FAP 1675 Rolex GMT-Master

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Small engravings and stampings can mean a lot to collectors. Daytonas engraved ‘drive carefully, me’ are something entirely separate to a ‘standard’ 6239 (if there is such a thing). A Lemania chronograph engraved with the name of a particular PM, well that’s something just a bit special. Some engravings are a bit more of the…

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Gilt, Fat-Font 1675 Rolex GMT-Master

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This 1967 GMT features everything one could ask for in vintage Rolex aside from complete originality (for the more fastidious among us). Its gilt dial, tritium plots, and faded Pepsi bezel are enough to bring even millennials into the golden era of Pan-Am and Fidel Castro. The 1675 is possibly the most recognizable Rolex reference…

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Rolex 16753 Root Beer GMT-Master II with ‘Volcanic’ Dial

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This watch has all the hype words: nipple-dial, root beer, two-tone, tropical, GMT, and Rolex. And yet, I don’t feel it’s a hype watch in the slightest. This is a nuanced, Rolex collectors’ choice. The tropical (if indeed that is the correct term) dial holds a perfectly reddish/brown marble patina, a beautiful ageing known as…

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Perfect PCG Gilt Gloss 1675 Rolex GMT-Master

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Though perhaps slightly less collected than the 6542, the 1675 GMT-Master is a definite cult classic. Though the red and blue pepsi bezel is certainly the most iconic GMT of all time, it has never been the only option. Less common are the red and black, all black, and (perhaps) blueberry bezel varieties. This all…

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Value Proposition: the 16758 GMT-Master

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It’s no secret that steel sports Rolex are in their own class these days. Hell, people are even willing to sell a kidney for a Lange 1 in steel. As steel Rolex auction results routinely break new highs, it seems worth considering their precious metal-based siblings as an alternative. In the decade of its release,…

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‘Or Massif’ 2964 Cartier Santos Carrée

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What is a sports watch? One you can wear playing badminton? Or chess? A watch that can be swum with? No, the definition is up for debate. So here’s the broadest possible definition, a gold 2964. Even though it was actually worn by Gordon Gekko, there is no more Wolf of Wall Street aesthetic than…

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3057 Breguet Classique Perpetual Calendar

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The dial says Breguet, but really this QP is a Daniel Roth, the first creative project he undertook after working for JLC and AP. And this ref. 3057 is indicative of truth that is not logical but seems to hold: the very start of a creative career is often where the most magic occurs. Einstein…

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NAAFI 1016 Rolex Explorer

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Some watches are special not for complication, rarity, or brand, but rather the life they have lived. More often than not, watches that fall into that latter category are steel Rolex tool watches. For a multitude of reasons that encompasses advertising, reputation, and design, people who really do things seem to often align with Wilsdorf.…

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Tropical Service Dial 6542 Rolex GMT-Master

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I must admit to slightly enjoying antagonizing purists here; a closed mind is boring. This is a service dial, and that’s always less desirable, right? Well, not quite. The 6542 GMT-Master was created with radium dials and was famously recalled for its radioactivity. If one came in for service over the next decade, Rolex would…

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Mk1 Enicar Sherpa Jet GMT

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A small but vocal section of the vintage watch collecting community has for years tried to make the case that Enicar’s sport watches from the 1960s and 1970s measure up to their counterparts from Rolex and Omega. This Sherpa Jet can and should be Exhibit A in their case. This reference 126/002, circa 1964, was…

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