Notes: Model Name: GMT-Master II Gender: Mens; Movement: Automatic Winding; Movement Details: Oyster Perpetual with Date; Case: 18k Yellow Gold case with rotating bezel with Bronze insert (41mm dia.); Bracelet: 18k Yellow Gold hidden-clasp Jubilee bracelet; Dial: Bronze Dial with luminous markers.

Mechanism: The Cal. 3185 was the replacement for the short-lived Cal. 3085, the first in-house Rolex mechanism to feature an independently adjustable 24-hour hand, and the caliber that sat inside the inaugural reference of the GMT-Master II from 1983. The ‘Fat Lady’ enjoyed just five years in production before being superseded by the second generation of the brand’s aviator watch, with the 3185 providing identical functionality, but with a slimmer profile that allowed for a return to a more gracefully proportioned case. The Cal. 3185, hand-slop and all, was made from 1988 to 2005, a long and successful run and one that was only upgraded due to the brand perfecting its Parachrom Bleu hairspring technology.

Family Notes: Rolex introduced the Explorer II in 1971. This watch was not a successor of the Explorer 1016, but an additional timepiece with an additional function. The Explorer II was aimed at speleologists or cave explorers, who could lose sense of time during their work. The Type II came with the additional (24) hour hand, 24 hour scale bezel and a date. The Explorer II (like the I) is a chronometer and the cases were designed to handle 100m water resistance. You only had to open a National Geographic Magazine of the 1970’s and you’d see an Explorer II ad inside.