Rolex GMT-Master II: every main model, from Pan Am to today

Two time zones, then three

The GMT-Master was developed with Pan American World Airways for long-haul crews^4,7,11. A fourth hand goes round the dial once in 24 hours, and the bezel was red for the daytime hours and blue for the night^7,12. Rolex dates the first reference, the 6542, to 1955, and Sotheby's starts its production in 1954^11,12,20.

Ref. 1675 followed in 1959 with crown guards, a 40 mm case and an aluminium insert, and ran until 1980^3,5,7. Ref. 16750, from 1980 or 1981, brought calibre 3075, a quick-set date and 100 metres^3,5,7,8. The last GMT-Master, ref. 16700, ran from 1988 or 1989 to 1999, alongside the GMT-Master II^3,5,7,8.

The GMT-Master II arrived as ref. 16760, in 1982 by Rolex's account and 1983 by several dealers'. Its calibre 3085 let the hour hand be set on its own in one-hour steps, so the 24-hour hand could keep home time and the bezel a third zone^3,4,5,6,21. Its thicker case earned it the nickname 'Fat Lady'^8,21,22.

Aluminium, then ceramic

Ref. 16710 replaced the 16760 in 1989 and ran until 2007, the longest GMT-Master II so far. It was slimmer, with calibre 3185 and, in the last examples, 3186, and its aluminium insert came in red and blue, red and black, or black^{5,18,21,22,27}. The two-tone and yellow-gold versions were the 16713 and 16718^3,21. It was the last steel 'Pepsi' with an aluminium insert^7,11.

Ceramic came first in gold. Rolex says the GMT-Master II was its first watch with a Cerachrom insert, in 2005: the yellow-gold 116718LN, in black^4,21,28. The steel 116710LN followed in 2007, with broader lugs on the same 40 mm, a green 24-hour hand and an Oyster bracelet only^15,16,29. Two colours arrived in 2013 on the blue-and-black 116710BLNR, and red and blue in 2014, on the white-gold 116719BLRO only^3,4,5,7,30.

The 126710 generation

In 2018 the red-and-blue Cerachrom bezel reached steel as ref. 126710BLRO, on a Jubilee bracelet, with calibre 3285 and about 70 hours of power reserve^7,11,31. The same year brought the Everose-gold 126715CHNR and the steel-and-Everose 126711CHNR, both with brown-and-black bezels, and the white-gold 126719BLRO^3,5,7,8.

At Baselworld 2019 the blue-and-black 126710BLNR replaced the 116710BLNR, and the 116710LN was discontinued with the gold and two-tone black-bezel models; Monochrome reported that every GMT-Master II would now have a two-colour bezel^24,28,32. An Oyster bracelet became an option on both steel 126710s in 2021^30,33.

In 2022 the 126720VTNR moved the crown and date to the left, with a green-and-black bezel^4,5,34. Grey and black came on the two-tone 126713GRNR and yellow-gold 126718GRNR in 2023, and on the steel 126710GRNR in 2024^3,5,8,35. In 2025 came Rolex's first ceramic dial, in green, on the white-gold, left-handed 126729VTNR^1,3,4.

Then the red went. In April 2026, around Watches and Wonders, the 126710BLRO and the white-gold 126719BLRO left the catalogue; the exact day is disputed, and we found no reason from Rolex^7,9,10,11,12. On 16 October 2026 its US page returned «page not found»^13,14.

What Rolex makes now

We read the GMT-Master II catalogue on rolex.com's US and UK sites on 16 October 2026. Both listed the same 13 models under eight references, all 40 mm Oyster cases^1,2: in Oystersteel, the 126710BLNR, 126710GRNR and left-handed 126720VTNR; in Oystersteel and gold, the 126711CHNR and 126713GRNR; in gold, the 126715CHNR, 126718GRNR and 126729VTNR^1,2.

None of the 13 carried a BLRO number^1,2,36. In Bob's Watches' words, that leaves no red bezel in current production⁷.

Sizes

The GMT-Master has grown once. The 6542 measured 38 mm; from the 1675 of 1959 the case has been 40 mm^3,5,7. Every GMT-Master II reference in WatchGuys' table is 40 mm, and so is every model in Rolex's catalogue today^1,3.

What changed is the shape around those 40 mm. The 16710 is about 12 mm thick and 47 mm lug to lug, with 20 mm between the lugs^22,37,38. The 116710LN got broader lugs and crown guards, the Super Case, at the same 20 mm lug width by Bob's Watches' account^15,23,29, and the 126710 of 2018 went back to thinner, more tapered lugs³¹.

GMT-Master II vs the rest

GMT-Master or GMT-Master II. On a GMT-Master the hour hand and the 24-hour hand are coupled; on a GMT-Master II the hour hand jumps on its own^3,4,5. In September 1996, when both were sold, a dealer's US retail table, not a Rolex document, shows the steel GMT-Master at USD 3,300 and the GMT-Master II at USD 3,500³⁹.

16710, 116710LN or 126710. The 16710's aluminium insert scratches, fades and can be swapped in minutes; Cerachrom is virtually scratchproof by Rolex's account but can chip^20,22,29,40. The 3185 and 3186 hold about 48 to 50 hours, the 3285 about 70^16,18,31. The 16710 and 126710 come on an Oyster or a Jubilee, the 116710LN on an Oyster only^22,33,40.

126710BLRO or 126710BLNR. Only the bezel and the 24-hour hand differ: red and blue with a red hand, or blue and black with a blue hand. Case, calibre and bracelets are the same^12,31,41. The BLNR is still in the catalogue; the BLRO is not^1,13.

GMT-Master II or Explorer II. The near relative with a 24-hour hand is the Explorer II, presented in 1971 for polar explorers and speleologists^42,43. Its ref. 16570 (1989 to 2011) used the GMT-Master II's calibres of the time, 3185 and then 3186, in a 40 mm case^17,18,44. The difference is the bezel: fixed steel, engraved with 24 hours, so Monochrome calls it a two-zone watch against the GMT-Master's three^17,19. Its successor grew to 42 mm in 2011^44,45.

What they cost

The prices in the table below come from our reference pages, with their dates and labels; nothing here is a new valuation, and only our ratios between them are new. The steel 126710GRNR on a Jubilee was USD 12,000 on rolex.com's US site on 16 October 2026⁴⁶.

Second-hand, the gaps are wider. In February 2026 our median asking price on the first page of Chrono24's 126710BLRO listings, USD 23,200, was by our calculation about 1.7 times the 116710LN's, USD 13,360 without other references and modified watches^25,26. The 126710BLRO's page mixes new, unworn and pre-owned watches.

The aluminium 16710 and its ceramic successor sit close together, and which is ahead depends on the measure. In October 2025, by our calculation on our Chrono24 medians, the 116710LN asked 2.6 per cent more than the 16710 with each page's own filter, 3.1 per cent counting every listing^47,48. In Bob's Watches' own sales over the year to August 2026, the 16710 averaged about USD 15,200 and the 116710LN about USD 13,900^49,50. The two point different ways, over different periods, and neither is the market.

Which one should you buy?

If you want the GMT-Master II as Rolex makes it now, the steel 126710BLNR, 126710GRNR and left-handed 126720VTNR are in the catalogue at list price, from the jewellers Rolex appoints^1,46,51.

If you want red and blue in ceramic and steel, there is one reference, the 126710BLRO, now second-hand only^7,9. In aluminium it is the 16710, the last steel 'Pepsi' with that insert; ask whether the insert is the one it left the factory with^7,22,49.

If you want ceramic without colour, the 116710LN is the only steel GMT-Master II with an all-black ceramic bezel^15,16. If you want a 24-hour hand without a rotating bezel, look at the Explorer II 16570^17,44. None of the checks on our reference pages proves a watch genuine; they only help you walk away from a bad one.

The dubious part

Aluminium inserts on the 1675 and 16750 fade towards pale blue and pink, and Bob's Watches says the few that turn a saturated fuchsia carry a premium over unfaded ones⁷. Few industries pay the sun as a co-author.