Rolex GMT-Master 1675: Reference Guide

The GMT-Master 1675 is the second-generation Rolex GMT-Master, a 40mm steel watch with a 24-hour hand and a rotating two-color bezel that lets the wearer read a second time zone. It replaced the Bakelite-bezel 6542 around 1959 and was itself replaced by the 16750 around 1980.

It was designed with Pan Am pilots in mind and worn by a great many people who were not pilots, including a fair number of servicemen who bought them at the PX. The 1675 is the reference that fixed the GMT-Master's look: crown guards, aluminum insert, Mercedes hands and a red 24-hour hand. Because Rolex made it for two decades, a buyer can find a 1675 for most budgets, and the differences between early and late examples are where the interest lies.

The 1675 was produced from about 1959 to 1980. Early watches use the caliber 1565; the 1575 took over in the mid-1960s and gained hacking seconds around 1972.

The case changed too. The first examples have small, pointed crown guards, which collectors call PCG, and the rounder guards arrived around 1964. The dials moved from gilt to matte around 1967. Gilt dials are glossy black with gold printing, often with a chapter ring; matte dials are flat black with white printing and come in a sequence of marks that specialists track by the shape of the letters. The 24-hour hand was small on early watches and grew larger from the early 1970s. Late 1675s from the second half of the 1970s have the larger hand, the hacking 1575 and either a folded or solid-link bracelet.

Gilt-dial, pointed-crown-guard examples are the most sought after, followed by early matte dials with a small GMT hand, and then the common later matte dials; on the bezel side, a faded but original Pepsi insert usually adds value.

Gilt dials include underline and chapter-ring types, and transition dials that mix features draw real interest. Among matte dials the long-E and the Mark I through Mark V printings are the vocabulary; the differences are in the letterforms and spacing. Bezels matter more on a GMT than on any other Rolex because the insert is the color of the watch. Original inserts fade unevenly, from deep blue and red toward a pale sky blue and pink, and an even fade is worth keeping. All-black inserts were also fitted from the factory and are correct on some examples.

Check the dial and hands against the serial-dated generation, the bezel insert for originality, the case for polish, and the movement for the correct caliber. On a 1675 the insert and the dial are where most of the money and most of the problems live.

A GMT has more parts that get swapped at service than any other vintage Rolex, so we go through the following in order when a 1675 comes in:

• Case: crown guard shape appropriate to the serial, sharp bevels, and a caseback with a clean interior stamp.
• Dial: gilt or matte as expected for the date, printing crisp, lume plots even and matching the hands. Service dials are correct but cheaper.
• Hands: Mercedes hour hand and a 24-hour hand of the right size; relumed hands glow differently from the dial.
• Bezel: an original insert with period font and an even fade; replacement inserts are fine but should be priced as such.
• Bracelet: Jubilee or Oyster with correct end links and a clasp code within a few years of the case.
• Movement: caliber 1565 or 1575, clean, with the GMT works intact and the jumping hour hand functioning if it is a later example.
• Service history: who did the work and whether the dial, hands and insert were left as found.

The 1675 has been one of the most consistently collected vintage Rolex references, and good examples have held their value well in our experience. We would still not call it an investment in the financial sense.

What supports it is that the modern Pepsi keeps a new generation of buyers looking at the original, the reference was made in numbers large enough to trade freely, and the two-tone bezel gives it a personality that a black-dial Submariner lacks. What complicates it is that condition and originality matter so much that two 1675s from the same year can sell for very different amounts. Provenance can add a further layer; the 1968 example below came with a pilot's decommission letter, which is unusual. Buy for the watch, verify the parts, and let the market do what it does.

A 1675's price depends on the dial generation, the originality of the insert and hands, the case condition and whether it comes as a full set; a gilt pointed-crown-guard example and a late matte example with a service insert are far apart.

We do not print a range here. See the examples below, listed with their actual sale prices, and compare like with like: the 1971 full set sold with original box and papers, and the 1968 watch with military provenance was offered with its outer box, hang tag and serial tag. When comparing listings elsewhere, insist on knowing the dial mark, whether the insert is original, and what has been serviced.

The 16750 that replaced the 1675 around 1980 added a quickset date and the higher-beat caliber 3075, and later gained a glossy dial with white gold surrounds; the 1675 has the slower caliber 1575, a non-quickset date and a matte or gilt dial.

The cases are almost identical and the bezels interchange, so a 16750 wears like a 1675 with modern conveniences. Early 16750s with matte dials are the closest thing to a 1675 at a lower price. If you want the reference the pilots wore, it is the 1675; if you want to set the date without spinning the hands, it is the 16750. Our comparison of the 1675 and 16750 goes through the movement and dial differences, and a second piece sets the vintage 1675 against the modern Pepsi.