Rolex GMT-Master II 116710BLNR

This Rolex "Batman" GMT-Master II, ref. 116710BLNR set hearts alight when it was unveiled at the 2013 Baselworld Fair in Geneva. A blue and black (Bleu & Noir) colorway on Rolex's patented Cerachrom ceramic bezel is not what anyone was expecting. With a near scratchproof finish and platinum numerals it is as technical an achievement as any other in the modern Rolex lineup and gives a great shock of color against the 40mm solid steel case. The newness could have stopped there and everyone would have been thrilled but like all modern steel GMTs the "Batman" sports white gold lume surrounds, white gold Mercedes hands, the lauded in-house automatic caliber 3186 movement and the patented screw-down, Triplock crown. That Rolex made the GMT hand match the blue of the bezel is just a nice touch all the way around. It's worth noting that a multi-colored, one-piece ceramic bezel had never been achieved before by anyone, and that the 116710BLNR was the first Master II in six years to have a bezel in anything other than black. It's not hyperbole to say that it in the world of the nuanced Rolex enthusiast this watch was historical, which is squarely in the spirit of the GMT line. Originally designed to allow PanAm pilots the ability to simultaneously track two separate timezones - one set against the 24-hour Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) via an arrow tipped hand - today's GMT continues to evoke the golden age of transatlantic flight in the 1950s and the jetset of the 1980s. This is a watch you set to local time just before you step off a Chris-Craft on Lake Cuomo, straw Fedora in hand.