Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 1675/8 - Nipple Dial Root-Beer

Straight Facts

What on earth is a ‘Nipple Dial’?

Let’s rewind the clock to the 1950s. Pan American World Airways, is in talks with Boeing to launch the worlds 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 York’s 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.

Which leads us to the present example GMT-Master, a second generation 1675. While the 6542 GMT was a great watch, it was not without it's flaws. The 1675 saw the introduction of crown guards, aluminum bezels … and the continuation of a full gold GMT-Master. While the 6542 was also available in all-gold, the 1675 reference gave us the ‘Nipple Dial’. With its signature brown autumnal colors - this is a period favorite. These rare “1675-8” models came with a few types of dials - this one having a matte brown dial with ‘nipple’ indices, called that for their generally small round appearance, punctuated by little plot of lume. These brown matte dials were often prone to chipping - but the one housed in this case is in perfect condition throughout with no signs of any degradation.

The dial aside, the bezel is an original ‘Fat-Font’ Root-Beer Bezel in excellent condition and had aged perfectly. The case is fixed to a beautiful solid-gold and original Rolex President bracelet. We know it was made for this watch as it is fitted with incredibly rare ‘54’ endlinks which were made exclucively for the GMT-Master model, adding a little further refinement. The case itself is in well preserved original condition as well, it has likely been polished before - but retains those delicate factory bevels on the tops of its lugs. For the top-of-the-line GMT of it’s time, this was certainly a babied watch!

*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.