8091
Rolex
Ref. 1675
GMT-Master, MK V
A rare and well-preserved stainless steel dual-time wristwatch with bracelet, “MK V” dial, date, center seconds, guarantee and presentation box
Full-Cataloguing
- Very well-preserved
- Accompanied by all its original accessories, including purchase invoice
- Previously offered in Phillips & Blackbird: SPORTS auction
- The Rolex GMT-Master was an ingenious innovation which epitomizes the golden age of air travel. The present GMT-Master ref. 1675 was purchased by its original owner from a now defunct retailer called King Ngai Jewellery & Watch Co. in Hong Kong in the late 1970s, when Hong Kong's economy was vigorously accelerating amidst increased capital flows, commercial opportunities and business investments. With the economic boom, increasingly Hong Kongers were able to travel the world, and for them a robust and reliable dual-time wristwatch was essential.
- The watch is preserved with care in excellent overall condition. The two-tone “Pepsi” bezel has aged beautifully into the wondrous hues of azure and light crimson, bestowing a unique aura onto the watch. The present model is fitted with the last-generation “MK V” dial identifiable by the alignment of the “M” in MASTER, which sits between the “CH” in CHRONOMETER.
- Aside from its exceptional condition, it is further accompanied by its punched Rolex guarantee, green leather box and hang tags. Most impressively, the original invoice dated in 1978 is also retained. An example like this is rare to come across.
Rolex
Swiss | 1905Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.