Reference:gmt-master-ii-6digit-family

From BezelBase


The 6-digit generation is the current Rolex GMT-Master II catalogue and the direct predecessors of current references. It opens in 2018 at Baselworld with the steel Pepsi 126710BLRO and the Rootbeer pair 126711CHNR / 126715CHNR, gets the Batman 126710BLNR a year later, then expands through the 2020s with the left-handed 126720VTNR Destro, the 2023 yellow-gold return through the GRNR family, the steel GRNR Bruce Wayne in 2024, and the Tiger Iron stone-dial variants in 2025.

The generation sits on one platform. Caliber 3285, 40mm Oystersteel or precious-metal Oyster case with narrower lugs than the Super Case that came before it, and a bezel catalogue that now runs across five two-colour Cerachrom combinations. The Jubilee bracelet returned to the GMT-Master II Professional line for the first time since the 1675 era, arriving on the steel Pepsi in 2018 and then spreading across the rest of the family.

Core map

  • 126710BLRO (2018-2026): first steel ceramic Pepsi; first Jubilee GMT since 1675 era
  • 126711CHNR (2018-present): Rolesor Everose Rootbeer revival; first two-colour Cerachrom
  • 126715CHNR (2018-present): solid Everose Rootbeer; Tiger Iron dial added 2025 as -0002
  • 126710BLNR (2019-present): Batman transition to Jubilee and caliber 3285
  • 126720VTNR (2022-present): left-handed green-and-black Destro; first modern left-crown Rolex sports watch
  • 126713GRNR (2023-present): Rolesor yellow-gold GMT with grey-and-black Cerachrom
  • 126718GRNR (2023-present): solid yellow-gold GMT; Tiger Iron dial added 2025
  • 126710GRNR (2024-present): steel grey-and-black ceramic GMT; “Bruce Wayne”

The steel Pepsi was dropped from the catalogue at Watches & Wonders 2026 per Robb Report. The white-gold Pepsi went with it. The rest of the family is current production.

Where the family changes

Caliber 3285

The movement under every 6-digit reference is caliber 3285. Rolex launched the 3285 on the 2018 GMT-Master II lineup, the 126710BLRO Pepsi and the Rootbeer pair, and has carried it unchanged across every 6-digit reference that followed. The Chronergy escapement replaced the standard Swiss lever geometry inside the 31-series architecture. Power reserve moved from approximately 48 hours on caliber 3186 to 70 hours. Blue Parachrom hairspring and Paraflex shock protection carry over. The 3285 sits inside Rolex’s Superlative Chronometer certification, with rate accuracy tightened to -2/+2 seconds per day from the older COSC -4/+6 envelope.

SJX’s launch coverage treated the Chronergy escapement as the headline technical change. Monochrome and Robb Report both anchor the 70-hour reserve as the consumer-facing improvement.

The architecture does not change for the left-handed 126720VTNR. Rolex reorients the case, dial, and date-wheel printing rather than mirror the movement internally. The date wheel numerals are oriented for the 9 o’clock window, which means the printing on the Destro’s date wheel differs from the printing on the right-handed 3285 applications, even though the movement plate does not.

Case proportions vs. 5-digit ceramic

The most immediately visible generation change is the case. Fratello puts the 126710-generation case at 40mm wide and 12.5mm tall, compared with the Super Case geometry of the 116710 references. The lugs are narrower. The crown guards are less blocky. Monochrome’s 126710BLNR review describes the 6-digit case as visibly less thick in photography at the same angle as a 116710BLNR, and the dimensional figures across the family — roughly 11.9-12.5mm thick depending on case material and reference — all sit under the Super Case height.

The dimensional change is the reason the 126710BLNR launched on Jubilee rather than Oyster in 2019. The slimmer case wears differently on the five-link bracelet, and the bracelet choice was the headline change at launch. Time+Tide’s 2020 Batman vs Batgirl comparison treats the drape difference as the primary wrist consequence of the generation shift.

The case architecture is otherwise shared. Monobloc middle case, screw-down crown and caseback, Triplock crown, 100m water resistance, sapphire crystal with Cyclops over the date window. The only reference that departs from this layout is the 126720VTNR, which mirrors the crown and date window to the left side without changing the underlying dimensions.

The Jubilee return

The Jubilee bracelet had not been a production option on the GMT-Master II Professional line since the 1675 generation. Period-fitted Jubilee bracelets on 1675 watches are a collector signature of 1960s-1970s Rolex, but the 16750, 16700, and the entire 116710 generation shipped on Oyster only. The 2018 126710BLRO Pepsi broke that run. Jubilee became the steel GMT-Master II launch bracelet for the first time in roughly four decades, and the 2019 126710BLNR Jubilee extended the choice to the Batman.

The community named the Jubilee-bracelet 126710BLNR “Batgirl” in 2019. When Rolex reintroduced an Oyster option on the same reference in 2021, the split held: Batman stayed the Oyster-bracelet configuration, Batgirl stayed the Jubilee. Sotheby’s adopted the Batgirl name in cataloguing by 2020.

The Jubilee is fitted with the Oysterlock folding clasp and the Easylink 5mm comfort extension. It drapes differently from the Oyster across all the references it is offered on. Launch coverage split on whether the bracelet was the headline or the complaint. Time+Tide took the positive side, aBlogtoWatch and Monochrome stayed neutral and let the bracelet speak. The choice has since become the defining configuration decision inside the 6-digit family.

The 2023 yellow-gold 126713GRNR and 126718GRNR ship on Jubilee only. The yellow-gold 126718GRNR Jubilee is the first full-gold Jubilee on a GMT-Master since the early 1980s. The predecessor 116718LN shipped exclusively on Oyster across its fourteen-year run.

Two-colour Cerachrom iteration

The 6-digit generation extended the two-colour ceramic catalogue. The 5-digit ceramic era had shipped two combinations — blue-and-black on the 2013 116710BLNR, red-and-blue on the 2014 116719BLRO. The 6-digit family added three more.

The brown-and-black CHNR insert on the 2018 Rootbeer pair was the first two-colour Cerachrom after BLNR and BLRO. The 24-hour numerals are moulded into the ceramic in Everose gold, Rolex’s patented platinum-fortified pink-gold alloy, which replaces the yellow gold of the earlier Rootbeer era. Fratello nicknamed the colourway “Cough Syrup” for reading colder than the Coca-Cola-brown of the vintage Rootbeers. Monochrome, Time+Tide, and Robb Report treat the black-dial-with-Everose-accents as a modern interpretation rather than a compromise.

The green-and-black VTNR insert on the 2022 126720VTNR added the fourth colour pair. The green reads as a colour-history callback to the 2007 Fiftieth Anniversary green bezel announcement on the 116710LN. The combination is exclusive to the Destro.

The grey-and-black GRNR insert on the 2023 126713GRNR and 126718GRNR, and the 2024 steel 126710GRNR, added the fifth. Rolex describes the grey ceramic colouration as gris noir, the French-language source of the reference code. Monochrome’s launch coverage names the insert the same. The grey half reads near-black in indoor light and shifts toward warm grey in direct sun. Time+Tide’s Sydney-sunlight review captures the bezel behaviour most directly, and Monochrome’s opinion piece builds the “photographs badly, wears well” argument around the same optical property.

The full modern two-colour Cerachrom catalogue now runs across BLNR (blue-black), BLRO (red-blue), CHNR (brown-black), VTNR (green-black), and GRNR (grey-black). Rolex has not released a two-colour red-and-black Coke insert. Robb Report noted the long-rumoured Coke ceramic that collectors had speculated about for years never arrived.

Branch map

The 6-digit family splits by case material and by bezel colourway. Both axes carry collector weight, and the nickname catalogue tracks both.

By metal

  • Steel (Oystersteel): 126710BLRO Pepsi, 126710BLNR Batman/Batgirl, 126720VTNR Sprite/Destro, 126710GRNR Bruce Wayne/Ghost. The 2026 discontinuation removed the steel Pepsi from the current catalogue.
  • Rolesor Everose: 126711CHNR Rootbeer. The only modern two-tone ceramic reference in Everose rather than yellow gold.
  • Rolesor yellow gold: 126713GRNR Zombie/Bumblebee. Returned yellow Rolesor to the GMT-Master II after a four-year absence.
  • Solid Everose gold: 126715CHNR solid Rootbeer, with 2025 Tiger Iron dial variant.
  • Solid yellow gold: 126718GRNR, with 2025 Tiger Iron dial variant.

By colourway

  • Red-and-blue (BLRO): 126710BLRO steel, 2018-2026. The 2026 discontinuation without announcement is the collecting event of the generation.
  • Blue-and-black (BLNR): 126710BLNR steel, 2019-present. Jubilee (Batgirl) and Oyster (Batman) configurations both current.
  • Brown-and-black (CHNR): 126711CHNR Rolesor Everose and 126715CHNR solid Everose, both 2018-present. The Tiger Iron 126715CHNR-0002 from 2025 is the only catalogued dial variant inside the pair.
  • Green-and-black (VTNR): 126720VTNR left-handed, 2022-present. Exclusive colourway; no right-handed VTNR exists in the catalogue.
  • Grey-and-black (GRNR): 126713GRNR Rolesor, 126718GRNR solid yellow gold, 126710GRNR steel. The Rolesor and solid-gold variants launched in 2023; the steel followed in 2024.

Nicknames

The 6-digit family carries an unusually dense nickname catalogue. Most names are collector-press shorthand rather than Rolex-official terminology.

Reference Nickname(s) Origin
126710BLRO Pepsi Descends from the 1950s 6542; applies only to red-and-blue
126710BLNR Jubilee Batgirl Coined in 2019 enthusiast coverage for the Jubilee-bracelet launch
126710BLNR Oyster Batman Carried from the 116710BLNR; applied to the Oyster variant after 2021
126720VTNR Sprite, Destro Sprite for the green bezel; Destro (Italian for “right-handed”) for the left-crown case
126711CHNR Rootbeer, Cough Syrup Rootbeer carries from the 1970s; “Cough Syrup” is Fratello’s 2019 framing
126715CHNR Rootbeer Inherited from the 1970s solid-gold 1675/8 and 16758
126710GRNR Bruce Wayne, Ghost Bruce Wayne reads the grey bezel as Batman’s alter ego; Ghost reads it as the blue half disappearing
126713GRNR Zombie, Bumblebee, Dark Knight Time+Tide’s April 2023 reader poll returned “Dark Knight” as the winner; enthusiast copy circulates “Zombie” and “Bumblebee”
126718GRNR — No dominant nickname in the current corpus

“Bruce Wayne” is a collector nickname. Rolex does not use it in any catalogue or product page. The same goes for every other nickname on the list. Rolex’s own reference suffixes parse as French colour codes: BLNR for bleu-noir, BLRO for bleu-rouge, CHNR for chocolat-noir, VTNR for verte-noir, GRNR for gris-noir.

Collecting context

The 6-digit generation is still current production across most of its references, which makes the collecting dynamics different from any earlier GMT-Master II era. Waitlist pressure and grey-market premium are the defining market characteristics rather than post-discontinuation appreciation.

The 2018-2021 126710BLRO Pepsi hype cycle set the pattern. Robb Report called it the hottest watch launch of 2018. Waitlists stretched for years. Secondary-market data shows double-digit appreciation through the 2020-2024 window with strong liquidity. Sotheby’s Important Watches Part II 2020 catalogued a circa-2019 example within eighteen months of launch, which marked the rapid shift from waitlist novelty to auction-house instrument. When Rolex dropped the reference from the catalogue at Watches & Wonders 2026, grey-market purchase requests spiked 500% in a week and unworn examples moved past USD 40,000 per Robb Report’s post-discontinuation piece. The white-gold 126719BLRO left the catalogue at the same time.

The 126710BLNR carries a different market shape. Post-2019 pricing climbed through Rolex’s 2020-2022 price increases. EUR retail ran from around EUR 8,500 at launch toward EUR 11,200 by 2024, and the secondary market still reflects allocation-constrained supply. Sotheby’s Important Watches 2020 catalogued a Batgirl example in the low-to-mid GBP thousands estimate range. Early waitlists carried secondary-market prices roughly 100% over USD 9,250 retail.

The Rootbeer pair sits in its own tier. The Rolesor 126711CHNR has the strongest auction footprint of the 6-digit family on an active-production basis. Sotheby’s Important Watches 2021 catalogued a circa-2019 example, and Phillips offered another circa-2019 full-set watch as lot 944 at the Hong Kong Watch Auction XIX in 2024 with hammer exceeding the HK$80,000-160,000 estimate. The solid-Everose 126715CHNR has thinner secondary-market data, matching the pattern for solid-gold variants of high-production Rolesor references. The 2025 Tiger Iron 126715CHNR-0002 is too new to have built an auction record.

The 2023 yellow-gold GRNR pair carried large first-offer premiums at launch. Time+Tide’s May 2023 secondary-market snapshot gave first-offer asks around EUR 35,500 for the Rolesor 126713GRNR against EUR 16,550 retail (roughly 2.1x) and EUR 67,800 for the solid-gold 126718GRNR against EUR 39,200 retail (roughly 1.7x). The Rolesor drew stronger early demand than the solid gold, which inverts the usual precious-metal premium pattern.

The steel 126710GRNR Bruce Wayne launched to divided reception in 2024. Monochrome’s opinion-review split on “too subtle / too boring” versus “great classic.” Time+Tide’s team was openly divided. The reference’s identity depends on viewing angle in the literal sense, and launch-week photography was inconsistent because of it. No tier-1 auction lot has appeared in the current corpus.

The 126720VTNR Destro is the other current-production reference without a strong auction footprint. Secondary-market median pricing tracks Oyster and Jubilee separately, with above-retail premiums consistent through the production run since 2022. A provenance-grade auction specimen has not yet surfaced.

Sources

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