Rolex GMT Master

Why We Love It The Rolex GMT-Master line is a perennial favorite amongst us here at Analog/Shift and is truly an icon of design that transcends the mere category of “tool watches”. The reference 1675 is to the GMT-Master, what the reference 5513 is to the Submariner. The quintessential version of an iconic watch. Despite the fact that the 1675 is the second iteration of Rolex’s famed GMT-Master, it was in production for over twenty-years spanning the 1960s into the 1980s and undergoing numerous improvements in that time. However, as with all designs, the earliest is always the truest to its form, and that is exactly what we have here. This beauty is a first generation 1675 with what the Rolex cognoscenti call a “Mark I, Long E” Dial. Sporting the iconic “Pepsi” bezel and dating to 1966, this is exactly what we think of when asked about a Rolex GMT.  The Story October 26, 1958 – The PanAm Clipper America departs from New York City to Paris. The staff impeccably dressed, the guests in their Sunday finest, the menu catered by Maxim’s of Paris. The occasion? The very first transatlantic crossing of the new Boeing 707. The first American airline to offer daily flights across the ocean, and the arrival of the Jet Age. Preparation for this began many years ago, including conversations between PanAm and Rolex to create a more elegant and simple solution to reading time across multiple time zones – something that was necessitated by jet travel – and jet lag. In 1955 Rolex released the GMT-Master, using a rotating 24 hour bezel, and a secondary hour hand, the watch was born to be an icon and was in fact was sported and issued to PanAm pilots during these early years. A true tool watch, the red and blue “Pepsi” bezel was meant to show day and night hours in 24 hour time, the name standing for Greenwich Mean Time. In 1959, Rolex replaced the first generation GMT-Master (linked to our 6542) and its delicate bezel, no crown guard case, with the 1675 reference we see here.