Rolex GMT Master

Why We Love It The Rolex GMT Master Reference 1675 has its own legend and mystique, borne from its longevity and its association with astronauts like Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14 and Jack Swigert of Apollo 13. The model boasts a remarkable continuity that it is rivaled only perhaps by the Omega Speedmaster. Also like the Speedmaster, examples from the 1960s are the most hotly desired. Dating from 1967, this particular example boasts another quality that makes it eminently drool-worthy. Two words: original. owner. And that owner obviously loved and cared for this watch, because it comes complete with proof of service by Rolex in February of this year. A glance at the accompanying documents will tell you that aside from the crown, bezel insert, and caseback, everything has been left just as the original owner would have remembered. For the collector looking for a killer 1675 with provenance and a recent service by the masters at Rolex, this is hard to beat. The Story With the emergence of jet travel in the early 1950s, there arose a need for travelers, and more importantly pilots, to have a wristwatch that could display two timezones at once. As a pioneer of transatlantic and transcontinental flight, Pan American Airlines approached Rolex with that conundrum. Rolex’s solution was the GMT Master. Not long after the debut of the GMT Master at the Basel World Fair in 1954, Pan Am adopted the GMT Master as its official wristwatch. Other airlines soon followed, making the GMT Master synonymous with aviation. In 1960 Rolex released a new reference of GMT Master, the Reference 1675. The 1675 featured crown guards and was powered by the Caliber 1565 movement, and later, the Caliber 1575. With a production run of over two decades, it’s the Reference 1675 that many collectors view as the GMT to own.