ROLEX GMT-Master "Pepsi" 1968

Timegrapher +3s/d 259° 0.2ms

The Rolex GMT-Master has long been admired as the watch that made a second time zone legible at a glance, conceived in the 1950s for the flight crews of Pan American World Airways. Reference 1675 carried that idea through two decades of production and remains the archetype of the line. This example is distinguished by the red and blue 24-hour bezel that collectors know as the Pepsi, set against a matte black dial.

The stainless steel Oyster case measures 39.5mm across excluding the crown and 46.5mm from lug to lug, with rounded guards flanking the screw-down crown. Brushed flanks meet polished bevels without unnecessary ornamentation, and the domed acrylic crystal draws the light softly across the dial. The bidirectional bezel carries a Rolex insert fitted later in the watch's life rather than the original 1960s example.

Unlike a conventional redial, the matte black dial itself is untouched, its printing left as Rolex laid it down. Only the luminous material on the hour markers has been re-applied over the original plots, settling into a warm cream that sits quietly against the black, and the hands are original to the watch. The Cyclops magnifies the date at three o'clock, while the red 24-hour hand sweeps the full circumference of the dial and reads against the bezel above it.

At its heart beats the automatic Caliber 1570, running at 19,800 vibrations per hour on 26 jewels with roughly 48 hours of reserve. Alongside the conventional time display it drives the 24-hour hand, the mechanism that gives this reference its purpose. On the timing machine it is running to within a few seconds a day.

Completing the watch is a Rolex Oyster bracelet in stainless steel, its folded links closing on a signed STEELINOX clasp. Brushed throughout, it echoes the case without drawing attention away from the dial. The lug width measures 20mm, and as presented the bracelet fits a wrist of up to 17cm.

Purposeful, legible, and unmistakably vintage, this GMT-Master carries the working confidence that defined Rolex's professional line through the 1960s.