Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Rolex GMT Master, ref. 1675, circa 1972
- Maker / attribution
- Rolex (brand / maker)
- Date
- circa 1972
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- stainless steel
- Dimensions
- 39mm
- Auction house
- Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
- Lot
- Lot 389-97
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: LOT 97
- Catalogue title (original)
- ROLEX, REF. 1675, GMT MASTER, STAINLESS STEEL
Record summary
Catalogued by Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva (lot Lot 389-97), this is a wristwatch by Rolex, made in Switzerland, dated circa 1972. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: stainless steel. Recorded dimensions: 39mm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Antiquorum catalogue description
EUR 4,500 - 7,800 / CHF 4,200 - 7,400 / USD 5,100 - 9,000 / JPY 790,000 - 1,380,000 A very fine and rare, 18K yellow gold and stainless steel, self-winding wristwatch with brown nipple dial, revolving bezel, GMT function, centre seconds and date.
Lot specifications (Antiquorum)
Caliber: 1570; Case No.: 5204746; Movement No.: D366558; Bracelet: Rolex stainless steel 62510H Jubilee bracelet with 555 endlinks, approx. total length of 180mm; Signature: dial, case and movement
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Military, pilot and travel watches
The wristwatch owes much of its adoption by men to warfare and aviation. Wristlets — small pocket watches soldered with lugs and worn on a strap — were used in colonial campaigns and became standard equipment in the First World War, with protective grilles over the crystal ('shrapnel guards'). Louis Cartier's Santos (1904), designed for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, is often cited as an early purpose-made pilot's watch.
In the Second World War governments specified watches in detail: the German B-Uhr observation watches, the American A-11, and the British 'W.W.W.' (the 'Dirty Dozen' set of 1945). After the war, jet travel brought GMT and world-time watches, which show two or more time zones at once — Louis Cottier's world-time mechanism and the Rolex GMT-Master (1955) are examples.
What to look for
- Military markings on the case back: broad arrow, issue numbers, 'W.W.W.', 'A.T.P.'
- High-legibility black dials with luminous Arabic numerals; oversized crowns for gloved hands.
- 24-hour hands and rotating 24-hour bezels or city rings on GMT/world-time watches.
- Wire lugs on early wristlets converted from pocket watches.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug wristlets: c. 1900–1925.
- Military specifications of the Second World War: 1939–1945.
- GMT and world-time wristwatches: mainly after 1950.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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