The GMT-Master II is the ultimate cosmopolitan watch, connecting people across distances and time zones. With a dedicated 24-hour hand and a 24-hour graduated two-colour rotatable bezel, it displays a second time zone in addition to the conventional time. At a glance, the wearer can see the time in their current location and in another part of the world, giving them a strengthened connection with their own personal ‘somewhere out there’, be it a special place or memory, or plans for a future journey.
A privileged witness to advances in aviation that have brought people together and transformed society.
The launch of the GMT-Master in 1955 came at a point when people were beginning to move around the world faster and distances were becoming shorter. On land, at sea and in the skies, the relationship between time and travel was fundamentally shifting. Long-haul flights allowed voyagers to cross from one continent to another without a stopover. The GMT-Master accompanied the major transformations of its era.
Robust and functional, the GMT‑Master II is the ideal watch for criss-crossing the globe.
Adopted by the flight crews of Pan American World Airways, better known as Pan Am, the GMT-Master came to epitomize the aeronautical watch and has since triumphed in other realms, on the wrists of world travellers.
Resistant and waterproof thanks to its Oyster case, technical and intuitive with its GMT function displaying a second time zone, it is the trustworthy companion of those venturing to new or unfamiliar destinations.
On world time,
crossing meridians.
The GMT-Master carries its function in its name. ‘GMT’ stands for Greenwich Mean Time, which indicates the mean solar time as measured at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. Since 1884, it has been the prime meridian used to determine the 24 different time zones around the world.
The GMT-Master II, launched in 1982, fulfils the same function as its predecessor. The watch’s triangle-tipped 24-hour hand and 24-hour graduated bidirectional rotatable bezel enable the wearer to read the time in another time zone. The difference in the two models lies in the adjustment of the local hour hand. On the GMT-Master II, it is adjusted in one-hour increments – independently of the other hands and without stopping the watch.
A two-colour visual hallmark.
Recognizable at a glance, the GMT-Master II is the first Rolex watch to have been fitted with a Cerachrom bezel insert in high-technology ceramic. This monobloc two-colour insert with a 24-hour graduation is virtually scratchproof and extremely hard. It is developed and manufactured by Rolex in a variety of colour combinations.
The version released in 2014 revived the emblematic colour pairing found on the original watch. Bringing red and blue together on a single-piece ceramic component presents a sizeable challenge and is extremely difficult to achieve. This technical tour de force required many years of research and was a world first.
This mastery is reaffirmed in 2025 with the introduction of a new version featuring a Cerachrom dial – the brand’s first-ever dial made of ceramic. Its green hue perfectly complements the two-colour green and black Cerachrom bezel insert, creating a striking visual connection that echoes the very identity of the model.
Travel around the clock, never losing touch.
Those who travel frequently through time zones maintain close ties to a ‘somewhere else’ that is special to them. Whether they are heading for new horizons or staying in the place they call home, the GMT-Master II on their wrist symbolizes this personal connection, this link between two places, two moments, two stories.
