Midnight and Noon: The Rolex GMT-Master II Reference 16710 Coke (1999)

The Rolex GMT-Master II reference 16710 Coke represents a distinct chapter within a line defined by decades of careful, incremental development. Produced continuously from 1989 to 2007, the 16710 gave the red-and-black "Coke" bezel its longest production run, carrying the colourway through nearly two decades of the reference's manufacturing life before Rolex discontinued it entirely in 2007. This 1999 example, presented with its original box and papers, occupies a specific and well-documented position within that run: a glossy black "Swiss Only" dial marking the brief transitional period between tritium and SuperLuminova lume, drilled through-lugs, hollow end links, and the red-and-black bezel insert that has been absent from Rolex's catalogue ever since.

A Watch Born from Aviation

The Pan Am Commission and Reference 6542

The GMT-Master line traces its origins to a direct commission from Pan American Airways. In the early 1950s, with long-haul commercial jet travel approaching on a large scale, Pan Am's management sought a wristwatch that could help their pilots and flight crews track two time zones simultaneously. The practical need was clear: on transoceanic routes, crew members required both their home reference time and local destination time to be readable at a glance without calculation.[1]

Rolex answered that request in 1954 with the reference 6542, a 38mm Oystersteel watch fitted with a fourth hand completing one full rotation every 24 hours, and a bi-directional rotating bezel marked in two colours to distinguish day from night hours.[2] The blue half of the bezel denoted the night hours from 18:00 to 06:00, and the red half the day hours from 06:00 to 18:00, producing the colour division later nicknamed "Pepsi" by the watch community.[3] Pan Am formally adopted the GMT-Master as the official timepiece for its flight crews, establishing one of the most recognised partnerships between an airline and a watch manufacturer in the twentieth century.[4]

The reference 6542's original bezel insert was produced in Bakelite, an early synthetic material resistant to pressure and heat but prone to cracking under lateral impact. By 1956, Rolex had transitioned to anodised aluminium inserts, which proved considerably more durable under the conditions of daily professional use.[5] The movement fitted to the commercially released 6542 was a modified version of the base calibre 1030, designated calibre 1065, incorporating both a date function and the 24-hour GMT hand.[6]

Reference 1675 and the Crown Guards

In 1959, Rolex introduced the reference 1675 as the direct successor to the 6542. The updated model gained crown guards to protect the winding crown, a feature absent on the original reference. The case diameter expanded to 40mm, and the aluminium bezel insert became the standard configuration across the range. The reference 1675 remained in production for approximately two decades, establishing the GMT-Master as a versatile tool watch with appeal well beyond its original aviation context.[7]

The reference 16750 followed in 1981, bringing a quickset date function through the updated calibre 3075. The ability to advance the date independently of the hours and minutes was a practical improvement, particularly relevant for travellers crossing multiple time zones within a short period.[8]

The First GMT-Master II and the Coke Bezel

Reference 16760: Where the Coke Began

The essential mechanical limitation shared by all GMT-Master references through the 16750 was the relationship between the local hour hand and the GMT hand: they moved together. Setting local time required rotating the bezel rather than adjusting the hour hand independently. In 1983, Rolex addressed this with the introduction of the GMT-Master II, reference 16760.[9]

The 16760 introduced calibre 3085, a movement engineered to allow the local hour hand to be set independently of both the minute hand and the 24-hour GMT hand. The wearer could now set the GMT hand to home time and adjust the local hour hand in one-hour increments to match the destination, with the bezel serving as the permanent 24-hour reference for home time.[10] The thicker case required to accommodate the new movement gave the 16760 its informal designation "Fat Lady." Crucially, the 16760 was produced exclusively with a black-and-red bezel insert: it was not offered in Pepsi or all-black configurations. The red half marks the day hours from 06:00 to 18:00, and the black half marks the night hours from 18:00 to 06:00. The nickname "Coke," a reference to the Coca-Cola brand's red and black palette, followed naturally.[11] Production of the 16760 ran from 1983 to 1988, making it the model in which the Coke colourway first appeared, and the only reference that was ever produced exclusively in that configuration.[12]

Reference 16710: The Second-Generation GMT-Master II

Calibre 3185 and the Refined Case

In 1989, Rolex introduced the reference 16710 to replace the 16760. The core GMT-Master II function remained intact but the case was redesigned with slimmer proportions, reducing the case height and refining the crown guards and minute hand.[13] The movement was updated from calibre 3085 to calibre 3185, bringing a higher beat rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour, a Breguet overcoil hairspring, a free-sprung Glucydur balance wheel, and microstella regulation for precise rate adjustment.[14] Unlike the 16760, which was produced exclusively with the Coke bezel, the 16710 was offered from the outset in three configurations: red-and-black Coke, red-and-blue Pepsi, and all-black.[15]

The independently settable local hour hand remained central to the 3185's architecture. Setting local time involves pulling the crown to the first position and stepping the hour hand forward or backward in one-hour increments, without stopping the seconds hand or disturbing the GMT hand's home time reference. Calibre 3185 also carried COSC chronometer certification, meaning each movement was independently tested and required to maintain accuracy within minus four to plus six seconds per day.[16] The movement remained in production for the majority of the 16710's run, transitioning to calibre 3186, with its Parachrom hairspring, only in the final months of 16710 production in late 2007.[17]

The 1999 Production Context and the Swiss Only Dial

A 1999 example of the reference 16710 carries one of the most precisely datable dial variants in the reference's entire production span. By 1999, Rolex had completed the transition away from tritium as its standard luminescent material, but had not yet settled on the SuperLuminova compound and "Swiss Made" dial text that would define production from 2000 onward. The brief intervening period, covering the late U-series and A-series serial numbers from approximately 1998 to 1999, produced what is now referred to as the "Swiss Only" dial: a glossy black dial carrying LumiNova luminescent compound in the hour markers and hands, with the text at the six o'clock position printed simply as "SWISS" rather than the later "SWISS MADE."[18] The production window for this dial variant is estimated at approximately eighteen months, making it the shortest-lived dial configuration across the entire 16710 run.[19]

In all other physical respects, a 1999 example retains the hardware characteristics of the mid-production 16710. The case retains drilled through-lugs, a practical feature for strap changes that Rolex discontinued from the late Y-series onward beginning in 2003.[20] The bracelet is the reference 78360 Oyster bracelet, fitted with 501B hollow end links — the configuration standard to 16710 examples prior to the transition to solid end links that took place from approximately 2000 onward.[21]

The Oystersteel Case and Coke Bezel

The 16710's 40mm Oystersteel case measures approximately 12.4mm in height at the case middle, a notably slender profile for a watch of this diameter. Oystersteel is Rolex's designation for a specific grade of 904L stainless steel, an alloy selected for its corrosion resistance and capacity to take a refined surface finish.[22] The case carries a water resistance rating of 100 metres, consistent with the GMT-Master II specification throughout the 16710 production run.

The Coke bezel insert is anodised aluminium, identical in construction to the Pepsi and all-black variants but carrying a distinct visual identity that traces directly to the 16760 of 1983. The 120-click bi-directional mechanism allows rotation in either direction, with each click representing a 12-minute increment of time relative to the GMT hand. The red half of the insert marks the day hours from 06:00 to 18:00, and the black half marks the night hours from 18:00 to 06:00, functioning in direct coordination with the red 24-hour GMT hand. Because the insert is anodised rather than printed, the colouring is fixed into the surface of the metal through an electrochemical process, and is subject to gradual tonal shift over time through exposure to light and wear, producing the characteristic variation that distinguishes genuine period examples from later replacements.

Dial and Hands

The dial on this 1999 example is the "Swiss Only" LumiNova variant: a glossy black surface with applied white gold hour markers and the characteristic text layout of the transitional production period. In place of the tritium-era "T<25" notation at six o'clock, the dial carries the single word "SWISS," without the "MADE" suffix that would become standard from 2000 onward. The luminescent material in both the applied hour indices and the handset is LumiNova, which differs from its predecessor tritium in being a photoluminescent compound rather than a radioactive one: it absorbs ambient light and releases it in darkness, producing a charge-dependent illumination rather than the constant low-level glow of tritium.[23]

The handset consists of the Mercedes-shaped hour hand, the sword-style minute hand, the lollipop seconds hand, and the red-tipped 24-hour GMT hand with its luminous triangular tip. The dial inscription follows the standard layout for the reference: "OYSTER PERPETUAL DATE GMT-MASTER II" across the lower portion, with the "II" rendered in the narrow typography consistent with 16710 production from this era. The sapphire crystal, a specification inherited from the 16760 at its 1983 introduction, sits over the dial with the Cyclops lens magnifying the date display at three o'clock.

Final Thoughts

The Rolex GMT-Master II reference 16710 Coke traces a lineage that runs through two distinct reference numbers and a combined production span of more than twenty years. The Coke colourway began with the 16760 in 1983, continued through the entirety of the 16710's run from 1989 to 2007, and has not appeared in the Rolex catalogue since. The 1999 example presented here captures the reference at a precise and well-documented moment: the brief window of Swiss Only LumiNova production, the hollow-link bracelet still in place before the transition to solid end links, drilled through-lugs intact, and calibre 3185 running at 28,800 vibrations per hour as it had since the reference's introduction a decade earlier. The red-and-black bezel insert connects this watch to the 16760 of 1983 and to the original conception of the GMT-Master II as a distinctly different visual proposition from the blue-and-red Pepsi that preceded it by nearly thirty years. Presented with its original box and papers, this example carries the documentary record that confirms its production context and preserves the complete package as Rolex originally offered it.

References

1. Bob's Watches. "The Rolex GMT-Master Reference 6542." bobswatches.com.
2. Revolution Watch. "A Brief History of the Rolex GMT-Master." revolutionwatch.com.
3. The Beautiful Watch. "The Rolex GMT-Master Origins." thebeautifulwatch.com.
4. Mostra Store. "Rolex GMT Master History: The Iconic Pan Am Pilot's Watch." mostra-store.com.
5. Bob's Watches. "Getting Baked: The Highly Collectible GMT Master 6542." bobswatches.com.
6. The Beautiful Watch. "The Rolex GMT-Master Origins." thebeautifulwatch.com.
7. Revolution Watch. "A Brief History of the Rolex GMT-Master." revolutionwatch.com.
8. 41Watch. "History of the Legendary Rolex GMT Master." 41watch.com.
9. Swiss Watch Expo. "The Rolex GMT-Master II Fat Lady." swisswatchexpo.com.
10. Swiss Watch Expo. "The Rolex GMT-Master II Fat Lady." swisswatchexpo.com.
11. Bob's Watches. "Rolex Coke." bobswatches.com.
12. Craft and Tailored. "1983 Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16760." craftandtailored.com.
13. Everest Bands. "Rolex Coke GMT-Master II: Buying Guide and History." everestbands.com.
14. Chrono24. "Rolex GMT-Master II 16710." chrono24.com.
15. Bob's Watches. "GMT Master II 16710 History." bobswatches.com.
16. Millenary Watches. "Rolex GMT-Master II 16710: A Complete Guide." millenarywatches.com.
17. Bob's Watches. "GMT Master II 16710 History." bobswatches.com.
18. Tokant Paris. "1999 Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16710: Rare Swiss Only Dial." tokant-paris.com.
19. The Watch Club. "Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16710 Swiss Only." watchclub.com.
20. Bob's Watches. "GMT Master II 16710 History." bobswatches.com.
21. Bob's Watches. "GMT Master II 16710 History." bobswatches.com.
22. Rolex. "Oystersteel." rolex.com.
23. Oysterinfo. "GMT-Master." oysterinfo.de.

• Case in very good condition, sharp lugs with light hairlines visible. 
• Bracelet in very good condition, light hairline scratches visible.
• Bracelet has minimal stretch

•   Dial & hands flawless condition