Rubber Strap for Rolex GMT Master II Pepsi Jubilee 126710 BLRO​

As the first watch from Rolex to display two time zones simultaneously, the GMT Master was shipped for the first time in 1954. The development of the watch was based on a request from Pan American Airlines management in 1953, when the airline was originally looking for a watch for its pilots that would simultaneously display both the local time of arrival and the time of departure. Based on the basic ideas of Hans Wilsdorf the first GMT-Master was developed one year later. Today the watch is still almost identical in design. The second time zone is indicated by an additional hour hand. At that time, the time zone could be set in conjunction with the bezel. The first models of the watch were delivered with a plastic bezel to avoid reflections in the cockpit. However, the material did not withstand the high forces in the cockpit and was quickly replaced with a steel bezel. Today, the earliest and most rare models are therefore very popular with collectors. Pan American Airlines designated the GMT-Master as its official watch and equipped its ground crew with the white dial model and its aircraft crew with black dial watches. Today’s GMT-Master II also displays the second time zone via the additional hour hand, which is now separately adjustable via the crown. The housing diameter is 40mm with a lug width of 20mm.

Rolex modified the Pepsi very cautiously until 2007. But then, when it introduced a ceramic bezel on steel versions of the GMT-Master II, it became necessary to shelve the Pepsi. At that time, a two-color bezel made of ceramic appeared to be technically impossible, and the color red could not be created satisfactorily in this high-tech material. In 2013, Rolex solved one of these problems and the first two-tone ceramic scale appeared – in blue and black. This very popular GMT-Master II in steel became known as “Batman.” In 2014, Rolex was able to create the desired red color, and the company reintroduced the beloved red-and-blue Pepsi bezel – on a white-gold watch. The price of over $40,000 was too high for many fans of steel Rolex sports watches. In 2018, Rolex responded to its customers’ desires and again issued the Pepsi in steel.

So as not to be confused with the more expensive white-gold Pepsi, the steel Pepsi is the first Rolex sports watch that has a five-piece-link Jubilee bracelet, previously reserved for Datejust models. But whether this is a consolation to owners of the white-gold version is debatable, since the multi-linked Jubilee bracelet has a more elegant appearance than the three-row Oyster one.

In combination with the legendary Pepsi design of the case, a blue or red-brown strap, such as the show below, can be used perfectly. The black dial also goes perfectly with the Black watch strap, which brings an elegant vintage style to the almost unchanged design from 1954.