Rolex GMT Master

By 1953, Pan Am was the leader in around-the-world flights. Moreover, their pilots were among some of the best-trained in the industry, being able to navigate using dead reckoning and celestial navigation even though the airline used some of the most advanced technology available. However, when it came to keeping track of time, Pan Am decided to do it the old-fashioned way, and enlisted Rolex’s help in developing a watch that could tell two different timezones at once. And that watch, the GMT Master, has become nothing short of an icon. The name really says it all: a master of the skies, an inextricable link between home and away. Though it found a home on the wrist of the pilots who ferried their wealthy clients to and fro, it wasn’t long before the GMT Master ventured out of the cockpit. Those who availed themselves of Pan Am’s famed intercontinental flights found that they too needed to know what time it was in London when they were in Beijing. Owning a watch like the Rolex GMT Master became a subtle way to telegraph that you’ve arrived—or were at least en route. Today, though jet travel is much easier—and cheaper—a GMT Master still holds a certain cachet, particularly when it’s a vintage model. For many collectors of vintage Rolex, this watch—the legendary Reference 1675—is the GMT to own. The 1675 has its own legend and mystique, being the model favored by astronauts like Jack Swigert of Apollo 13 and Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14. In fact, it’s the latter who brought his personal 1675 to the Moon. This particular example is clean, classic—in short, everything we’d come to expect from the reference. The matte dial has strong, even patina throughout the dial and hands, and the colors on the bezel are still crisp though they show the beginnings of a nice fade. With a sharp case (that shows signs of a masterful professional refinishing), it’s a GMT that will get you anywhere you need to be—and remind you where you’re from.