Almost as intriguing as the discovery of new watches every year at Baselworld are the guessing games that precede it, especially as regards Rolex. It’s become a cottage industry for online prognosticators to try to predict ahead of time what the Swiss power brand will roll out at the world’s biggest watch fair. However, few saw coming the timepiece that led off Rolex’s 2018 collection ? a new version of the classic “Pepsi” GMT-Master II in “Oystersteel,” featuring several significant updates on both the inside and outside. We run through the most significant of them below.
The Rolex GMT-Master II Oystersteel features a new movement and a new Jubilee bracelet.
The 40-mm case made of Oystersteel ? Rolex jargon for 904L stainless steel ? is guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 300 meters, a robustness aided by a solid steel, fluted-edge caseback that is hermetically screwed down (with a special tool that is exclusive to Rolex) and the integrated crown guards emblematic of the GMT-Master II’s Oyster case flanking the screw-down crown. That recognizable Pepsi bezel frames a nearly scratchproof sapphire crystal, with the now-iconic Cyclops lens over the date window at 3 o’clock. For those not in the know, the bicolor bezel’s 24-hour scale can be synchronized with the red GMT hand on the dial to quickly and easily read the time in a time zone other than your own, while the hour and minute hands and date all continue to dis...