History of the Rolex GMT

There is perhaps no other watch in the Rolex line as heralded and story filled as the GMT. Although I posted about the submariner a few days ago, this GMT has a far more rich history.

The GMT was originally released in conjunction with Pan Am Airways in 1955 to provide a timepiece which allows pilots to measure time in different timezones as a result of long flight durations. For those who are unfamiliar with the term GMT, it stands for Greenwich Mean Time, which is the timezone all others are based on. Have you ever seen on forum sight ups, or international time websites where it lists the central united states as -6 GMT? This is because we are 6 hours behind the GMT line which runs through Britain. So essentially, the point of any sort of GMT watch is to measure time in two or more timezones simultaneously.

The original 6542 (seen below) was what started it all. Like all rolexes it was waterproof, but you can see how the company incorporated the GMT bezel which allows the user to keep track of a second time zone.

The original bezel was a bakelite bezel. Basically it was a cheap piece of plastic that was easily breakable but it got replaced the next year by a metal bezel as a result. This model was highly talked about for two reasons:

1964: Actress Honor Blackman wears this model in the Movie Goldfinger

1970: Jack Schweigert wears this on Apollo 13. There is a movie based upon this event but it revolves around a failed attempt to get to the moon due to an exploding oxygen tank. For my older, followers. i am sure you remember this event.

In 1983, Rolex released a new and improved GMT called the GMT Master II which was basically an updated version of the original design but had a scratch resistant crystal (seen below). This is probably the most common GMT you see today.

Finally in 2005, Rolex released the GMT Master II Ceramic which is the newest and most current model. The design is basically the same the to honor the 50th anniversary, they applies green lettering for GMT Master II on the face and changed the GMT color hand from red to green. The bezel as also changed to ceramic, which is pretty much scratch-proof. The numbering on the bezel is also engraved (not printed like the previous models) and are set in platinum.

Enjoy folks. This is watchman signing out, enlightening your day one post at a time.