A year later in 2014 Rolex debuted the first red and blue bezel in ceramic (as opposed to anodized aluminum from more historic GMT-Master II watches) with the reference 116719BLRO GMT-Master II watch here. The “Batman” name was really a response to the fact that the black and blue colors were novel for a Rolex watch and that previous colors have had nicknames such as “Pepsi,” “Rootbeer,” or “Kermit.” In truth only a small number of Batman costumes had black with blue together (I believe this was an Adam West Batman reference) but the Batman name for the 116710BLNR watch stuck. Rolex was heralded as a pioneer when, in 2013, it released the reference 116710BLNR GMT-Master II (“Batman,” as enthusiasts later coined it) because it was the first time a two-tone ceramic bezel was used on a commercial watch (until then, ceramic came in one color, but Rolex developed a technique to create a portion of the ceramic to be a different color (the chemistry and pigment is different on each half) through the complex baking process that create the ceramic material. What brought these two-tone GMT bezels into the modern era was producing them out of ceramic. And Rolex could quite possibly add more color flavor in the future. Black and blue, and blue and red are just two of various colors mixtures that GMT-Master II bezels have had over the years. This was meant to help wearers visually reference the day/night cycle more effectively, but it was also a place for Rolex to add splashes of color. The GMT-Master II is Rolex’s traditional travel watch, having originally been designed for the needs of commercial airline pilots who needed to know the time in other places.Ī key feature of many GMT-Masters was often a two-tone bezel whose differing colors corresponded to AM and PM time (not precisely, but you get the idea). The 40mm-wide case is topped with a sapphire crystal (including “Cyclops” magnifier over the date window) and the case is water-resistant to 100 meters. The movement is highly reliable and operates at 4Hz with 70 hours of power reserve. This “Superlative Chronometer” is double-certified for accuracy and performance (from COSC and also Rolex, internally). The 3285 automatic movement features the time, date, and a GMT hand that indicates a second time zone in 24-hour format. This represents the latest-generation GMT-Master II watch that features the newly updated and refined 40mm-wide Rolex Oystersteel case, as well as the in-house-made caliber 3285 automatic GMT movement. Here, you can check our aBlogtoWatch hands-on coverage of the steel Rolex GMT-Master II “Pepsi” bezel 126710BLRO here, and then over here, we went hands-on with the Rolex GMT-Master II “Batgirl” 126710BLNR watch. I encourage you to review those posts, as we explain a bit more about how these GMT-Master II watches have differed from older-generation products, and about the latest in-house Rolex technology applied to them. This has two interesting effects I will discuss below.įirst, let us point you to aBlogtoWatch coverage of the two previously released Rolex GMT-Master II 126710 watches that correspond with these same references numbers. Now Rolex offers the GMT-Master 126710 BLRO (red and blue “Pepsi” dial) and 126710BLNR (black and blue “Batman” dial) on either the matching Rolex Oystersteel Jubilee bracelet or the iconic three-link Oyster bracelet. In fact, these watches are so similar to existing Rolex 126710 GMT-Master II watches (debut in 2018 on aBlogtoWatch here) that they share the exact same reference number of their sister watches, which are the exact same but come on Rolex Jubilee bracelets. So, let’s take a hands-on look at the 2021 Rolex GMT-Master II references 126710BLNR (black and blue bezel) and the 126710BLRO (blue and red bezel) watches on the now-available three-link Oyster bracelets.Īs it is with many new Rolex watches, the hot fuss regarding these two models is something only seasoned brand followers will notice. That said, enough people are actually able to purchase these watches, and they will each be produced for long enough that most people who actually want one should be able to get one (eventually). I know what you may be thinking: Why are we being tortured with an article about yet another Rolex timepiece that can’t easily be purchased? True enough, even though these Rolex GMT-Master II steel watches are technically available on the market, actually being able to buy a steel Rolex watch is an unenviable task for many consumers these days, given the high demand.
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