GMT‑Master II

The cosmopolitan watch

The Rolex GMT-Master was originally designed for professional use to aid airline pilots. However, its combination of peerless functionality and instantly recognizable aesthetics has attracted a wider audience of world travellers.

Designed to show the time in two different time zones simultaneously during intercontinental flights, the GMT‑Master has come to be recognized for its robustness and versatile appearance. The GMT-Master II evokes intercontinental travel across time zones. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) marks mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London — the location of the original meridian used for calculating longitude and determining different time zones around the world.

Design

Manufactured
from an
extremely
hard ceramic
material

In 2013, Rolex introduced an Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II with a two-colour Cerachrom insert in blue and black ceramic, and a year later, the watch was released with a two-colour Cerachrom insert in red and blue ceramic. Each two-colour combination on a single-piece ceramic component was a world first.

To inscribe the numerals and graduations on such a hard material, Rolex developed a unique process which culminates in their being coated with a thin layer of yellow gold or platinum. It takes 40 hours to produce each Cerachrom bezel.

Two other versions of the GMT-Master II introduce 18 ct Everose gold to the range for the very first time. The first is crafted entirely from this refined, exclusive alloy, and the second is available in an Everose Rolesor version, combining Oystersteel and 18 ct Everose gold.

On the dials of both watches, the name “GMT-Master II” is inscribed in powdered rose. The bezels are fitted with two-colour Cerachrom inserts in a black and newly developed brown ceramic.

Features

Two
time zones
at once

The GMT-Master II version in Oystersteel, introduced in 2018, is fitted onto a five-link Jubilee bracelet, also in Oystersteel. It is the first time that the Jubilee bracelet, Oystersteel and the two-colour Cerachrom insert in red and blue ceramic have been brought together on the GMT-Master II.

The Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master has been equipped with the Oyster case since its conception. This case is one of the definitive elements of a Rolex watch, with exemplary shock-resistance and waterproofness. In addition, for easy reading of the date, the crystal is fitted with a Cyclops lens at 3 o’clock – another Rolex innovation.

The GMT-Master II is designed to display the time in two time zones at once. With a traditional hour, minute and seconds display via hands, a 24-hour hand, and a bidirectional rotatable bezel with a 24-hour graduated Cerachrom insert.

It is possible to read the time in two time zones at once: either the local time and a reference time, or the local time and another time zone as desired. The date, shown at 3 o’clock, is synchronized with the local time display.

With 10 patent applications filed over the course of its development, this self-winding mechanical movement is a consummate demonstration of Rolex technology, at the forefront of the art of watchmaking. Calibre 3285 offers fundamental gains in terms of precision, power reserve, resistance to shocks and magnetism, convenience and reliability.

History

An
Oyster
of the
skies

The GMT-Master was developed to meet the needs of airline pilots, at the height of the golden age of air travel. It became the official watch of several intercontinental airlines, notably the famous Pan American World Airways, known as Pan Am.

When Concorde performed its final test flights in the 1960s, Rolex proudly announced that both the British and French test pilots (Brian Trubshaw and André Turcat) wore GMT-Masters. In an era of supersonic flight, the GMT-Master had become invaluable.