Reference:16713

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GMT-Master → 16713


The 16713 is the two-tone GMT-Master II branch inside the long 16710 era. It carries GMT-Master II movement logic into a steel-and-yellow-gold Rolesor case, but it inherits enough of the older Root Beer visual vocabulary that collectors routinely misread it as just another nickname watch. The black branch is real. The brown branch is real. Both belong to the reference in equal measure, and the article has to carry both.

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 belongs inside the 16710 generation rather than the older GMT-Master one. It follows the earlier two-tone GMT-Master references in spirit, but it uses GMT-Master II movement logic (independent hour hand, independent GMT hand) rather than the older linked-hand system of the 16753. In the lineup it sits alongside the all-steel 16710 and the solid-yellow-gold 16718. Rolesor, Rolex's own term for a two-tone steel-and-gold case, is the configuration that makes it its own reference rather than a variant. Mechanically the watch has crossed fully into GMT-Master II territory, even while its colours still read back to the earlier Root Beer lineage.

Production outline

The broad production window runs from roughly 1989 to 2007. Inside that window the watch reads cleanest as two branches, brown Root Beer and black, rather than a single run with colour variants.

Brown Root Beer branch

The brown branch keeps the strongest visual continuity with the earlier two-tone GMTs. A brown dial paired with a brown bezel insert carries the warm Root Beer look straight through into the GMT-Master II era.

Black branch

The black 16713 is not a rarity-hunt curiosity. It is the configuration Rolex pushed as the two-tone GMT-Master II's default across most of its own catalogue imagery of the period, and it is the one that turns up most often on Jubilee in the surviving market. A black gloss dial with applied white-gold-surrounded lume plots, paired with a black bezel insert, reads as a tonally quieter watch than a two-tone Submariner 16613 of the same vintage, because the bezel numerals are printed rather than applied. Buyers who come to the reference looking for Root Beer often leave with a black example because the wrist presence is cleaner and the aftermarket premium is gentler. The black branch is the workhorse side of the reference, not a footnote.

The branch map is not fully clean. The Field Manual table treats the reference more like a black-bezel LN, while the wider family literature tries to broaden the colour story. Revolution's GMT-Master II survey leaves room for brown-bezel and black-bezel production, and the Sotheby's Root Beer guide backs that. Direct examples on record support black and brown, and that is the safer line for the article.

Movement notes

The reference uses GMT-Master II movement logic, which is the main thing separating it from the older two-tone GMT-Master references. Caliber 3185 powers most of the run, and the Field Manual lists late 3186 examples for the final years. Both calibers drive the independent hour hand that defines the GMT-Master II, rather than the older linked-hand system carried by the 16753.

Within this reference, the 3185 to 3186 changeover lands late. The broader Rolex rollout of the 3186, with its Parachrom hairspring and revised GMT wheel, is commonly placed in the mid-2000s, and the 16713 ran until roughly 2007. That compresses the 3186 window inside this reference to the last couple of years of production. In practice, most surviving examples are 3185 watches. A 3186-equipped 16713 is not a mythical creature, but it is uncommon, and a seller who claims one should be able to show an original Rolex service invoice or movement photograph. No public Rolex archive confirms the exact serial boundary.

Dial map

Black-dial 16713

The dial story is simpler than on the steel 16710, but the branch split still matters.

Brown Root Beer

The brown example in Sotheby's retail inventory is the cleanest branch anchor, and a parallel Bob's Watches Root Beer listing reinforces it with heavier image coverage and a full Oyster presentation.

Black dial

The black branch holds up on the same pair. A Sotheby's retail example and an image-richer Bob's Watches listing together keep the black 16713 from being buried as a minor variant of the Root Beer.

Transitional visual detail

The 16713 is the last GMT branch with nipple indexes and the first with a gilt coronet, per the Field Manual. The combination makes the watch feel transitional in its own way, even without the extreme dial taxonomy of the 1675.

For spotters, nipple indexes are rounded applied hour markers with a small raised lume pip at the centre of each, rather than the flat rectangular lume plots found on later 16710 dials. Under a loupe the marker has a dome shape and the lume sits in a shallow cup. The gilt coronet is the subtlety in the dial signature block: the Rolex crown at 12 is applied in a warmer gold tone rather than the white or silver-tone coronet used across most steel sports references of the period. Put together, an early 16713 with both features reads as a genuine bridge from the 16753 Root Beer visual vocabulary into the GMT-Master II era. Later examples lose the nipple markers and move to the flatter applied-baton dial. The transitional window for the combined signature is understood to sit in the early years of the run, though no public Rolex document records an exact changeover serial.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes

The case is the expected two-tone Oyster shape of the 16710 era, with a steel mid-case and yellow-gold bezel ring and crown. Sapphire with a Cyclops lens over the date is part of the package and one of the simplest ways to keep the reference on the GMT-Master II side of the family line.

The bezel story is the part that still needs care. Brown and brown-and-gold Root Beer inserts are directly supported. Black is directly supported. Any wider colour reading beyond that still needs better direct examples. The Field Manual text reads the 16710 family's full bezel matrix (Pepsi, Coke, black) back onto the 16713 row, which is the source of the occasional claim that a Coke or Pepsi two-tone exists for this reference. The Sotheby's retail material among surviving examples does not support that. Revolution does not show a Coke or Pepsi 16713. The wider-colour reading therefore sits in the claimed-but-not-verified column rather than the production-branch column. Any two-tone 16713 offered as Pepsi or Coke deserves archive paperwork and a close look at the bezel fitment before it is taken seriously.

Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging notes

Black 16713 on Jubilee

The surviving market shows more than one useful bracelet presentation. Brown-branch watches turn up on Oyster; black-branch watches turn up on Jubilee. The Sotheby's retail pages for both branches include box context, so the pairing is not a dealer-only reading. The package is not deep enough yet to support a full born-with delivery chart, but bracelet presentation clearly varies within the reference.

Special branches

Sotheby's Root Beer 16713

Root Beer branch

The brown 16713 is the most obvious continuation of the earlier two-tone GMT identity into the GMT-Master II era. It is the branch the Root Beer nickname actually points at, and the one most buyers picture first when they hear the reference number.

Black branch

The black branch is the correction to the nickname trap. It is what a buyer expecting Root Beer brown often finds when they shop the reference by number, and the reason the article has to treat the black watch as a first-class configuration rather than an outlier.

Historical market and auction record

The auction record for the 16713 is still thin, but the retail side is enough to write the market story honestly. Sotheby's carries direct brown and black pages for the reference, and the Bob's Watches listings add deeper image and bracelet coverage. Together they show the reference is not one-colour and not one-bracelet. A true auction-house 16713 lot would still sharpen the picture, particularly for any 3186-equipped late example or any serious Coke or Pepsi claim.

Sources

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