Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 16750 - Matte Dial

Let’s rewind the clock to the 1950s. Pan American World Airways, is in talks with Boeing to launch the world’s first passenger jetliner. Massively shortening the time between American and European nations. It does however, present an interesting dilemma. Pilots need to be able to tell time in two places at the same time with a very quick glance. Who does Juan Trippe turn to? Rolex. While worldtimers and GMTs were not a new invention - the way Rolex chose to answer it was incredibly novel AND simple. The addition of a ‘slow’ 24 hour hand that made one revolution per day and a simple change of the bezel to a military 24 hour time would allow the wearer to quickly read time in two places at once. Points awarded here for mechanical simplicity, and execution. The bezel would be in two different colors to represent AM/PM times, and those colors would be the PanAm colors of red & blue (naturally). While the watch was developed rather quickly and the first generation 6542 released in the mid 50s, the Boeing Jetliner (the 707) took a little longer to develop. That being said, when PanAm flew the 707 on its maiden flight from New Yorks Idlewild Airport (not yet JFK!) to Paris (with onboard catered food from Maxim’s of Paris!) it was the Rolex GMT-Master on the flight crews wrist.

While the 6542 GMT was a great watch, it was not without its flaws. To many in the collector community the 1675 is the de rigueur of GMT-Masters. That being said - it did have one minor flaw - no quickset date. Enter the Ref. 16750 - the upgraded replacement for the 1675. Featuring the upgraded high beat and quickset Rolex Calibre 3075, as well as being the first sport Rolex models to move to a high gloss dial and white gold lume surrounds marking Rolex’s transition from tool watch to luxury watchmaker.

But that is not what we have here…

This is the extremely rare and incredibly desirable transitional 16750 model. These were only made for a few years following the introduction of the 16750 and utilized those collector-prized matte dials with the upgrade movements. So what you end up with is truly the best of the both worlds. A thoroughly modern movement, with 1960s GMT aesthetics. Speaking of aesthetics - look at this bezel! A vibrantly colored red-back punctuated by an excellent dial where the dial and handset lume match perfectly throughout. This is an outstanding piece that would be an excellent first-time vintage wearer - or addition to a larger collection of watches.

*Some marks or spots on the dial are reflections or dust on the crystal and are due to high intensity strobe lighting used while photographing. They are not actually on the watch or visible in natural lighting.