and auction record

The auction record runs deeper than the 116710LN's. Phillips offered a new-old-stock 116710BLNR from the Guido Mondani Collection at the Geneva Watch Auction XIX in May 2024, still stickered five years after discontinuation, with bracelet, guarantee, hang tag, and presentation box intact. Sotheby's had already catalogued a late-production full set dated to 2019 as the reference left the catalogue.

Secondary-market pricing has tracked the 116710BLNR against its successor ever since. EUR prices climbed from around EUR 8,500 as discontinuation became likely into the EUR 16,000 range shortly after, and the premium has held.

Related references

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

Sources

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