Rolex GMT-Master II
Announcing the arrival of a cosmopolitan high-flier
Considered by many watch devotees as the apotheosis of desirability in high-end brands — a Rolex on the wrist universally declares the wearer’s taste and success — the company has forged a path to the forefront of horology since its founding by Hans Wilsdorf in London’s Cheapside in 1905, before relocating the business to Geneva in 1920.
From winning the first Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision awarded by the Official Watch Rating Centre in Bienne in 1910 to laying claim to manufacturing the most expensive (and lusted after) watch ever sold at auction — Paul Newman’s famous “panda dial” Daytona Chronograph Ref 6239 which changed hands for $17.75m in October last year — the brand has consistently delivered timekeeping precision, reliability and luxury with admirable design and panache. It’s rugged functionalism has long been a firm favourite with adventuresome professionals such as sailors, airmen, divers, racing car drivers and explorers. For instance, as civilian air travel expanded post-WWII, the original GMT-Master was produced in 1955 specifically for airline pilots and navigators, with a two-tone red and blue 24-hour bezel to demarcate daytime from nighttime hours.
Now for 2018 comes the head-turning 40mm GMT-Master II available in three versions: Everose gold; Everose gold and Oystersteel; and the model shown opposite in Oystersteel. Powered by the new-generation calibre
3285 movement, the original’s famous “Pepsi” colourway is revisited in the bidirectional bezel with its 24-hour graduated Cerachrom insert in red and blue ceramic, enabling the watch to keep accurate time in two time zones with a synchronisable date window at three o’clock. The elegant black dial is equipped with blue-luminescent Chromalight displays for high legibility in all light levels, while fitted for the first time on a “sportier” Rolex is the five-piece link metal Jubilee bracelet. It’s the perfect traveller’s watch and another sure reason why Rolex will not be relinquishing its crown any time soon.