Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 1675 - The Fuschia John Lamb Chevrolet

Straight Facts

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 shorting 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 worldimers 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.

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 its flaws. To many in the collector community the 1675 is the de rigueur of GMT-Masters. This one being among a small subset of watches whose original aluminum bezels faded to an incredible fuchsia color which is simply visually stunning. The watch is in truly amazing condition throughout with the smallest of blemishes near the 12 position lume. What really makes this watch special is the caseback. ‘John Lamb Chevrolet’ Who is John Lamb? Well, John Lamb was an American Dreamer. A World War II veteran, a car-guy, and a member of the Greatest Generation. Mr. Lamb flew over 50 missions in Europe as a pilot being decorated 6 times by the US Military (including twodistinguished Flying Crosses), upon his return home he got a job working at a Packard dealership in Cleveland, OH which was one of the most prestigious automotive brands in the world at the time. Tiring of the cold weather John moved south to Florida where he began working at a Chevrolet dealership before opening his own in 1966. That dealership was called John Lamb Chevrolet. Being that this watch was purchased in 1968, it’s likely that the former pilot wanted a pilots watch to celebrate his successes with one of the most iconic pilots watches ever made. While Mr. Lamb is no longer with us, this trophy of his success and lifelong companion is. That is the power of watches, they have this ability to link us to people past and future whom we never met, and yet know so much about.

*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.