Launched in 1955 at the request of Pan American World Airways, the GMT-Master added to the Oyster a fourth hand completing one turn of the dial in 24 hours and a graduated rotating bezel: two time zones read at a single glance, for the crews of the dawning jet age. The reference 1675, introduced in 1959, was produced in various forms until 1980 – one of the longest careers in the Rolex catalogue. It was succeeded by the reference 16750, produced from 1980 to 1988: a pivotal watch, which closed the vintage era of the GMT-Master while opening the next.
Outwardly, the 16750 remains faithful to its predecessor: 40 mm Oyster case with crown guards, plexiglass crystal, bidirectional bezel with aluminium insert, Mercedes hands. But beneath the dial, everything changes. Caliber 3075, derived from caliber 3035 introduced in 1977 and recognisable by its red reversing wheels, beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour – compared with 19,800 for the caliber 1575 of the 1675 – and brings to the GMT-Master the so-called “quick-set” function, or rapid date change: the date is now set via the crown, with no need to turn the hands at length. It retains the hacking seconds, adopts the variable-inertia balance regulated by Microstella nuts and the Breguet overcoil hairspring, and receives Superlative Chronometer certification. Water resistance doubles at the same time, from 50 to 100 metres, with the Twinlock crown retained.
The 24-hour hand nevertheless remains linked to the hour hand: their independent setting only appeared in 1983 with the GMT-Master II reference 16760, thicker and already fitted with a sapphire crystal. Until 1988, the two watches coexisted in the catalogue, and the 16750 remained the “classic” GMT-Master, slim, with its acrylic crystal. Its successor, the 16700, would in turn adopt sapphire: the 16750 is thus the last GMT-Master with a plexiglass crystal.
It was also on this model that a decisive aesthetic change took place around 1984-1985: the matte dial with painted hour markers gave way to the glossy black lacquered dial with applied hour markers ringed in white gold – the “White Gold Surrounds” of collectors – which would become the standard on all subsequent references, and remain so to this day. These second-generation dials, still luminous with tritium (inscription “SWISS – T < 25” at 6 o’clock), make the 16750 the only steel GMT-Master to combine white gold-surround hour markers with a plexiglass crystal: the modern face of the GMT-Master, in the case and beneath the crystal of the old one.
Our example, produced in 1987 and bearing serial number 975xxxx, belongs to the very last numbered series: a few months later, having reached number 9,999,999, Rolex abandoned purely numerical serials in favour of letter-prefixed series. It is in superb, virtually new condition. The case has without any doubt never been polished: the lug bevels are wide and sharp, the transitions between satin-finished and mirror-polished surfaces remarkably crisp, the crown guards have retained their full shape and the engravings between the lugs are deep. On the screw-down caseback, the original green Rolex sticker, stamped with the crown and inscribed “16750”, is still in place – testament, almost forty years later, to a watch that has stayed away from the wrist.
The black lacquered dial is impeccable, free of the slightest crazing, and the tritium of the white gold-surround hour markers and of the Mercedes hands has developed a superb, warm and even cream patina of unmistakable vintage charm, echoed by the lume pip of the bezel; the original “Pepsi” insert, for its part, has retained a bold, saturated red and blue. The original steel Rolex Oyster bracelet, reference 78360, 580 end links, bears buckle code K7 (produced in July 1986), entirely consistent with a case produced in 1987; like the watch, it is in perfect condition. Caliber 3075 has been fully serviced by one of our experienced watchmakers and runs within the strictest tolerances.
The watch comes with its green Rolex box, as well as our Steel Warranty Card.
A 1987 GMT-Master 16750 “Pepsi” in a condition one almost never encounters: never polished, sticker in place, cream tritium. The last GMT-Master with a plexiglass crystal and the first with the modern dial – in our view, a reference example, whose full rarity seasoned collectors will appreciate.
