Manufacturer: Rolex
Year: 2005
Reference No: 16710
Case No: D303’590
Model Name: GMT-Master II
Material: Stainless steel
Calibre: Automatic, cal. 3185, 31 jewels
Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster bracelet, endlinks stamped 78790A and MA, overall max length 210mm
Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Rolex deployant clasp stamped 78790A and MA4
Dimensions: 40mm Diameter
Signed: Case, dial, movement and clasp signed
Accessories: Accompanied by Rolex Guarantee stamped Otap Istanbul, green leather fitted presentation box, two hang tags, product literature and outer packaging.
Catalogue Essay
One doesn’t need to know very much about watches to recognize the distinctive flash of red and blue that announces a watch as a Rolex GMT-Master. Amongst the most iconic colour pairings in the world of watches, and one that is still going strong some 65 years on from its debut on Rolex’s game-changing pilot’s watch.

With the introduction of the sapphire crystal in the 1980s, Rolex took the opportunity to upgrade the GMT-Master with an independently set hour hand allowing access to three time zones simultaneously and earning a new, “II”, designation. Marking this transition from the vintage to the modern era did not mean Rolex would resist the small tweaks and upgrades that made the 4-digit reference number GMT-Master models so endlessly collectable and fascinating. Indeed, the 5-digit era gave us the strangely vestigial 16700, the voluminous “Fat Lady”, with subtle changes to dials, luminous material, bracelets, bezels and calibers.

Towards the end of the reference 16710’s production, Rolex began making these changes more feverishly than before, likely workshopping and testing ideas for the yet-to-be-revealed 116710.

The most collectable of these dial variants is the so-called “stick” dial as found on the present lot, in which Rolex eliminated the heavy adjoining serifs that sandwiched the Roman numeral II for a sleeker, lighter, more minimal layout. Only appearing in the very final years of production, these “stick” dials marked the final aesthetic upgrade in the GMT-Master’s lineage before the Cerachrom era began.

The perfect showcase for one of Rolex’s most collectible modern dials, this example is found in pristine, untouched condition, still retaining the original factory applied stickers from 2005 and its full suite of accessories including the punched certificate.
Artist Biography
Rolex
Swiss • 1905
Founded 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.
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