Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16760 - 'Sophia Loren' AKA 'Fat Lady'

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 thereforsucceeded by the updated Reference 1675 in 1959.

Like many Rolex models, the 1675 underwent many small changes over its 21-year production run, with a slew of dial, bezel, bracelet, and hand variations, and would eventually evolve into the 5-digit GMT-Master and GMT-Master IIs.

The piece that we have here is the very first GMT-Master II: the Reference 16760. This Reference was sold side-by-side the standard GMT-Master (Ref. 16750) for the entirety of its production run of just 8-years or so, and was ultimately replaced by the Reference 16710. Why? It was thick and heavy relative to its Ref. 16750 and 1675 predecessors. The Ref. 16760 had case proportions much more similar to that of a period Submariner Date Ref. 16800, than any GMT-Master before it, and even after it. This was all in the name of being able to house the new movement featuring a jumping local hour hand: the Calibre 3085. At the time, sacrificing slenderness was a necessary trade off for the incredible functionality that this new movement would introduce until it was eventually replaced by the updated and much more slim Calibre 3185 in the Reference 16710 series.

This example hails from the second to last year of the reference, circa 1987, and comes to us in very nice overall condition. It's case bas been previously poli while preserving a thick and symmetrical dimensions in the lugs. It shows only light signs of wear throughout with no major damage or blemishes to speak of. The red/black 'Coke' bezel insert — also the first of its kind — shows light wear and a fade developing on the red half. The glossy black dial with applied white gold indices — also a first of its kind within the GMT-Master lineage — has changed to more of a 'matte' surface over the years. It is even and presents very nicely, particularly with its deeply patinated Tritium elements. Typical of this era, the handset is slightly lighter. It comes fitted to a correct solid-link Oyster bracelet in matching condition to that of the case.

This then is a bit of an outlier in the GMT-Master lineage. Transitional and revolutionary at the same time, these are relatively uncommon and absolutely have an important place in the history of the model.