GMT 16750, Mark I and Mark II matte dials

[springer]

There are two variations of the matte dials used by Rolex on the GMT-Master 16750. For simplicity, I will refer to them as the Mark I and Mark II. The coronets are different on both dials, with the Mark I having a taller and slimmer coronet than the Mark II dial. The other distinguishing feature that differentiates the two dials is the alignment of the letters on each dial. If you study the dials, you will notice the the printed letters do not align the same on either dial - while close, them align differently.

The Mark II dial appears to have been the first matte dial utilized in the GMT 16750 beginning with the 6.1 million serial numbers. Based on personal ownership of over dozens of GMT 16750s, the Mark II was followed by the Mark I dial - somewhere in the 7 million to mid 7 million serial number range ( I would only be speculating to narrow the time frame with a more definitive serial number range or year for the transition from one dial to the other.) After the transition from the Mark II to the Mark I dial, it is possible to find Mark II dials from the mid 7 million serial range up to the 8.4 million serial number range due to the possibility of leftover Mark II dials being used up until it was depleted. Again, due to the short production run for the GMT 16750 and the matte dial era for these watches, it is possible to find Mark II dials until the end of the matte dial era and I would not consider it incorrect due to the short production run for the GMT 16750.

The production dates for the 16750 matte dials begins during 1979 with serial numbers in the low 6 million range. It continues through the 84XXXXX range, overlapping the gold surround gloss dials introduced sometime around 1984. I have also seen white gold surround glossy dials earlier than 84XXXXX, so it would not be unusual to see one of these pop up with an earlier serial number than 84XXXXX.

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