Rolex caused a stir with a two-tone bezel presented in blue and black with its latest iteration of the Rolex GMT-Master II. These two particular colours, blue and black, appear for the first time on this latest version of the Rolex GMT-Master II. It may not sound much to the non-Rolex watch enthusiast, but to a Rolex fan it elicits much cooing and vows of undying of love.
Rolex GMT-Master The ultimate in travel timepieces when it was introduced back in the 1950’s, the GMT- Master featured the red and blue colours of Pan Am airlines, with whom Rolex worked to develop this dual time-zone GMT pilot watch. The dual color was used for an easier indication of day versus night. It was in production until 2008 and replaced with the GMT-Master II, reflecting Rolex’s ongoing mandate to introduce a constant flow of new design and technological refinements to the original watch. The new version added the Maxi-case and a patented Cerachrom bezel. The Mono-block Cerachrom bezel is created by a unique, patented process that begins with ceramic, adding an additional color while still porous. In addition to conventional hour, minute and seconds hands, the GMT Master II features an arrow tipped hand which circles the dial once every 24 hours. To use the GMT feature the bezel marker is moved to 12 o’clock and the hour hand is changed to the current time zone. The minutes move with the GMT hand when the crown is unscrewed and pulled two positions, and the hour hand moves when the crown is in the first position. The GMT Master II features a bio-directional 24 rotatable bezel with engraved numerals and graduations, Parachrom bleu hairspring, Breuguet overcoil and Rolex caliber 3186 movement. 904L stainless steel models come with a black dial (lunette noire) only for superior visibility.