Watches

The Rolex GMT-Master is one of the most historic and iconic watches the brand ever produced. Its origin dates back to a commission request by Pan American World Airways in the early 50’s for their fleet of pilots who needed access to different time zones. These pieces would feature a similar design to another watch that Rolex was developing around that time, the Submariner, but would include a fourth hand running on 24-hr time, and a bi-colored bezel insert to represent AM/PM times. Those colors, naturally, would be the PanAm colors: Red & Blue. Thus, in 1953, the Ref. 6542 GMT-Master was born. These early pieces were ultimately, fragile arguably flawed in some ways, and were therefor succeeded by the updated Reference 1675 in 1959. These pieces introduced a larger case size with crown-guards and a bi-colored blue + red bezel insert made of aluminum. The Ref. 1675 underwent many small changes over its 21-year production run, with a slew of dial, bezel, bracelet, and hand variations. You know, Rolex stuff. The piece that we have here hails from the tail end of when 'gilt' printed dials were still in use by the brand. Gilt dials are when the lettering and fonts are punched out of the dial so that the brass ‘gilt’ color shows through creating a golden text appearance. These are not very easy to produce and were ultimately discontinued by Rolex in the later half of the 1960s, as they couldn’t be produced in the same quantity as a matte dial - but nothing shines and glistens quite like these gilt dials. The example that we have here dates to circa 1966 and features a professionally refurbished case with clear chamfers, a black 'gilt' dial with an attractive patina across the luminous elements, and a 'fat font' bezel insert with a gentle fade. It comes fitted to a 'rivet' Oyster bracelet with a signed clasp. Rounding out the package­, this piece comes with its box and punched papers dating to 1966! Condition: Case: Professionally refurbished featuring wide bevels and thick, symmetrical lugs with only light wear. Dial: Gloss black dial shows light aging throughout with even patination across luminous elements with matching handset. Accessories: Box and double punched papers. Shipping: All watches will be shipped via FedEx Insured Priority Overnight shipping. International shipping will be shipped via FedEx International Priority Express, always fully insured. This service is included in the listed price and will not incur any additional fees. All watches are shipped 1-2 business days after receiving payment confirmation by Chrono24. We are unable to ship watches on Saturday or Sunday. Our Policy: We service or perform necessary maintenance to the extent necessary to all of our watches, unless otherwise noted. All watches are listed and sold running and functioning as intended. Our Guarantee: Through rigorous vetting of each watch offered, we’re able to guarantee authenticity of our pieces. Ultimately, your satisfaction is our mission, as is helping you get YOUR perfect watch. If you have any questions at all, we will get back to you ASAP. Each of our timepieces are vetted, evaluated, authenticated, and approved by our experienced team of experts and watchmakers prior to sale. We guarantee the period-correctness of all components unless otherwise disclosed. We guarantee the authenticity of each watch in perpetuity.

Introduced in 1955, the Rolex GMT-Master was designed in collaboration with Pan American Airways for its international flight crews. The watch features a distinctive 24-hour hand and a rotational bezel to allow crews to set the watch to GMT or another time zone. The model became famous for its reliability and versatility.