Radial Dial 1675 Rolex GMT-Master

The 1675 is all things to all (traveling) men. There are a bewildering number of variants and this is one you won’t see often. Limited to a serial range of approximately 4.1-5.4M, this is the radial dial. During this tiny bit of production, the (marginally smaller) tritium plots moved closer to the center of the dial, meaning that even though the minute indices are longer they’re not even near touching the tritium. And that rather smaller alternation somehow nods towards the earlier gilt years in something of an echo. It’s all rather subtle but meaningful.

It doesn’t end there, the GMT-Master font is quite different to prints on either side of it chronologically, and quite a bit closer to the 6542 in appearance. However, nothing is being confused for a 6542 here. There’s obviously a black bezel, which doubles down on creating an alternate GMT appearance. The difference a bezel can make is extreme. Eliminating the pepsi makes this complication read far more subtly. Some may decry sacrilege, fine. It’s not.

In production from 1959-1980, the 1675 covers such a wide range of aesthetic that there’s bound to be something appeal to you: from Fuchsia to black on black, from gilt to matte, and from Jubilee to Oyster. This looks unusual at a glance, but is simply quite nuanced. And that’s the 1675 in summary: every base possible in four-digit Rolex covered. Plus, the real bonus often-overlooked: the 1675 case is even thinner than the 5513’s.

This example has a very charming dial, with light tan plots. It's hard to see the dial very well, to be honest, but looks the part. The bevels are very strong, but spring bar holes a bit close for comfort. Otherwise looks fantastic. Black bezel truly sets it apart. It comes from Japan, watch only.