Rolex. A Stainless Steel GMT Wristwatch Reference 1675 with pointy crown guards

Case. Three-body, polished and brushed, curved lugs, screw down case back and crown, Twin lock winding-crown protected by the pointy crown guard, bidirectional revolving graduated 24-hour red and blue bezel for the second time zone, red side of bezel has taken an light orange patina., crystal with cyclops lens. Case is in extremely good condition, very thick with much beveling definition, not much scratches and no digs or dent.

Dial. Tropical brown with luminous round, baton and triangular indexes, exclamation at 6, outer minutes/ seconds track, aperture for the date with cyclops lens. Luminous steel skeleton hands. Dial gilt writing has turned into a nice gilt, contrasting beautifully with the glossy brown tropical dial. 

Movement. Cal. 1560, rhodium-plated, 26 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to temperatures and 5 positions, shock absorber, self-compensating freesprung Breguet balance spring, Microstella regulating screws.

Reference: 1675

Diameter: 40mm Thickness: 

Circa: 1961

More about Rolex:

The Rolex GMT-Master was created to display multiple timezones at once for Pan-Am pilots as they began to operate more transatlantic flights, and became one of the most popular “tool” watches in the aviation industry. The first reference was the 6542, introduced in 1954. Featuring a bakelite bezel (which was used for the first two years of production and then changed to an aluminum bezel) and with no crown guards, it was only in production for a few short years before the new reference 1675 was introduced in 1959.

Reference 1675 was available in stainless steel or 18k yellow gold, and by the 1970’s was available in a metal combination of steel and gold, known as “Rolesor”. Production of the reference 1675 ceased in the early 1980’s, and was succeeded by the modern 16750 reference. With such a long span of production, vintage GMT-Master have enjoyed immense popularity. Examples that feature certain traits have become more desirable in recent years. One such trait is the presence of a black gloss dial with gilt text, which requires several layers to be applied to the metal base – the gilt text and markers are printed underneath the black background and shine through.

The present example has it all; a gilt tropical dial with exclamation point and a pointed crown guard. It  is preserved in excellent overall condition, with a thick case, beautiful defined lugs. It has a striking brown tropical dial l with beautiful gilt writing and luminous numerals that have aged in a uniform tone. Perfect for the most discerning collector.