GOING PLACES

Embark on a journey through time with the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Master-GMT II

- KC YAP

BORN TO FLY In the 1950s, developments in civil aviation were particularly spectacular, with the arrival of long-haul flights making non-stop international travel possible. When Rolex launched the GMT-Master in 1955, it made history by providing a bona-fide tool for navigating between journey time points. With its dedicated triangle-tipped 24-hour hand and graduated, rotatable two-tone bezel (red for daytime and blue for nighttime), it enabled airline pilots, ships’ captains, armed forces and international businessmen to know the time in two time zones at a glance.

Since then, the GMT-Master has been the watch of choice for trailblazers around the world. Aviators, adventurers, athletes, artists, explorers and astronauts have contributed to the legend of the watch that was destined for adventure from the start.

CONQUERING THE SKIES AND BEYOND

In 1959, as air traffic surged and economic growth boomed, Rolex signed a partnership with Pan American World Airways, making the GMT-Master the official watch for the glamorous airline. In the same year, at the height of the Cold War, the GMT-Master took part in a historic event that reinforced its position as a watch to connect people: the first non-stop Pan Am flight between New York and Moscow. The plane was carrying journalists to the USSR to report on US Vice President Richard Nixon’s visit to the Soviet Union. At the controls of the Boeing 707 making this pioneering intercontinental journey wearing a GMT-Master as a navigation aid was Captain C. N. Warren, who later stated, “The flight itself was navigated by Rolex.”