Rolex Root Beer

Rolex Root Beer was developed in 1954 in collaboration with Pan-Am. The initial model featured a two-tone red and blue bezel inspired by the colors of the airline. Over the years, Rolex has continued to play with the bezel color scheme of the GMT and add a number of variations. In doing so, they’ve created a tradition among devout fans of the model. Plus, each new color way gets a quirky nickname, including the Rolex Root Beer GMT Master II.

One of the most unique and highly sought after iterations features a two-tone brown and gold bezel dubbed the Root Beer. This combination first made its debut in the 1960’s. In addition to the soda-inspired color scheme on the bezel, the Rolex Root Beer has another distinguishing feature from the other GMT models. It was the first to feature a two-tone case and bezel. This yellow gold and stainless steel combination also has its own nickname, Rolesor.

Along with Clint Eastwood, a number of other celebrities are fans of the classic Root Beer and the newly reimagined version. Though Hunter S. Thompson is most widely known for sporting a GMT Master II with a Coke bezel, he also enjoyed wearing his classic Rolex Root Beer. Bradley Cooper and Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman also favor the original Root Beer GMT. As for the new Root Beer GMT Master II, Mark Wahlberg quickly snatched up the recently debuted model and showcased it on his Instagram while promoting his upcoming projects.

After 35 years, Rolex finally brought bacl the beloved color scheme at the 2018 Baselworld fair. They unveiled the new Root Beer GMT Master II. The re-edition has been a bit polarizing among fans of the original. Instead of the two-tone brown and gold bezel, the new version features black and brown. It still maintains the two-tone case and bracelet, this time in stainless steel and rose gold. Additionally, the “nipple” hour markers have been replaced with more modern 18-karat gold indices.