Rolex GMT Master II
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date GMT Master is part of the Rolex Professional Watch Collection. Designed in collaboration with Pan American Airways for use by their pilots and navigators, it was launched in 1954.
History
The Rolex GMT-Master wristwatch was originally designed in collaboration with Pan American Airways and issued by the airline to their crews on long-haul flights. ("GMT" in the name stands for Greenwich Mean Time now known as Coordinated Universal Time). The original GMT Master watch has a 24-hour display fourth hand complication directly linked to and displaying the same time zone as the standard 12-hour hand. This GMT hand enabled the crews to set the watch to GMT or another time zone, and using the rotatable 24-hour scale bezel set to the correct offset a second time zone could be read. GMT or UTC is the time zone that is required for all aviation planning, weather forecasts, schedules and other paperwork.
Among known characters, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara wore a Rolex GMT Master.