Two Time Zones, One Icon: The Rolex GMT-Master II “Batgirl”

The GMT-Master’s story begins not in a design studio but in a cockpit. Rolex developed the original GMT-Master in 1955 in collaboration with Pan American World Airways, engineering it specifically for pilots navigating the newly expanding era of intercontinental jet travel, when reading two time zones at a glance was a genuinely novel problem. Reference 126710BLNR carries that lineage into its current form — a watch built to solve a pilot’s problem that’s since become one of the most coveted objects in modern watchmaking.

The black-and-blue bezel that defines this watch has its own distinct chapter in that history. Rolex unveiled the first bi-color ceramic GMT bezel in this colorway back in 2013 on reference 116710BLNR, after struggling for years to manufacture a two-tone ceramic insert in the classic red-and-blue “Pepsi” scheme and pivoting to black and blue instead — a shift collectors immediately nicknamed “Batman.” In 2019, Rolex introduced the updated 126710BLNR, moving the model onto the Jubilee bracelet for the first time, a change that sparked real debate among collectors between the sportier Oyster and the dressier, more intricate Jubilee and earned this configuration its own name: the “Batgirl.” For two years, from 2019 to 2021, Jubilee was the only bracelet Rolex offered on this reference, making every 126710BLNR from that window a Batgirl by definition, before Rolex reintroduced the Oyster bracelet as an option in 2021. The Jubilee return was itself historically significant — the bracelet had defined vintage GMT-Master references like the 1675 and 16750 decades earlier, so its comeback tied the modern watch visibly back to the model’s earliest roots.

The watch has found an enthusiastic following well beyond collectors’ circles. Rolex brand ambassador Roger Federer, NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and NBA star Steph Curry have all been seen wearing this reference, and actors including Tom Holland, Jason Statham, and Steve Carell have been photographed in it as well, drawn to its contemporary look against the more traditional GMT-Master colorways.

Mechanically, the watch is built around Rolex’s in-house caliber 3285, a self-winding movement offering independent rapid-setting of the GMT hour hand, meaning a wearer can adjust to a new time zone without disturbing the running seconds or minute hand. The blue Parachrom hairspring provides resistance to magnetic fields, and Rolex’s Paraflex shock absorbers protect the movement from impact, while the calibre is regulated to an accuracy of -2/+2 seconds a day after casing, tighter than standard Swiss chronometer certification. The 40mm Oystersteel case is waterproof to 100 metres and sealed by Rolex’s Triplock triple-waterproofness winding crown system, while the bidirectional 24-hour bezel carries a two-colour blue-and-black Cerachrom ceramic insert with moulded numerals — the same material innovation that made this colorway possible in the first place.

What makes the Batgirl more than a well-specified travel watch is the way its history folds back on itself: a Jubilee bracelet borrowed from the model’s 1950s and 60s roots, paired with one of Rolex’s newest movements, wrapped around a bezel color that started as a manufacturing workaround and became an icon in its own right.