Every once in a while, you come across a watch that really gets your juices flowing, just like when you started out and everything was new and fresh. A special piece is exciting to find in the wild and it’s one of the thrills of the hunt when you bag one. I should add here that I am often excited about a lot of different watches I come across because, well, I’m a shamelessly promiscuous watchaholic. But there are flings and then there are the love affairs that last. And for a guy like me who has always had a special place in his heart for the classic Rolex reference 1675 GMT-Master, this one really put a charge in me.
Do not adjust your monitor–that dial really is that brown. A deep, dark chocolate brown in fact. Now, we know that the early meters-first matte dials for the Red Submariners are famous for their tendency to turn a pleasing “Tropical” brown. But for whatever reason, we see this less on the first series of GMT matte dials. It’s not unheard of, of course, I’ve seen it a few times prior. But it definitely seems more unusual. And to find a dial like this one that is evenly toned and essentially flawless is really a rare thing…
There are a lot of theories as to why dials go brown but for this watch I think we can conclude that heavy sun exposure has led to the color change. The fading of the originally Pepsi-colored bezel insert to a sort of coral and pale blue and the very light tone of the dial & hands luminous indicate to me that there have been years of solar exposure from prolonged outdoor use. As is so often the way with the best vintage Rolex dials, the case also attests to lots of real world use and not a life spent in a drawer somewhere. It seems to me unpolished, displaying original looking chamfers and undistorted lug holes and there are plenty of minor marks from decades of wear.
But admiring a watch like this in the abstract and clinically appraising its qualities is one thing. It’s when you strap on this chocolate GMT-Master that you really experience the magic. Sometimes these dials are indeterminantly or only vaguely “brown.” Not so this one: whether photographing it or checking the time (which I cannot stop doing) the dark, even cocoa character of this dial comes through, the pleasing little shock of surprise that it’s not the normal matte black. Since getting it back from my watchmaker I have barely taken it off my wrist. I simply removed the original well-worn C&I rivet Oyster and mounted this dark leather strap to play off the color. And voila! Pure joy.
I’ve owned a lot of GMTs–it was my first Rolex when I started collecting and I just like the functionality of the model. But there is something about this one that really pops for me, really makes me happy looking at it and wearing it. The color and the effect are super pleasing to my eye. Even at this late date in my collecting career it’s nice to know that a “common” reference with a twist can still send that frisson of excitement down my spine. In the end, isn’t that what we really want out of this hobby?
