The Coke is the GMT-Master II with a black-and-red bezel. The colour scheme debuted on reference 16760 in 1983 — the very first GMT-Master II — and continued on reference 16710 until that watch was discontinued in 2007. Rolex has never reissued the Coke bezel in the ceramic era, so the nickname belongs entirely to these two aluminium-bezel references.
Why is it called the Coke?
Black and red are Coca-Cola’s colours, and the name follows the soft-drink pattern set by the blue-and-red “Pepsi” GMT-Master of 1955. The 16760 that introduced the scheme carried nicknames of its own — “Fat Lady” and “Sophia Loren” — for the thicker case required by the new calibre 3085, the first Rolex movement with an independently adjustable 12-hour hand. That complication is what made the GMT-Master II a separate line from the GMT-Master.
The slimmer 16710 replaced the Fat Lady in 1989, running the calibre 3185 and, in the last examples, the 3186. It could be ordered with any of three aluminium inserts — Coke, Pepsi or plain black — and owners could swap between them inexpensively, something the ceramic era ended. When the 16710 left the catalogue in 2007, the Coke bezel went with it: it has now been absent from the Rolex line-up for nearly two decades, 19 years and counting, and it remains the only classic GMT colourway without a Cerachrom successor.
References
| Reference | Years | Key spec | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16760 “Fat Lady” | 1983–1988 | First GMT-Master II, calibre 3085, Coke bezel only | Discontinued |
| 16710 | 1989–2007 | Calibre 3185 (3186 in final examples), Coke/Pepsi/black aluminium inserts | Discontinued |
Super clone availability
Grand Watch Club does not currently list a Coke 16710 super clone. The genuine watch has been out of production since 2007, and clone factories overwhelmingly tool up for the in-production ceramic GMTs instead. The closest matches in stock are the other GMT-Master II clones: the Batman 126710BLNR and Root Beer 126711CHNR share the half-black bezel arrangement, the Pepsi 126710BLRO keeps the red half of the equation, and the Sprite 126720VTNR covers the current left-handed model. All are listed in standard and Swiss SuperClone versions.