The GMT-Master II Is Rolex's Best (And Only) Steel Sports Watch Of 2024

Every year, before Watches & Wonders, my nerd friends (generally also my colleagues) and I spend a good amount of mental capital trying to predict what Rolex will release. The odds of us ever getting it right are close to zero. I got dangerously close in 2023 when I predicted a gold GMT-Master on a Jubilee bracelet but, to me at least, that was a gimme. The predictions tend to get more far-fetched and unrealistic: Titanium [insert hypey watch here], a re-edition of a ‘50s Submariner, a re-edition of the Ref. 1019 Milgauss…you get the idea.

For example, this past year we were all but certain that the Crown was going to release a new "Coke" (black-and-red bezel) version of the GMT-Master II. Guess what? It didn’t. In fact, it only released a single solitary steel watch in all of 2024, and it could possibly have been the chillest release of a steel watch ever. Nine months on, and you may have forgotten about it already. I haven’t, and I happen to think it was Rolex’s best sports watch of 2024, even if it was its only one rendered in steel (the other notable sports entry being a positively gargantuan and load-heavy solid-gold Deepsea).

The watch was a GMT-Master, just not of the Coke variety. And its arrival was the most Rolex move ever. It punctuated a habit of the brand of carefully iterating on designs, occasionally discontinuing them for some time in the process. The watch was the Ref. 126710GRNR – the four letters being an indication of the grey ("Gris") and black ("Noir") bezel. 

So why was this release so “chill?” Well, because we have seen this watch format before. Way back in 2005, Rolex introduced the very first sports watch in the super- case format with a Cerachrom bezel. It was a solid gold (because, of course it was) GMT-Master II with a black dial and black bezel, but with one colorful feature theretofore unseen in the range: a green GMT hand and green text on the dial. It was followed soon after by an identical model in steel (the ref. 116710LN), which would serve as the only version available of the watch on the market in the mid to late aughts — until the "Batman" came along with its blue-and-black bezel in 2013.

Rumor has it that Rolex was having a hell of a time crafting a "Pepsi" (blue-and-red) bezel in Cerachrom and so the Batman format was something of an experiment, and a feat worth bragging about because it represented bi-color victory. You see, the bezels aren’t two separately colored pieces but rather consist of a solid block of ceramic that is first colored black and then injected with the secondary color precisely. But this is a story for another time. The long and short of it is that by the time Rolex was able to make a Pepsi GMT-Master II in steel, it also discontinued that black-bezel edition with green details. 

Many figured it would become something of a collector darling. It didn’t really, it existed more as your sort of run-of-the-mill, pre-owned, discontinued Rolex, representing a brief moment in the early heritage of its modern era. Its market value paled in comparison to the Batman or Pepsi variations. So when it left, a lot of us just moved on. 

Pouring one out for the Rolex GMT-Master 116710LN

But then came 2022, when Rolex shocked us all with a deeply esoteric model with a crown on the left side of the case. Its relevance to this particular part of GMT lore is that it revived the green color within the lineup, except now it was more pronounced. Instead of being a dial-only flourish, it now was made a color on the bezel. The black- and-green “don’t call it a lefty” GMT was the talk of the show that year. In 2023, the Crown doubled down on it by launching a standard version as well. The "GMT-Master II" text on these models, unlike on the previous edition, was white and not green.

In essence, Rolex had a run of splashy launches in the last five years, giving us new steel Submariners, GMT-Masters, Daytonas, and even Air Kings (more on that in a moment). So when 2024 rolled along, we thought more splash was in store. We brought ponchos. 

Instead, the 126710GRNR came in with a faint whisper – almost as if the brand forgot to include it in the 2023 release cycle. I remember seeing it come across the table during our meeting with Rolex at Watches & Wonders, taking a few moments to look at it, and passing it along. As someone who deeply loves the GMT and is a Batman owner, I paid it little mind. That is until my brain switched into end-of-year-award-giving mode. This is when I get the most intellectually curious and begin to see patterns and significance in things.

It was in this headspace that I saw this watch for what it was: a masterclass in below-the-line iteration from Rolex in one of its most popular collections. Somehow, a steel GMT went under-the-radar, and that’s amazing to me. This watch follows in the same incremental-improvement bucket as the modern Red Sea-Dweller (updated from one year to the next), the Starbucks Submariner (updated one year to the next), the Rolex Explorer II (discretely changed after about a decade), and the Air-King. The Air-King stands as the best template to compare to the 126710GRNR. When Rolex rolled out the new Air-King in 2022, it did so with some meaningful changes to the dial, movement, and the case.

You could say that the differences between the late-aughts green GMT and this new model are similar in that regard. Where the OG featured an all-black bezel, this watch has a bi-color black-and-grey bezel. The new edition comes not only on the Oyster bracelet of its predecessor, but also the fan-favorite Jubilee. It also features an updated 3285 caliber.

Most importantly, it features that green GMT hand and the green text on the dial surface. It’s basically the same as old but for a slightly tweaked bezel. These small changes probably account for the fact that this got very little attention in the watch world post-W&W. I have never seen one in the wild. I bet a lot of people just assume it has always been in the collection. To me, it is also the spiritual successor to the 16710 GMT-Master II, with the all-black bezel and red GMT hand.

What I mean is, this is the “fly under the radar” GMT-Master. In a world where Rolex seems to be edging closer and closer to high, high luxury, it is nice to know that one of its most beloved collections still has a watch that doesn’t scream hype with loud colors. This watch gives you the same 40mm case size, your choice of bracelet (with Easy-link extension) and offers true GMT capability. It’s a GMT-Master II that’s getting close to zero attention in the year it was actually released.

So when I got to thinking about cementing this as Rolex’s sports watch of the year, its under-the-radarness certainly played a role. I think, with time, this watch will catch on as all truly good watches do. There isn’t much to actually say about this watch that doesn’t speak for itself. So if, like many others, you forgot this watch came out in 2024, consider this your re-introduction. You can learn more at rolex.com