2018 NOS FULL STICKERS Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 126710BLRO 'Pepsi' MK 2

2018 was a big year for the GMT-Master II collection — not only were there big changes announced for the entire lineup, but it also saw the return of a steel Pepsi GMT in the form of the ref. 126710BLRO.

 

The GMT-Master II ref. 126710BLRO features a 40mm Oystersteel (Rolex’s branded 904L stainless steel alloy) topped with a blue and red Cerachrom bezel. Its case features slightly slimmed-down lugs compared to the 11671x generation of GMT-Master II watches. The new-generation Caliber 3285 movement brings all the most up-to-date Rolex movement technology into the GMT caliber: among other things, increasing its power reserve to a healthy 70 hours.

 

Almost as fast as the gleeful comments came pouring in applauding the new Rolex GMT watch, another camp of commentators began growing and contesting. Looking beyond the Pepsi bezel, the new Rolex GMT-Master II revealed another surprise – a steel Jubilee bracelet and only that bracelet option for the stainless-steel Pepsi GMT model.

 

Rolex has already fitted the GMT-Master with a Jubilee bracelet in the past, but that was over a decade ago. Additionally, the Jubilee bracelet was not just an option on the GMT-Master II 126710BLRO to be offered alongside the sportier Oyster bracelet; it was the only way Rolex was offering its new stainless steel GMT model. After all, there needs to be an obvious way to differentiate between the white gold GMT-Master II “Pepsi” and the significantly less costly steel GMT-Master II version.

 

But are there different variations of the Ref. 126710BLRO 'Pepsi'? Yes. Even within modern production and improved quality assurance processes, Rolex makes “mistakes”. Popularly it is known to be only two bezel variations in this reference; the MK 1 that features a blue color that’s almost completely purple, and a red color that is almost pink, and the MK 2 that presents a noticeably darker tone. However, the market has not only seen two variations, but three; one in the middle of these two mentioned so actually there are trhee variations: MK 1, MK 2, and MK 3. MK 1s are known to go from the early stages of production around April 2018 until the end of summer in September 2018. A slight color change was noticed from here to December 2018 giving birth to the MK 2 that features a similar bezel than the MK 1 with the purple/pink-fuchsia tones but not as overall pale as the MK 1. From 2019 and on, Rolex completely solved this “production error” and the MK 3 was born, presenting a much darker tone being produced until today. Hence, MK 1 and MK 2 are equally rare with a production time of only 4 months each. It is now up to personal taste whether you prefer a very pale ceramic bezel (MK 1) or a more vivid one (MK 2) without being the more commonly seen dark bezel (MK 3).

 

Since Rolex is Rolex, there have not been any public announcements or even a comment about the color of the bezel. This, of course, gives room for speculation and split opinions.

The example offered for sale here is a MK 2 from October 2018 that if not rare enough, it remains in New Old Stock (NOS) condition, remaining completely new and unworn, and preserving all the original factory protective stickers.

 

It is suited on the original 20mm Rolex Jubilee stainless-steel (Oystersteel) bracelet.

 

It comes as a complete set which includes, outer box, inner box, manual, hang tag, wallet and guarantee card showing it was sold in October 2018 by a Rolex AD in Spain.