Rolex GMT-Master 1675 'PCG Gilt Chapter Ring Dial'

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A very, very, very early GMT-Master!A wonderful, and very early, Pepsi dating back to '59. In this year, Rolex started with the production of the reference 1675, which replaced the well-known 6542. As this 1675 originates from one of the first batches of this reference, it still has the so called eagle beak pointed crown guards; the first type of pointed crown guards, recognized by their sharp shape. Additionally, the watch comes with the riveted Oyster bracelet, which dates back to 1959.What we love about this watch is the beautiful gilt chapter ring that, together with the gilt text, creates such a beautiful contrast with the glossy dial. Moreover the dial, we think you should know it has a small blemish between the 6 and 7 hour position. However, it has such a fantastic mirror shine. Together with the extra hour hand, with the small triangle, it makes this specimen a true stunner.The stainless steel bezel has a nice, fat-font, well-faded (almost orange) Pepsi inlay with the red back inlay, which indicates that this piece has a factory-delivered bezel inlay. This is quite unique as most GMT's have service bezels (a blue back inlay). A fun fact about this example: it is presented in the old Mondani book about the Rolex GMT-Master.A very, very, very nice GMT-Master!

Introduction

Rolex GMT-MasterFasten your seatbelts for the story of the Rolex GMT-Master. Aviation company Pan-Am requested Rolex to create a wristwatch that would display multiple time-zones simultaneously, as their flights got longer; crossing multiple time-zones. Rolex came up with the GMT-Master (‘GMT’ stands for ‘Greenwich Mean Time’) in 1954. The watch features a date-function and an extra hour hand (with triangle) that points out the second time zone on the bi-directional turning, 24hour bezel.Still linked to aviation and although meant for professional use, it enjoys a much wider fan base ever since it first saw light. Over the years it underwent some changes and there are so many wonderful variations of this all-time Rolex classic. Some GMT’s are great as a single purchase, others are a wonderful addition to any collection and some of them can be considered as the crowning glory.REF. 1675Introduced in 1959 and with a very long production run of little over 20 years: the 1675! On this model they added the ‘pointed crown guards’ (1675 with PCG AKA ‘Cornino)’ that got replaced by regular rounded crown guards in 64/65. The dial also underwent some changes from glossy gilt chapterring to a matte radial dial in the end. (with a lot of variations in between, like the rare ‘exclamation mark’, ‘underline’ and ‘Double-swiss’ dials). There was a change in the red GMT hand as well as the small arrow was replaced by a bigger one.The 1675 was mainly produced in steel, but was also available in 18k yellow gold or a combination of both materials. In the early 70s it became the first Rolex Professional watch with – optional – factory fitted jubilee bracelet.‘Pepsi bezel’The red/ blue bezel inserts on the steel GMT’s are referred to as ‘Pepsi bezels’ as it assembles the same colours, but in fact Rolex chose this combination because of the Pan-Am colours. The heritage of the Pepsi bezel starts in 1959, when the rare bakelite bezels were used. Up until 2007 aluminium Pepsi bezels were used (optional, next to an all-black or black/ red aka ‘Coke bezel’). After being discontinued for 7 years, Rolex re-launched the beloved ‘Pepsi’, yet this time made out of Cerachrom and only available on the white-gold model. In 2018 Basel world Rolex introduced the stainless steel Pepsi with Jubileebracelet.

Specifications

Shipping

Packages are generally dispatched within 2 days after receipt of payment and are shipped within the Netherlands by Registered Mail through the Dutch carrier PostNL and for other countries by Fedex. Consult us if you prefer another method of shipping. For most destinations tracking is available.