Rolex Batman vs. Batgirl: Key Differences of Two Iconic GMT-Master Models

The Rolex GMT-Master II is one of the most popular timepieces in the world, and the "Batman" and "Batgirl" versions, with their alluring black-and-blue colorways, are on many a collector's wish list. But what makes a Batman a Batman, and a Batgirl a Batgirl, and what exactly differentiates these two watches, so similar at first glance, from each other? Here we explore what makes "Rolex Batman vs. Batgirl" such a compelling matchup, and why the debate on the nicknames themselves is so intriguing.

Lead image by Bonhams and Sotheby's

Before Batman: A Brief History of the Rolex GMT-Master

When it hit the market in 1955, one year after its unveiling, the Rolex GMT-Master was both trend-setting and genre-defining in its now-iconic conception. The original GMT-Master (Ref. 6542) was the first watch capable of displaying the time in two separate time zones thanks to the clever addition of a fourth, central 24-hour hand and a bidirectional rotating 24-hour bezel. The initials in the watch’s name signify “Greenwich Mean Time,” the system of world timekeeping based on the calculation of mean solar time from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. This dual-time functionality was an innovation devised for, and developed in cooperation with, the original watch’s intended users: pilots for Pan American Airlines, at the time one of the U.S.A.’s leading commercial carriers. In that so-called Golden Age of commercial aviation, the growth of long-haul and international flights prompted the desire for a tool watch that enabled a pilot to track the time in both his home city, and his flight’s destination city, anywhere in the world. 

While other watch manufacturers, before and since, have established various ways of displaying and tracking two or more time zones, it is Rolex’s design that has proven the most impactful and enduring, and the one most emulated by other brands looking to entice world travelers. The first-generation GMT-Master Ref. 6452 had a 38mm steel Oyster case, a black dial with the brand’s “Mercedes” handset, and a 3 o’clock date window under a Cyclops lens. Most notably from a historical standpoint, its 24-hour graduated bezel was divided into two equal sectors of red and blue, a clever and eye-catching visual shorthand to identify daytime and nighttime hours on the 24-hour scale. This red-and-blue color scheme bestowed the nickname “Pepsi” on that model, and would usher in a series of clever nicknames to follow as Rolex built on the success of the original GMT-Master with subsequent bicolor variations. 

The red-and-black “Coke” bezel debuted on the Ref. 16760 model in 1983, which was the first GMT-Master II series, distinguished from its predecessor by its redesigned GMT hand, which was decoupled from the main hour hand, enabling the user to read an additional time zone on the bezel. Throughout the model’s history, Rolex has dabbled in other color combinations for its bicolor bezel, all of which have been tagged (often retroactively) with nicknames, like the blue-and-fuschia “Pink Panther” and brown-and-gold “Root Beer.” While all of these models made an impact and remain collectible today, no other iteration of the GMT-Master has had the widespread appeal and staying power of the original “Pepsi” and “Coke” editions — that is, until 2013, and the milestone debut of the GMT-Master II Ref. 116710BLNR.

Rolex "Batman" (Ref. 116710BLNR, 2013-2019)

Right off the bat (sorry), the original Rolex GMT-Master “Batman” was noteworthy as the first version of the already legendary timepiece equipped with a two-color bezel insert made from Cerachrom, Rolex’s proprietary ceramic alloy touted for its hardness and scratch resistance. The watch’s color combo of black for night and dark blue for day undoubtedly brought to mind, for many enthusiasts, the signature colors of Batman, the DC Comics hero who debuted in 1939 and has since gone on to become a pop cultural phenomenon in a series of blockbuster movies. Rolex’s diehard fanbase, predictably, jumped right out of the gate to bestow a nickname on the new GMT-Master and its world-first bicolor bezel combo. After other early monikers like “Bruiser” and “Phantom” failed to stick, the consensus choice became “Batman.” 

To create the bezel, Rolex developed a patented process in which a single piece of blue ceramic has black color added to half its surface area while the ceramic is still permeable; the 24-hour gradations, engraved into the ceramic after it has hardened, are coated with a thin layer of platinum and then the entire bezel is diamond-polished to a high gloss. The process ensures that the bezel’s colors won’t fade (or “tropicalize,” to use the watch collectors’ jargon) over years of exposure to ultraviolet rays but remain vibrant. Rolex’s continuing push into patented technologies and luxurious materials was also evident in the 2013 “Batman” reference (the “BLNR” suffix signifying “Blue” and “Noir”): white gold hands sweeping over a black lacquered dial, Rolex’s blue-glowing Chromalight substance on the hands and indexes, and, ticking inside, the automatic (“Perpetual”) Caliber 3816 with a COSC chronometer certification and a 48-hour power reserve. 

Photo: Bonhams

Like many GMT-Master II models that had preceded it, and like many of its siblings in Rolex’s sporty “Oyster Perpetual” series, the “Batman” came mounted on the Crown’s emblematic Oyster bracelet. Patented in 1947, and first Introduced on a watch in 1948, it is the template from which many other three-link bracelet styles have been drawn. Its name comes from its association with the Rolex Oyster case that debuted in 1926 — at the time the most water-resistant watch case that had been made — for which the bracelet was intended as a natural extension. Oyster bracelets are recognizable for their wide center links bordered by thinner end-links. In the early versions, the links were riveted; these were phased out in favor of a “folding” style in 1967, which eventually gave way to the modern, solid-link style in 1975. Oyster bracelets come equipped with the accompanying Oysterlock clasp, a triple-deployant metal clasp with a safety-lock mechanism, another element that makes them ideal for “tool” watches like the GMT-Master and other icons like the Submariner, Sea-Dweller, and Explorer. 

Rolex "Batgirl" (Ref. 126710BLNR, 2019 - now)

Image by Bonhams

Despite its massive popularity, the original GMT-Master “Batman” was on its way out of production by 2019, as Rolex continued to make technical improvements to both the exterior and interior elements of its watches. That year saw the debut of the next generation, Ref. 126710BLNR (only a single digit had changed in the reference number), which had one alteration that was rather subtle and another that was significant enough that it moved some Rolex fans to change the model’s nickname from a masculine to feminine one — albeit still keeping to the superheroic theme. 

The former change was an upgrade from Caliber 3816 to the Caliber 3285, which had made its debut a year earlier inside the most recent revamp of the classic “Pepsi” GMT-Master, Ref. 126710BLRO. The movement boasts 10 patented features, among them Rolex’s energy-efficient, magnetic-resistant Chronergy escapement and its exclusive blue Parachrom hairspring, engineered to be 10 times more precise than a traditional type. The power reserve was bumped up to 70 hours from its predecessor’s 48, courtesy of a larger barrel, and the entire movement meets the strict criteria for Rolex’s in-house “Superlative Chronometer” certification, rolled out in 2015, including a daily accuracy to within -2/+2 seconds. 

Image by Sotheby's

More attention-getting was the other change: Rolex mounted this newer version of the blue-and-black GMT-Master not on the robust, three-link Oyster bracelet but on the more supple, five-link Jubilee bracelet — which it had also done for the watch’s “Pepsi” predecessor in 2018. While not as ubiquitous as the Oyster bracelet, the Jubilee was actually the first bracelet style that Rolex made in-house. Renowned for its five-link design, with three rows of smaller center links flanked by two rows of larger links on each side, it made its debut on the watch for which it was specifically designed, the original Rolex Datejust, in 1945.

For a while, the Jubilee, still considered one of Rolex’s dressiest and most luxurious bracelet options, was offered only in solid gold; today the brand makes it in various metals and bi-metal iterations, hence its use in recent years on sportier models like the GMT-Master. Over the years, its link styles and shapes have subtly changed, from folded to D-shaped to oval-shaped to solid. Since there are more individual links in this type of bracelet, it tends to be a little more form fitting than the three-link Oyster, though the latter is generally thought of as more stout since the links themselves are larger. The Jubilee bracelet on the Ref. 126710BLNR, however, is also equipped with decidedly utilitarian features, like Rolex’s Oysterlock safety clasp and Easylink extension system. 

Despite these “tool watch” touches, and the fact that it still sported an arguably quite masculine 40mm size, the 2019 release of the GMT-Master garnered the new nickname “Batgirl,” distinguishing it from the original “Batman.” (For those not as versed in DC Comics lore, the nickname was not simply a feminization of the existing one: there is indeed a “Batgirl” in the original comics, who debuted in 1967 after first being seen as a character on the 1960s “Batman” TV series. And she wears — at least in the character’s most well-known interpretation —  the same costume colors as Batman, so the name does fit.) To return to our central theme of “Batman vs. Batgirl,” the difference can be boiled down to the details above: “Batman” is equipped with the earlier Caliber 3816 and comes on an Oyster bracelet. “Batgirl,” the more recent model, has the newer Caliber 3285 and comes on a Jubilee. Is one really more masculine than the other? And is the use of a different bracelet on essentially the same watch enough to justify a separate nickname? All of the above is certainly debatable, and every serious Rolexophile will have their own opinion. 

Tom Brady's Rolex Batman (Image by Sotheby's)

Of course, as with most things Rolex, the distinction isn’t even really that simple anymore. The Crown added another layer of confusion to the debate in 2021, when it introduced the first version of the GMT-Master II Ref. 126710BLNR on an Oyster bracelet — that’s right, the exact same reference number, but on a different bracelet, essentially becoming, for many, the inheritor of the original “Batman” nickname. So, are there now two “Batmen” references and one “Batgirl?” Or, as some have suggested, should “Batgirl” be retired in favor of the original nickname, allowing for enthusiasts to adopt a more streamlined approach to describing the model, i.e., “Batman on Oyster” vs. “Batman on Jubilee?” Since Rolex itself is unlikely to weigh in — the company has never bestowed an official nickname on this or any other watch — the debate is likely to continue. You can learn more at rolex.com.