Reference:116719BLRO

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GMT-Master → 116719BLRO

The 116719BLRO is the white gold ceramic Pepsi — the watch that put the red-and-blue bezel back in the GMT-Master II catalogue after a seven-year absence, and the first production Rolex to carry a two-colour Cerachrom insert. Rolex launched it at Baselworld 2014. It remained the only ceramic Pepsi on sale for four years, until the steel 126710BLRO arrived in 2018.

The decision to restrict the first ceramic Pepsi to 18k white gold was the story. Collectors had been waiting for a ceramic red-and-blue since the 16710’s 2007 retirement. They got one. It cost roughly five times what a steel Pepsi would have.

Core facts

detail value
reference 116719BLRO
family GMT-Master II
production 2014-2019
movement caliber 3186 with blue Parachrom hairspring
case 40mm 18k white gold
crystal sapphire with Cyclops
water resistance 100m
bezel two-colour red-and-blue Cerachrom
bracelet white gold Oyster with Oysterlock
dial black lacquer (-0001, 2014-2018), then blue (-0002, 2018-2019)
key identity first ceramic Pepsi in the Rolex catalogue; white gold only

Where it sits in the line

The 116719BLRO is the bridge between the five-digit Pepsi tradition and the modern ceramic era. The 16710 carried the red-and-blue aluminum bezel through to 2007. When the 116710LN replaced it, Rolex went all-black — no Pepsi option in the new case and bracelet platform. That absence defined collector expectation for years. The 2014 launch resolved it, but on Rolex’s terms: precious metal only, at a price point that filtered the buyer pool.

Sotheby’s treats the reference as a canonical chapter in the Pepsi lineage that runs from the 1950s 6542 through to the current production ceramic references. Fratello frames it as the watch that “reintroduced” the Pepsi after seven years of absence. Both readings fit.

Production outline

Rolex introduced the reference at Baselworld 2014 and kept it in the catalogue through 2019. The original 116719BLRO-0001 carried a black lacquered dial with Maxi markers. At Baselworld 2018, Rolex added the 116719BLRO-0002 with a matte blue dial. Same case, same bezel, same bracelet, different dial.

In 2019 the reference was retired and replaced by the 126719BLRO, which carried over the white gold Pepsi identity onto the new cal. 3285 platform. The 2018-2019 year of overlap with the steel 126710BLRO means both watches were briefly in the catalogue together, which collectors sometimes misread as a gap year for the WG version.

Movement notes

Caliber 3186 powers the full run. It is the late-generation five-digit-descended GMT movement, introduced elsewhere in the catalogue in 2007 and carried into the 116719BLRO from launch. The Parachrom blue hairspring gives it improved antimagnetic and shock resistance compared to the earlier 3185. Independently adjustable local hour hand; quickset date; 28,800 bph.

Rolex upgraded to caliber 3285 when the successor 126719BLRO arrived in 2019. Chronergy escapement, 70-hour reserve, and the tightened -2/+2 sec/day Superlative Chronometer spec all belong to the 3285. On the 116719BLRO, none of them do.

Dial map

Black dial on the white-gold Pepsi
Black dial -0001 configuration

The dial sequence is binary. The -0001 runs 2014 to 2018 with black lacquer, white gold applied Maxi markers, and Chromalight lume. The -0002 takes over in 2018 with a matte blue dial in the same furniture layout. Both carry the green GMT-Master II text that marks post-2007 GMT-Master II dials.

Outside those two variants, the reference is dial-invariant. No lume transitions run across it (Chromalight from the start), no printing changes of the kind that divide the 16710 stick-dial generations, no documented typographic shifts. It is a modern production dial with a two-colour split.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes

Red-and-blue Cerachrom Pepsi bezel
White-gold caseback

The case is 40mm in 18k white gold, in the wider “Maxi” architecture that the six-digit sports lineup adopted at the 2008-2010 generational break. Heavier than steel by a substantial margin. The case profile is functionally identical to the 116710LN and the later 126710BLRO; what differs is the material.

The bezel is the story. Two-colour Cerachrom was a new technical category in 2014. Rolex had been making single-colour ceramic bezels since 2005 (the Yacht-Master II) and brought them to the GMT in 2013 with the blue-and-black 116710BLNR “Batman”. The blue-and-black insert demonstrated Rolex could fire two ceramic colours in one insert at all. Red-and-blue was harder: firing red Cerachrom requires different kiln chemistry from blue, and achieving the two in a single piece without muddy joins at the boundary was the patented part of the process. Monochrome, Fratello, and Revolution all reference the two-tone Cerachrom as a manufacturing first at the 2014 launch. Sotheby’s “Pepsi key references” editorial treats the bezel as the defining technical achievement of the reference.

The crystal is sapphire with a Cyclops over the date window at 3 o’clock. The crown is a standard Triplock screw-down with crown guards. Water resistance is 100m — unchanged from the five-digit GMT-Master II, and consistent across the whole modern ceramic GMT family.

Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes

White-gold Oyster bracelet
Polished-centre solid-WG link

White gold Oyster bracelet with polished centre links and brushed outer links, fitted with the Oysterlock clasp and Easylink extension system. No Jubilee option was offered on the 116719BLRO; the Jubilee return to the GMT-Master II arrived in 2018 with the steel 126710BLRO. That timing matters. Anyone who wanted a Pepsi on Jubilee during 2014-2018 had no production option.

Full delivery set includes the standard Rolex presentation box, guarantee card, and period hang tags. Sotheby’s cataloguing across the 2023 Fine Watches and 2025 Important Watches lots captures the complete “box and papers” configuration that survives on most auction examples.

Special branches

Black-dial -0001 (2014-2018)

The launch variant. Four years as the only ceramic Pepsi Rolex sold, which gives it a narrower collector identity than the later blue. Sotheby’s has moved multiple -0001 examples through its rooms, including circa-2014, circa-2016, and circa-2017 specimens, which anchors the dial colour to the first production window.

Blue-dial -0002 (2018-2019)

The shorter-run variant. Launched alongside the steel 126710BLRO at Baselworld 2018 and discontinued the following year when 126719BLRO took over. Collector attention splits on which variant is more desirable: the original black represents the launch configuration, the blue is rarer by production window.

Pepsi nickname

“Pepsi” refers only to the red-and-blue bezel colour combination. The nickname predates the reference by decades — it has applied to the 6542, 1675, 16750, 16700, and 16710 Pepsi variants — and carries directly into the 116719BLRO and then into the 126710BLRO. It does not refer to any green bezel; the green-and-black 126720VTNR carries “Sprite” in enthusiast press.

Historical market and auction record

Sotheby’s has catalogued the 116719BLRO repeatedly across its Fine Watches and Important Watches sales. The 2023 Fine Watches lot sold a circa-2014 -0001 for EUR 35,560. The 2025 Important Watches sale included a circa-2017 example with full box and papers. A Sotheby’s Buy Now (immediate sale) listing covers a circa-2016 specimen. The French cataloguing on the 2023 lot reads “Montre bracelet à double fuseau horaire en or blanc avec date,” the standard Sotheby’s descriptor for the reference.

The secondary market has traded the 116719BLRO well above original retail through the post-discontinuation period, consistent with the broader precious-metal ceramic GMT-Master II pattern. Direct 2014 retail was approximately GBP 25,600.

Sources

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