On the early 16760 dials

Mar 29, 2021,04:57 AM
 



Reference 16760 was the first of the GMT-Master II line and the first one to be offered with a Coke insert. Despite being in production for only five years, it was produced with an amazing variety of dials.

The most visible characteristic is the text Oyster Perpetual in the early dials (known as “no-date” or mk1) which later became Oyster Perpetual Date. The same happened to reference 16750 when ROLEX transitioned to a gloss dial at around the same period.

Slightly less know is the fact that a certain degree of experimentation took place among the suppliers of the early “no-date” dials. There are at least three different layouts, which are the subject of this post.

The more common variation (although not common at all) adopts the same fonts with serifs that are found in later “date” dials. Notice the presence of a hyphen connecting GMT and MASTER II. Dials are often found to have aged to a uniform matt appearance, although aging conditions are known to have led to striking exceptions.

A second variation is characterized by the missing hyphen between GMT and MASTER II. Fonts still display the usual serifs, but font weight is slightly lighter than in the previous version. Dials remain glossy and, in the couple of specimens I studied, they display spidering. This version is much rarer than the one described above with only a few specimens seen in the wild.

The last variation is perhaps the most intriguing, combining the missing hyphen of the previous version with a rail SCOC layout found at around the same period in other references. It also adopts completely different fonts with less maked serifs. I am not sure if serifs have been lost in the aging of the dial or if the fonts were sans-serifs by design. Minute markers, though, are more visibly sans-serifs. Another interesting detail is in the bottom leg of the E in ROLEX which is longer than the top one, while they are of the same length in all other 16760 variations. Again, in all three specimens that I had the opportunity to study the dial remained glossy and developed various degrees of spidering. The same spidering, the rail SCOC layout and the same fonts are found on black 16550 from the same period. The same fonts and the same missing hyphen (this time between SEA and DWELLER) and spidering are also found on 16660 Mk3 from the same period. In both cases the dial maker was Stern Frères. Over many years I only came across three 16760 in this configuration, although more were certainly produced.

To the best of my knowledge only in reference 16760 one can find the script GMT MASTER without the connecting hyphen and a rail SCOC layout. For those who care about minutiae this makes it a unique reference to collect. Irrespective of which dial variation you find more attractive, the 16760 is a mavellous watch to enjoy and use every day.

carlo





An example of the more common ”no-date" dial.




No-date, no-hyphen dial.




No-date, no-hyphen, rail dial.




Another example of no-date no-hyphen rail dial. A third one was posted by Nicolas a few months ago.



More posts: 16550166601675016760Explorer IIGMT MasterGMT Master IIOyster PerpetualOyster Perpetual DateSea Dweller

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This one???

 
 By: amanico : March 29th, 2021-05:17
...  

Good news for me! :)))

 
 By: amanico : March 29th, 2021-06:02

thank you pmh6000

 
 By: csbracc : March 29th, 2021-09:04

The fat lady sings.

 
 By: Bill : March 29th, 2021-10:09
What a great post. Thank you for sharing these details which I admit I did not know. The famous fat lady below. ...  

Thank you Bill

 
 By: csbracc : March 29th, 2021-10:27
That's a great shot of an incredible watch!

 
 By: JungleHour : June 26th, 2023-11:36
Thank you for the detailed write up.