Reference:gmt-master-ii-5digit-ceramic-family: Difference between revisions

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 {{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex GMT-Master II 5-digit ceramic family}}
 {{#seo:
-|title=Rolex GMT-Master II 5-digit ceramic family — BezelBase
+|title=Rolex GMT-Master II 5-digit ceramic family — Rolexopedia
-|description=The 5-digit ceramic era is the chapter that pulled the GMT-Master II out of its aluminum-bezel past and into the catalogue Rolex still builds against. It…
+|description=The five-digit ceramic GMT-Master II family bridges the aluminium-bezel 16710 and later six-digit references. It…
 |keywords=Rolex, gmt-master-ii-5digit-ceramic-family, GMT-Master, specifications, reference guide
 |type=Article
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 === The two-colour ceramic patent story ===
-The real technical break is the two-colour insert. The 2013 Batman proved Rolex could produce blue and black on a single Cerachrom ring, and the 2014 white-gold Pepsi proved the same process could handle red and blue. That manufacturing step made the later ceramic GMT catalogue possible.
+Rolex’s patent describes a process for making a two-colour ceramic insert as one component. The patent is technical documentation, not a production history for every reference. Rolex’s history page dates the blue-and-black two-colour Cerachrom insert to 2013 and the red-and-blue version to 2014, calling both combinations world firsts for a single-piece ceramic component. The patent describes manufacturing details, but does not by itself prove the exact production process used on every insert in this family.
 <span id="caliber-3185-into-3186"></span>
 === Caliber 3185 into 3186 ===
-The movement side is far simpler than the bezel side. Caliber 3186 launched in the 116718LN at Baselworld 2005 and is the movement of record across the ceramic 5-digit family. It brought the blue Parachrom hairspring, Paraflex shock protection, and a cleaner independent-hour-hand mechanism than the earlier 3185, with a 48-hour power reserve.
+The movement used across the documented five-digit ceramic references is caliber 3186. Caliber 3186 launched in the 116718LN at Baselworld 2005 and is the movement of record across the ceramic 5-digit family. Rolex’s current technical material identifies the independent local-hour adjustment as the defining GMT-Master II function. The 3186 is generally documented with a blue Parachrom hairspring and a 48-hour reserve, but those details should be checked against the reference-specific source when a lot is being authenticated.
 The late aluminum-bezel [[Reference:16710|16710]] still used 3185, but no documented ceramic 5-digit example has surfaced with it.
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 The 5-digit ceramic era splits cleanly by dial-and-bezel identity rather than by mechanical variation.
-* Black bezel, steel: [[Reference:116710LN|116710LN]]. One dial configuration — glossy black with a green "GMT-Master II" signature line and a green 24-hour hand. Two documented institutional-commission dials (Sotheby's Khanjar circa 2010, Bonhams Sea King 2014) sit outside standard production.
+* Black bezel, steel: [[Reference:116710LN|116710LN]]. One dial configuration; glossy black with a green "GMT-Master II" signature line and a green 24-hour hand. Two documented commission runs sit outside standard production: a Sultanate of Oman piece (Sotheby's, circa 2010) with the Khanjar dagger engraved on the caseback and a Khimji Ramdas retailer stamp on the papers, and a 123-piece batch made for personnel associated with the Royal Navy's Westland Sea King helicopter, numbered against the Sea King engraving and the motto "Fear God Honour the King" and sold only to Sea King-associated buyers rather than through normal retail.
-* Blue-black bezel, steel: [[Reference:116710BLNR|116710BLNR]]. One dial configuration — the 116710LN dial minus the green signature line, with a blue 24-hour hand. The Batman is a bezel variant of the 116710LN rather than a separate case platform.
+* Blue-black bezel, steel: [[Reference:116710BLNR|116710BLNR]]. One dial configuration; the 116710LN dial minus the green signature line, with a blue 24-hour hand. The Batman is a bezel variant of the 116710LN rather than a separate case platform.
-* Red-blue bezel, white gold: [[Reference:116719BLRO|116719BLRO]]. Two dial configurations by production window — black lacquer -0001 (2014-2018), matte blue -0002 (2018-2019). Same case, same bezel, same movement across both.
+* Red-blue bezel, white gold: [[Reference:116719BLRO|116719BLRO]]. Two dial configurations by production window: black lacquer -0001 (2014-2018), matte blue -0002 (2018-2019). Same case, same bezel, same movement across both.
-* Black bezel, yellow gold Rolesor: [[Reference:116713LN|116713LN]]. Single gloss-black dial configuration. Narrowest branch in the family — no sub-variants.
+* Black bezel, yellow gold Rolesor: [[Reference:116713LN|116713LN]]. Single gloss-black dial configuration. Narrowest branch in the family, with no documented sub-variants.
-* Black bezel, solid yellow gold: [[Reference:116718LN|116718LN]]. Two parallel dial configurations across the run — standard black and green anniversary. Sotheby's tracks the green as the collector variant; the black is the steadier seller.
+* Black bezel, solid yellow gold: [[Reference:116718LN|116718LN]]. Two parallel dial configurations across the run: standard black and green anniversary. Sotheby's tracks the green as the collector variant; the black is the steadier seller.
 The Rootbeer colour scheme sat the ceramic era out. The brown-and-gold dial-and-bezel pairing that ran through the 1970s 1675/3, [[Reference:16753|16753]], and [[Reference:16758|16758]] did not survive into Cerachrom. Rolex did not bring Rootbeer back to the GMT-Master II until the 6-digit [[Reference:126711CHNR|126711CHNR]] and [[Reference:126715CHNR|126715CHNR]] in 2018, by which point the gold side had shifted from yellow to Everose.
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 == Collecting context ==
-The 5-digit ceramic era moved from current production to discontinued between 2019 and roughly 2024, and the market has rearranged around that.
+These references are discontinued examples of the five-digit ceramic GMT-Master II generation. Auction results and dealer asking prices vary by metal, dial, condition, completeness and sale venue. This page records the reference, material and dial distinctions; it does not assign a general market range.
-The Batman [[Reference:116710BLNR|116710BLNR]] is the reference the post-discontinuation market formed around. Prices climbed hard after 2019, and the watch is now the standard illustration of how quickly a recently discontinued Rolex reprices once supply closes.
+== Related references ==
-The Pepsi [[Reference:116719BLRO|116719BLRO]] carries the same pattern in white gold. Sotheby's has moved multiple examples through Fine Watches and Important Watches sales from 2023 through 2025, with a circa-2014 -0001 selling for EUR 35,560 at Fine Watches 2023. Period retail was about GBP 25,600, which puts the post-discontinuation auction result comfortably above launch.
+* [[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master family index]]
+* [[Reference:116718LN|GMT-Master II 116718LN ]]; first Cerachrom GMT-Master II, yellow gold (2005)
-The all-black [[Reference:116710LN|116710LN]] is quieter. It tracks neither the Batman nor the aluminum-bezel [[Reference:16710|16710]], trading in a band of its own above the neo-vintage aluminum Pepsi and below the two-colour Cerachrom siblings. Fratello's 2021 comparison against the 126710GRNR frames it as the last all-black-bezel steel GMT-Master II, and that is the claim the market has settled on.
+* [[Reference:116713LN|GMT-Master II 116713LN ]]; Rolesor, the second ceramic reference (2006)
+* [[Reference:116710LN|GMT-Master II 116710LN ]]; first steel ceramic GMT-Master II, black (2007)
-The [[Reference:116713LN|116713LN]] is the narrowest branch by auction footprint. Sotheby's has catalogued a 2014 direct-sale listing and Bonhams offered a 2017 example in its Fine Watches sale; beyond that the reference moves through the secondary market rather than the salerooms.
+* [[Reference:116710BLNR|GMT-Master II 116710BLNR ]]; 'Batman' blue-black Cerachrom
+* [[Reference:116719BLRO|GMT-Master II 116719BLRO ]]; white-gold 'Pepsi' ceramic
-The [[Reference:116718LN|116718LN]] auction market is dominated by the green anniversary dial. Sotheby's has offered the variant at Important Watches 2019 and again at Fine Watches 2024, five years after discontinuation. Christie's has catalogued a black-dial example. Post-discontinuation green-dial examples trade through certified pre-owned channels, and secondary-market indexing tracks the green dial separately under 116718LN-0002.
-The split between the 5-digit ceramic references and the neo-vintage 16710 is the collecting line that matters here. Aluminum-bezel 16710 Pepsi and Coke examples trade on vintage appeal. The ceramic references trade on waitlist memory instead of patina, and the Batman and the white-gold Pepsi are the anchors inside that group.
-== Related references ==
+== Gallery ==
-* [[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master family index]]
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
-* [[Reference:116718LN|GMT-Master II 116718LN]] — the first Cerachrom GMT-Master II, yellow gold (2005)
+File:Ref 116718LN hero.jpg|116718LN; first Cerachrom GMT-Master II, solid 18k yellow gold, black bezel (2005)
-* [[Reference:116713LN|GMT-Master II 116713LN]] — Rolesor, the second ceramic reference (2006)
+File:Ref 116713LN hero.webp|116713LN; two-tone Rolesor, first ceramic GMT-Master II to reach steel-in-case form (2006)
-* [[Reference:116710LN|GMT-Master II 116710LN]] — the first steel ceramic GMT-Master II, black (2007)
+File:Ref 116710LN hero.webp|116710LN; first all-steel ceramic GMT-Master II, monochrome black Cerachrom bezel (2007)
-* [[Reference:116710BLNR|GMT-Master II 116710BLNR]] — 'Batman' blue-black Cerachrom
+File:Ref 116710BLNR hero.jpg|116710BLNR 'Batman'; first two-colour Cerachrom, blue-and-black bezel (2013)
-* [[Reference:116719BLRO|GMT-Master II 116719BLRO]] — white-gold 'Pepsi' ceramic
+File:Ref 116719BLRO hero.webp|116719BLRO 'Pepsi'; white-gold ceramic Pepsi, red-and-blue bezel (2014)
+</gallery>
 == Sources ==
@@ Line 108: / Line 106: @@
 * [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/fine-watches-8/gmt-master-ii-pepsi-reference-116719blro-montre GMT-Master II 'Pepsi', 116719BLRO, circa 2014] — Sotheby's
 * [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080224/172 Rolex 116710BLNR GMT-Master II Batman — Geneva Watch Auction XIX lot 172] — Phillips
+* [https://phillips.com/detail/rolex/139413 Rolex Ref. 116710LN GMT-Master II "Sea King" — The Geneva Watch Auction XI] — Phillips
+* [https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/40979/ Rolex 116710LN Sea King] — Bonhams
+* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/important-watches/reference-116710ln-khanjar-gmt-master-ii-a Reference 116710LN 'Khanjar' GMT-Master II] — Sotheby's
+* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2024/11/in-depth-rolex-gmt-master-ii.html In-Depth: The Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II, Materials and Mechanisms] — JX Su and David Ichim, SJX Watches
 * [https://watchcharts.com/watch_model/53-rolex-gmt-master-ii-116710/overview Rolex GMT-Master II 116710 Price Overview] — WatchCharts
 * [https://watchcharts.com/watch_model/739-rolex-gmt-master-ii-batman-116710blnr/overview Rolex GMT-Master II Batman 116710BLNR Price Overview] — WatchCharts