When it comes to the Rolex GMT Master, the first product that players think of is the "red and blue circle". Indeed, with the high recognizability brought by contrasting colors, the popularity of "red and blue circles" has not diminished since its debut in the 1950s, and has long been a hot topic in the world of luxury watches. And works that are close to and easily confused with "red and blue circles" actually have "red and black circles".
The red and blue circles are called "Pepsi circles" due to their similarity to the brand logo of Pepsi Cola; The red and black circles, due to their proximity to the packaging color of Coca Cola, are also known as "Coca Cola circles". In the 21st century, due to Rolex no longer updating the red and black circles, the corresponding products of the "Coca Cola Circle" have become vacant. Some players also use "Coca Cola Circle" to refer to the red and blue circles, which is not a rigorous term. With the recent exposure of a patent document, Rolex seems to be interested in reproducing this classic color scheme. The new product with the highest expected value for "Clocks and Miracles" in Geneva this year is the true (Coca Cola) cola circle - the red and black circles - making a comeback.
To clarify the origin of "red and blue circles" and "red and black circles", we need to start from the past and present lives of the series. The Rolex Greenwich model was born in the mid-1950s, when the rapid development of the civil aviation industry made long-distance travel across time zones increasingly common, giving rise to the use of multi time zone watches. The Rolex Greenwich model was born in this era, with the first generation of products designed in collaboration between Rolex and Pan American Airlines and distributed to crew members on long-distance flights. The pioneering work of the series, Ref.6542, adopts a red and blue dual color outer circle, which is innovative in dividing the 240 outer circle into two parts, with red representing 6 to 180; The blue color represents the 18th to the 6th of the next day, and the changes in day and night are clear at a glance.
From the perspective of inheritance, the red and blue circles have a longer history than the red and black circles, and are the earliest color scheme adopted in the series. The outer ring of the first generation Greenwich watch was made of bakelite (resin) material, which was prone to wear and tear. In 1959, the brand upgraded it to anodized aluminum and added a crown shoulder guard, and the corresponding model was changed to Ref.1675. For a long time thereafter, anodized aluminum oxide circles were standard for the Greenwich type.
The emergence of Greenwich II did not immediately replace Greenwich I. From 1983 to 1999, the two generations of products were sold in parallel. Rolex even updated the Greenwich II product line in 1988 (five years after its launch). As the final form of the first generation product, the mirror material of Ref.16700 has been upgraded to sapphire. In later versions, the luminous material has been replaced with Luminova from tritium, and the tritium element mark "T" has been removed from the disc surface.
In addition to continuing the Pepsi circle, Ref.16700 also introduced the unique Coca Cola circle of the Greenwich II Ref.16760. Given the highly overlapping appearance and market positioning of the two generations of products, the second generation with more mature and complete functions has the potential to replace the first generation. Therefore, entering the new century, the brand only retains the Greenwich II product line.
