Reference:16700: Difference between revisions

<small>[[Reference:gmt-master|GMT-Master]] → '''16700'''</small>

The [[Reference:16700|16700]] is the last GMT-Master, and that is exactly why it matters. It keeps the older linked-hand GMT-Master operating logic while running well into the GMT-Master II era, which makes it the cleanest late option for a buyer who wants sapphire crystal and modern case refinement without stepping into the independent-hour-hand mechanics of the GMT-Master II.

The reference looks simple from across a table. Up close, the end date is not agreed on, and the lume transition is told two different ways depending on which reference work you trust.

A specific subset of collectors chases the 16700 over the contemporary [[Reference:16710|16710]], and the reasoning is concrete. The linked-hand mechanism means the local hour hand jumps in one-hour steps when travellers set the date, which is the original travel logic the GMT-Master was designed around in the 1950s. The 16710, as a GMT-Master II, trades that for an independent 24-hour hand aimed at tracking a second timezone from a fixed home base. For a collector who wants the original GMT-Master operating feel with sapphire crystal and a quickset date, the 16700 is the only watch in the catalogue that delivers it. That is the whole pitch.

Production ran from 1988. The exit year is contested. The Field Manual closes the reference at 1998. Monochrome and Sotheby's extend it through 1999, and Sotheby's 2025 [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-gmt-master-the-complete-collectors-guide complete GMT-Master guide] states plainly that the 16700 was produced for 20 years and retired in 1999. Neither side has published a case number or archive extract that settles the matter. Serial ranges from the late 1990s are consistent with either reading, and late examples in the market circulate as "1998" or "1999" depending on papers dates rather than any agreed cutoff.

The dial carries two bezel branches and one open lume question.

The black-bezel side is a genuine late-run branch with its own look and following, not a catalogue footnote. Late black 16700s turn up with full papers sets and have a quieter, more dressy read on the wrist than the Pepsi.

The case is the familiar 40mm steel Oyster of the late five-digit period. Sapphire and a Cyclops lens over the date separate the 16700 immediately from the acrylic [[Reference:16750|16750]] it replaces. The bezel palette stays clean: Pepsi and black are the only insert colours the source set supports.

The Field Manual records one detail that carries real authentication weight. Open 6/9 date wheels, where the numerals on the date disc are drawn with open loops, run until about 1992, with closed-style wheels after. A late-serial 16700 presenting an open-6/9 wheel is a prompt to examine the dial and hands more carefully, since service departments occasionally swapped date discs during movement work and a disc that does not line up with the expected production year is one of the easier tells on an otherwise clean watch. Overlap at the boundary is plausible and no public Rolex service record nails the switchover to a month, so 1992 works as a flag, not a verdict.

The 16700 trades as a usable late-vintage GMT-Master rather than an auction trophy. The Pepsi side carries the classic family look and commands the stronger general-market premium, while the black bezel attracts a narrower collector audience that values the quieter late-run alternative. Neither side has produced a headline auction lot on the scale of earlier GMT-Master references, which is consistent with a watch still within living dealer memory and close to service-stock supply.