30
Nov
A brief history of the Rolex GMT-Master series
The Rolex GMT-Master watch debuted in 1955. Explicitly developed for Pan Am pilots, it can track two time zones. The carefully designed Rolex watch includes an additional hour hand (one revolution every 24 hours) and a 24-hour rotating bezel on the dial. Therefore, to see the second time zone, the pilot has to rotate the bezel to adjust the appropriate number to 24 hours.
The first reference to launch the series is the GMT Master Reference. They equipped with a 6542, 38 mm stainless steel case, stainless steel bracelet, and 24-hour scale blue and red rotating bakelite bezel. Not only does the two-color bezel help distinguish between day and night in the second time zone, but blue and red are also iconic design features of the GMT-master watch. The blue and red bezels are officially called BLRO (blue/red, blue/red in French), but the...