The conquest of air has always been a strong ambition for mankind. When the Wright brothers launched their prototype Flyer at the North Carolina Sea, a door opened in the advances of aviation. After that, everything accelerated in the conquest of the air.
Air transport took off in the 1950s and 1960s. It was during these years that a new type of tourism emerged, with new airlines. It was a real revolution for the time. Travelling has never been easier, allowing tourists to move between continents.
One of the great American airlines of the last century, Pan American World Airways, teamed up with a Swiss watch brand, Rolex, to see if it could make a watch that could tell the time in several places. The GMT-Master was born as a result of this collaboration.
The Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master was launched in 1955 when intercontinental flights were booming. It became the official watch of Pan Am, which was at the time the largest American intercontinental airline.
The letters GMT refer to Greenwich Mean Time, which is also called mean solar time at the Greenwich meridian. It indicates the meantime at which the sun crosses the meridian in England on which the Royal Observatory is located. At the time, this was the worldwide reference, which has since been replaced by UTC for Coordinated Universal Time. In spite of this replacement, the letters GMT have remained in everyday language.
In short, a GMT watch is a timepiece that can display two different time zones. The Rolex GMT-Master has the usual three hands that we find on classic watches, then a fourth hand that goes around the dial in 24 hours. The addition of this hand allows it to go around the dial in 24 hours, so the watch can display a second time zone. The color of the bezel of this watch also allowed the pilot to better situate himself. The red color was for the hours of the day (between 6h and 18h) and the blue color was for the hours of the night (between 18h and 6h).
The first GMT-Master
That's where the myth begins. The reference 6542 is the first GMT-Master ever made, it's a tool-watch designed to facilitate the work and the reading of the pilots' time. More than 60 years later, the design remains unchanged, and the GMT-Master 2, which we currently find in the brand's catalog, uses the codes of this model. As with everything Rolex has done, we can see how the design of the GMT-Master has influenced other watchmaking houses over the years and how it has helped to create a category of its own. Many will remember that this watch was worn by Honor Blackman when she played the role of Pussy Galore in the James Bond movie Goldfinger.
Modern Rolexes
The reference 1675 was produced from 1959 to 1980, making it one of the longest remaining Rolexes in the brand's catalog. During this period, Rolex made numerous modifications, both large and small, to the GMT-Master. In the early 1980s, after more than 21 years of production of the 1675, Rolex introduced the 16750, which features the 3075 caliber, and the model offers a quick date-change option.
Since the original 1955 model was launched, Rolex has added some subtle touches of modernization. Over time, the watch bezel has been offered in different combinations of colors and materials. Initially made of plexiglass, then replaced in 1959 by an anodized aluminum disc before the ceramic bezel made its appearance in 2005, the GMT-Master has kept its timeless codes.
The arrival of the GMT-Master 2
On the original GMT-Master, the hour and minute hands are synchronized with the 24-hour hand. In the early 1980s, more precisely in 1982, the mark on the crown introduced a new caliber that allows the hour hand to be set independently of the minute and 24-hour hands. To mark this change, and in order to avoid confusion, models with this new movement will be called GMT-Master 2.
In 2005, Rolex celebrated the 50th anniversary of the GMT-Master by redesigning the GMT-Master 2, considerably strengthening its case, and introducing a ceramic bezel insert that was originally produced only in black. Initially, the anniversary model was to be made in gold, but Rolex will prefer to market an all-black version with the black dial and bezel in 2007.
This watch features the new caliber 3186 with Parachrom spring, which offers greater resistance to shocks and temperature variations. Rolex has also produced a two-tone steel and gold variation on the black GMT-Master 2 with Cerachrom bezel, the reference 116713. For the production of the 116710LN, the switch to Chromalight was made. The first models are therefore equipped with Super-LumiNova, while the more recent models are equipped with Chromalight.
In 2013, Rolex decided to change everything and introduced the reference 116710BLNR, which would later be nicknamed Batman. According to Rolex, the bezel was originally an entirely blue porous ceramic piece, to which a black coloration was then added, on only one half of the bezel. The combination of blue and black was a first in the GMT-Master line. Nevertheless, this model when it was released made a strong impression, but not everyone liked it.
As a result, many variations were created, including the famous GMT-Master Pepsi. The Rolex GMT-Master has been the tool watch par excellence for more than 60 years. During this time, it has eclipsed its initial origins to become one of the most desirable and collected watches in the world.
If you have a GMT-Master that you would like to have tested, please do not hesitate to contact us!
