Reference:16700

From BezelBase


GMT-Master → 16700


The 16700 is the last GMT-Master, and that is exactly why it matters. It keeps the older linked-hand GMT-Master operating logic while running well into the GMT-Master II era, which makes it the cleanest late option for a buyer who wants sapphire crystal and modern case refinement without stepping into the independent-hour-hand mechanics of the GMT-Master II.

The reference looks simple from across a table. Up close, the end date is not agreed on, and the lume transition is told two different ways depending on which reference work you trust.

Core facts

detail value
reference 16700
family GMT-Master
production 1988-1998 in the Field Manual, with broader family histories pushing the run through 1999
movement caliber 3175
case 40mm steel Oyster case
crystal sapphire with Cyclops
water resistance 100m
bezel bidirectional 24-hour aluminum insert in Pepsi or black
key identity last GMT-Master with linked-hand GMT logic

Where it sits in the line

The 16700 is the final GMT-Master rather than the first GMT-Master II. It follows the 16750, runs in parallel with GMT-Master II references already on sale, and keeps the older GMT-Master hand logic instead of adopting the independent-hour system. On a GMT-Master I the local hour hand and the 24-hour hand are linked, so setting one drags the other. The 16700 preserves that behaviour to the end of the line. It is the late, sapphire-era way to stay on the original side of the family split.

A specific subset of collectors chases the 16700 over the contemporary 16710, and the reasoning is concrete. The linked-hand mechanism means the local hour hand jumps in one-hour steps when travellers set the date, which is the original travel logic the GMT-Master was designed around in the 1950s. The 16710, as a GMT-Master II, trades that for an independent 24-hour hand aimed at tracking a second timezone from a fixed home base. For a collector who wants the original GMT-Master operating feel with sapphire crystal and a quickset date, the 16700 is the only watch in the catalogue that delivers it. That is the whole pitch.

Production outline

Production ran from 1988. The exit year is contested. The Field Manual closes the reference at 1998. Monochrome and Sotheby's extend it through 1999, and Sotheby's 2025 complete GMT-Master guide states plainly that the 16700 was produced for 20 years and retired in 1999. Neither side has published a case number or archive extract that settles the matter. Serial ranges from the late 1990s are consistent with either reading, and late examples in the market circulate as "1998" or "1999" depending on papers dates rather than any agreed cutoff.

The reference is steel-only in the current source set and branches in two bezel directions, Pepsi and black.

Movement notes

Caliber 3175 is the final GMT-Master movement. It keeps the linked local hour and 24-hour hand behaviour that defines the GMT-Master I line, adds the quickset date, and carries late-generation five-digit reliability into a watch that still feels mechanically like an older GMT-Master.

The Field Manual and Monochrome both treat the 16700 as the last classic linked-hand GMT-Master, which is the reading the watch's mechanics support. Sotheby's 2025 cheat sheet appears to overstate the 3175 as if it had the independent flying GMT hand of a GMT-Master II, which it does not.

Dial map

Late Pepsi 16700
Black-bezel 16700

The dial carries two bezel branches and one open lume question.

Pepsi branch

The Pepsi side keeps the family's default red-and-blue visual identity alive to the end of the GMT-Master line, which for many buyers is the whole reason to pick a 16700 over a contemporary GMT-Master II.

Black branch

The black-bezel side is a genuine late-run branch with its own look and following, not a catalogue footnote. Late black 16700s turn up with full papers sets and have a quieter, more dressy read on the wrist than the Pepsi.

Lume transition

This is the main unresolved dial issue. The Field Manual reads the late 16700 as tritium to about 1997, Luminova for 1998, then Super-LumiNova. Monochrome skips the Luminova step and has the watch move straight from tritium to Super-LumiNova in 1997. Both readings are in print from sources the article otherwise leans on, and neither has been overturned.

Early and mid-run 16700s carry tritium dials and are uncontroversial: the T SWISS T foot resolves the question on sight. The friction sits on 1997 and 1998 examples with a SWISS or SWISS MADE foot, which one source reads as Luminova and the other as Super-LumiNova. For a late non-tritium 16700, the defensible collector position is "post-tritium luminescent" and a close look at the dial foot and lume colour. Buyers who want the question closed usually restrict themselves to early-1997 or earlier tritium dials, where both references agree.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes

Pepsi bezel close-up

The case is the familiar 40mm steel Oyster of the late five-digit period. Sapphire and a Cyclops lens over the date separate the 16700 immediately from the acrylic 16750 it replaces. The bezel palette stays clean: Pepsi and black are the only insert colours the source set supports.

The Field Manual records one detail that carries real authentication weight. Open 6/9 date wheels, where the numerals on the date disc are drawn with open loops, run until about 1992, with closed-style wheels after. A late-serial 16700 presenting an open-6/9 wheel is a prompt to examine the dial and hands more carefully, since service departments occasionally swapped date discs during movement work and a disc that does not line up with the expected production year is one of the easier tells on an otherwise clean watch. Overlap at the boundary is plausible and no public Rolex service record nails the switchover to a month, so 1992 works as a flag, not a verdict.

Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes

The Field Manual gives the strongest current fitment map. Period options include the Oyster 78360 with 501B or 593 end links, the later Oyster 78790A with solid end links, and the Jubilee 62510H with 502B end links. Surviving sale records skew heavily toward Oyster presentation, though Jubilee is period-correct and was offered on the reference.

Late black examples turn up with full presentation sets more often than the Pepsi equivalents in the current record, which gives the branch unusually strong box-and-papers coverage for a late five-digit GMT.

Historical market and auction record

The 16700 trades as a usable late-vintage GMT-Master rather than an auction trophy. The Pepsi side carries the classic family look and commands the stronger general-market premium, while the black bezel attracts a narrower collector audience that values the quieter late-run alternative. Neither side has produced a headline auction lot on the scale of earlier GMT-Master references, which is consistent with a watch still within living dealer memory and close to service-stock supply.

Sources

Retrieved from "https://bezelbase.org/index.php?title=Reference:16700&oldid=1787"