Rolex GMT-Master II White Gold Sapphire Ruby Bezel 116759SARU 2015

Reference 116759SARU is the GMT-Master II with its bezel cut from sapphires and rubies instead of ceramic, in white gold, set at the factory rather than after the fact. The blue and red arrangement is the Pepsi rendered in stones, and it is the most restrained of the gem-set GMTs Rolex has made — which is not a claim anyone expects to defend about a watch like this.

Factory setting matters here more than anywhere else in the catalogue, because the aftermarket sets a very large number of Rolex bezels and almost none of them hold value. The paperwork that came with this one names the reference as 116759 SARU, which is a Rolex reference rather than a description — the stones were specified and fitted before the watch ever left Switzerland.

One thing to understand about the configuration: unlike the steel GMT, the gem-set bezel does not rotate. You lose the trick of reading a third zone off the bezel and you keep the useful half of the complication — the fourth hand tracking home time on the 24-hour scale while the local hour hand is jumped forward an hour at a time without stopping the watch.

The movement is calibre 3186, self-winding, with the independently adjustable local hour hand that defines the reference. A 40 mm case in 18 ct white gold, with diamonds set into the lugs and case flanks.

Mint, 2015, offered as a full set. Second hand is the only way this configuration comes up at all.

Every watch is authenticated by an independent watchmaker before it changes hands, never by us. Viewing by appointment at our Collins Street boutique in Melbourne, insured delivery Australia-wide. We buy Rolex outright and source specific references on request.