Hi guys!
Just in from Toro a few nights ago, and haven't seen too many reviews of the BP 1675 GMT-Master straight out of the box.
It's been a very long time since I got a new rep. My collection had been reduced to 2 gens and 1 rep (technically two, but my beloved Space-Dweller is buggered and not yet repaired). The vintage rolex bug bit me when I embarked on the Space-Dweller project years ago and has never really left. So when I saw these up on Toro's website for $158** (Asian 2813), I couldn't resist. The GMT Master has been my grail for as long as I can remember (though I have been tempted by other watches elsewhere, mostly by you guys but I mean who hasn't?
). One could even go as far to say the watch fuelled my childhood ambition and now career in aviation.
Now the GMT Master doesn't really need an introduction. Almost everyone knows the story, but for those that don't;
"The Rolex GMT-Master wristwatch was originally designed in collaboration with Pan American Airways and issued by the airline to their crews on long-haul flights. ("GMT" in the name stands for Greenwich Mean Time also known as Coordinated Universal Time). The original GMT Master watch has a 24-hour display fourth hand complication directly linked to and displaying the same time zone as the standard 12-hour hand. This GMT hand enabled the crews to set the watch to GMT or another time zone, and, using the rotatable 24-hour scale bezel, set to the correct offset, a second time zone could be read. GMT or UTC is the time zone that is required for all aviation planning, weather forecasts, schedules and other paperwork."
courtesy of wikipedia
Now whether that story is reality is a whole other debate, but I digress.
The first GMT Master was the Ref 6542(Informally known as the Pussy Galore, in homage to character in James Bond's Goldfinger) released in 1954.
No crown guards and bakelite bezel(though these were replaced a few years later due to the susceptibility of bakelite to cracking).
In 1959 the Ref 1675 was introduced. The reference was produced until 1980, which makes it one of the longest running models in the Rolex line up. This came with the addition of crown guards; some pointed (known as El Cornino) and regular squared ones like pictured below.
Now everyone who has read up on reps would know there is no perfect rep, even more so with vintage Rolex reps. All of them seem to require some form of work to make them more "gen" like. Fortunately we are blessed with some amazing modders on the forum; the likes of Kenny and Rolex Addict to just name a few. Or you could go the DIY way. Either way, some of the work has been drool worthy.
On to the review!
*****
The watch did originally come with the standard cartel folded 7836 bracelet (Though Toro pictures it coming with a rivet bracelet on his website), but I changed it to the jubilee bracelet that came with my franken 16030 Datejust. This was done because I prefer the look and the jubilee turned out to be more comfortable. The folded bracelet is tinny, rattly and light. Just like the genuine article. The particular watch I ordered was the "Black Bezel Orange Dot". I chose the Asian 2813 movement as it is closer to the gen's 19,600vph and having previously owned a GMT IIc rep; is supposedly more stable/reliable than the modified Asian 2836. The GMT hand is independently adjustable in all choices of movement, unlike the gen, but at the benefit to the user, as they can directly set "home" time on the normal hands, GMT on the other and track a third time zone with the bezel. I however use it as per the gen, home time for both normal and GMT hands, while using the bezel to track GMT/UTC.
Overall the watch looks pretty good to my eye. The lume is very orange. Reminiscent of the spray tans you used to see in the early 2000s. I've never seen any gens outside of the Khanjar & Qaboos 1665s that have a similar shade of lume. However I prefer this look to the lemon yellow on some other vintage reps. The lume on hands relatively match the indices, albeit a shade lighter. The red of GMT hand has a slightly metallic refection, which I think needs to be more matte to be honest.
To my eyes, the text looks passible and within the tolerances expected in a rep. A perfectionist could say that the Rolex is too bold but at least it doesn't say "Oyster Perpetual Date" like the older 1675 reps!
The coronet is of course wrong. The 1675 never had the so called "frog-foot" coronet that appeared on the ref 1655 Explorer reportedly made famous by a man named McQueen.
Another flaw would be the fact that the watch comes with applied indices, which certainly did not occur in the GMT Master until ref 16750 in 1980. This somewhat boggles my mind as surely it would be easier and cheaper to have non-applied indices rather than coating/painting the applied indices! If it can be done for vintage Submariner reps, surely the same could be done for the GMT Master.
Applied indices are clearly visible here.
The watch comes with a plexi rather than sapphire, so is rather susceptible to scratches as per gen. The bezel as far as I am led to believe is of genuine type construction. Which is the non-ratcheting, friction fit type. On my particular watch, the bezel turns with minimal resistance but once set in place, doesn't move unless I change the position myself. Which is good. Though I have read that some others have loose bezels which may turn freely. The bezel insert itself is rather glossy in finish and while the numbers do seem accurate; when comparing between pictures of gen bezels, the rep seems a tad small in print. We could go on and on about "hooked twos" and "fours shaped like this and that"regarding the font of the bezel, but if it really is a big issue, you could replace it with a gen or third party bezel. Do note that the rep bezels are slightly narrower in diameter for the insert, so to fit a genuine insert you'd either need to sand it down to size or replace the bezel entirely to a gen spec from Clark's or WSO.
The date wheel is one of open 6 & 9 variety, which I believe is correct for this reference. The "orange dot" rep comes with a cream coloured date wheel while the white lumed version comes with a white one. Printing on the date wheel is of good quality and of the raised type. All the dates on my particular watch are nicely centred and change over promptly at midnight.
*****
The crown on the gen 1675 is 5.3mm, while the rep is slightly bigger. The coronet on the rep to my eyes is not great. Too wide and not the ring shape. Looks like a more squashed version of the coronet on the dial. The crown guards are noticeably stubby. They are just not prominent enough and definitely require some reshaping to be more gen like.
The case back on this rep is totally wrong. The ref 1675 never came with this case back and you would need a source a replacement to be closer to gen. I also feel that due to this case back, the watch sits slightly higher on the wrist, but it doesn't hamper wearability. It looks like they have used the case back of a 5513 rep or the 1655 rep. Not a big issue as on the wrist you can't see it, but again, totally wrong.
*****
Overall fit and finish is generally pretty good. The watch does even have chamfered lugs though not as prominent as on NOS gens. The edges however a razor sharp. Especially in-between the lugs. To me, not a big issue as you could always soften the edges during modding. There does appear to be some tooling marks left behind on the rear of the mid case.
There appears to be a line that goes all around the case back. Photo above shows the line starting from the upper crown guard, the previous photo has the same line starting from the end link. Not really sure what it is but it is noticeable by the naked eye. However it is on the rear of the watch, so not a deal breaker in my opinion. The engravings in-between the lugs say "Orig. Registered Design 1675" and the serial is of the 3mil variety.
Overall I'd give this rep a 7/10 in terms of out the box. It's a good place to start if you want to mod your way to a 1675. So far the watch is keeping good time and I'm having a blast wearing it. I'm happy to leave this unmodded as sooner or later I will spring for the genuine article.
And a couple of quick and dirty shots of the watch in it's natural environment!
Hope you enjoyed this review!
Cheers and happy landings!
Just in from Toro a few nights ago, and haven't seen too many reviews of the BP 1675 GMT-Master straight out of the box.
It's been a very long time since I got a new rep. My collection had been reduced to 2 gens and 1 rep (technically two, but my beloved Space-Dweller is buggered and not yet repaired). The vintage rolex bug bit me when I embarked on the Space-Dweller project years ago and has never really left. So when I saw these up on Toro's website for $158** (Asian 2813), I couldn't resist. The GMT Master has been my grail for as long as I can remember (though I have been tempted by other watches elsewhere, mostly by you guys but I mean who hasn't?
Now the GMT Master doesn't really need an introduction. Almost everyone knows the story, but for those that don't;
"The Rolex GMT-Master wristwatch was originally designed in collaboration with Pan American Airways and issued by the airline to their crews on long-haul flights. ("GMT" in the name stands for Greenwich Mean Time also known as Coordinated Universal Time). The original GMT Master watch has a 24-hour display fourth hand complication directly linked to and displaying the same time zone as the standard 12-hour hand. This GMT hand enabled the crews to set the watch to GMT or another time zone, and, using the rotatable 24-hour scale bezel, set to the correct offset, a second time zone could be read. GMT or UTC is the time zone that is required for all aviation planning, weather forecasts, schedules and other paperwork."
courtesy of wikipedia
Now whether that story is reality is a whole other debate, but I digress.
The first GMT Master was the Ref 6542(Informally known as the Pussy Galore, in homage to character in James Bond's Goldfinger) released in 1954.
No crown guards and bakelite bezel(though these were replaced a few years later due to the susceptibility of bakelite to cracking).
In 1959 the Ref 1675 was introduced. The reference was produced until 1980, which makes it one of the longest running models in the Rolex line up. This came with the addition of crown guards; some pointed (known as El Cornino) and regular squared ones like pictured below.
Now everyone who has read up on reps would know there is no perfect rep, even more so with vintage Rolex reps. All of them seem to require some form of work to make them more "gen" like. Fortunately we are blessed with some amazing modders on the forum; the likes of Kenny and Rolex Addict to just name a few. Or you could go the DIY way. Either way, some of the work has been drool worthy.
On to the review!
*****
The watch did originally come with the standard cartel folded 7836 bracelet (Though Toro pictures it coming with a rivet bracelet on his website), but I changed it to the jubilee bracelet that came with my franken 16030 Datejust. This was done because I prefer the look and the jubilee turned out to be more comfortable. The folded bracelet is tinny, rattly and light. Just like the genuine article. The particular watch I ordered was the "Black Bezel Orange Dot". I chose the Asian 2813 movement as it is closer to the gen's 19,600vph and having previously owned a GMT IIc rep; is supposedly more stable/reliable than the modified Asian 2836. The GMT hand is independently adjustable in all choices of movement, unlike the gen, but at the benefit to the user, as they can directly set "home" time on the normal hands, GMT on the other and track a third time zone with the bezel. I however use it as per the gen, home time for both normal and GMT hands, while using the bezel to track GMT/UTC.
Overall the watch looks pretty good to my eye. The lume is very orange. Reminiscent of the spray tans you used to see in the early 2000s. I've never seen any gens outside of the Khanjar & Qaboos 1665s that have a similar shade of lume. However I prefer this look to the lemon yellow on some other vintage reps. The lume on hands relatively match the indices, albeit a shade lighter. The red of GMT hand has a slightly metallic refection, which I think needs to be more matte to be honest.
To my eyes, the text looks passible and within the tolerances expected in a rep. A perfectionist could say that the Rolex is too bold but at least it doesn't say "Oyster Perpetual Date" like the older 1675 reps!
The coronet is of course wrong. The 1675 never had the so called "frog-foot" coronet that appeared on the ref 1655 Explorer reportedly made famous by a man named McQueen.
Another flaw would be the fact that the watch comes with applied indices, which certainly did not occur in the GMT Master until ref 16750 in 1980. This somewhat boggles my mind as surely it would be easier and cheaper to have non-applied indices rather than coating/painting the applied indices! If it can be done for vintage Submariner reps, surely the same could be done for the GMT Master.
Applied indices are clearly visible here.
The watch comes with a plexi rather than sapphire, so is rather susceptible to scratches as per gen. The bezel as far as I am led to believe is of genuine type construction. Which is the non-ratcheting, friction fit type. On my particular watch, the bezel turns with minimal resistance but once set in place, doesn't move unless I change the position myself. Which is good. Though I have read that some others have loose bezels which may turn freely. The bezel insert itself is rather glossy in finish and while the numbers do seem accurate; when comparing between pictures of gen bezels, the rep seems a tad small in print. We could go on and on about "hooked twos" and "fours shaped like this and that"regarding the font of the bezel, but if it really is a big issue, you could replace it with a gen or third party bezel. Do note that the rep bezels are slightly narrower in diameter for the insert, so to fit a genuine insert you'd either need to sand it down to size or replace the bezel entirely to a gen spec from Clark's or WSO.
The date wheel is one of open 6 & 9 variety, which I believe is correct for this reference. The "orange dot" rep comes with a cream coloured date wheel while the white lumed version comes with a white one. Printing on the date wheel is of good quality and of the raised type. All the dates on my particular watch are nicely centred and change over promptly at midnight.
*****
The crown on the gen 1675 is 5.3mm, while the rep is slightly bigger. The coronet on the rep to my eyes is not great. Too wide and not the ring shape. Looks like a more squashed version of the coronet on the dial. The crown guards are noticeably stubby. They are just not prominent enough and definitely require some reshaping to be more gen like.
The case back on this rep is totally wrong. The ref 1675 never came with this case back and you would need a source a replacement to be closer to gen. I also feel that due to this case back, the watch sits slightly higher on the wrist, but it doesn't hamper wearability. It looks like they have used the case back of a 5513 rep or the 1655 rep. Not a big issue as on the wrist you can't see it, but again, totally wrong.
*****
Overall fit and finish is generally pretty good. The watch does even have chamfered lugs though not as prominent as on NOS gens. The edges however a razor sharp. Especially in-between the lugs. To me, not a big issue as you could always soften the edges during modding. There does appear to be some tooling marks left behind on the rear of the mid case.
There appears to be a line that goes all around the case back. Photo above shows the line starting from the upper crown guard, the previous photo has the same line starting from the end link. Not really sure what it is but it is noticeable by the naked eye. However it is on the rear of the watch, so not a deal breaker in my opinion. The engravings in-between the lugs say "Orig. Registered Design 1675" and the serial is of the 3mil variety.
Overall I'd give this rep a 7/10 in terms of out the box. It's a good place to start if you want to mod your way to a 1675. So far the watch is keeping good time and I'm having a blast wearing it. I'm happy to leave this unmodded as sooner or later I will spring for the genuine article.
And a couple of quick and dirty shots of the watch in it's natural environment!
Hope you enjoyed this review!
Cheers and happy landings!
