Rolex Adventures: The Watch That Made History Part Two: The Sky’s The Limit

      In the year 1955, Rolex changed the world of aviation. Pan Am, the largest and most influential airline of the twentieth century, had a simple request for Rolex: to produce a multi-time zone wristwatch for their pilots that would make telling time (in constantly changing time zones) easier. Within a few months, Rolex fulfilled Pan Am’s request by transforming their 6202 turn-o-graph into the famous 6542 no-crown guard GMT Master. This new creation featured a modified Bakelite bezel and a GMT movement. It was discovered that many of the Executives at Pan-Am were stealing these watches from the pilots. To prevent this, Rolex distributed a small batch of white-dialed 6542 GMT Masters. These white-dialed GMT’s are exceptionally rare and cannot be found anywhere for sale (if you find one, send it my way). Although it is impossible to get your hands on one of the white–dialed GMT’s, it is not too hard to get a hold of the original black-dialed GMT Masters. If you are in the market to purchase one of these, you should expect to pay between $15,000-$25,000. I have seen some guys asking $40,000+, but in my opinion they’re asking way too much. I love the classic GMT Masters more than any other Rolexes, and I have always found them to be pretty secure investments.
Luke Rottman (Executive Editor: thewatchadviser.com)