The “Root Beer” is the nickname for Rolex GMT-Masters that pair brown with gold — originally the two-tone ref. 1675/3 of around 1970, with its brown dial and brown-and-gold bezel, and since 2018 the Everose Rolesor GMT-Master II ref. 126711CHNR, whose Cerachrom bezel is split black and brown. The modern references remain in production.
Why is it called the Root Beer?
The name is American and entirely literal: the brown-and-gold colour scheme reminded 1970s collectors of a glass of root beer, and it attached itself to the two-tone 1675/3 and the yellow-gold 1675/8 with their distinctive “nipple” hour markers. German-speaking collectors sometimes called the same watches “Tigerauge” — tiger’s eye. The model’s most famous ambassador was unofficial: Clint Eastwood wore his own Root Beer on screen across several films, which is why some collectors simply call it the Clint Eastwood. That history makes Root Beer one of the oldest surviving Rolex nicknames, in continuous use for more than fifty years. When Rolex revived the palette at Baselworld 2018 it swapped the warm 1970s browns for Everose gold and a black-and-brown ceramic bezel — a cooler, darker interpretation, but the name transferred instantly.
References
| Reference | Years | Key spec | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1675/3, 1675/8 | around 1970–1980 | Two-tone / yellow gold, brown “nipple” dial | Discontinued |
| 16753 / 16758 | around 1980–1988 | Quickset date, transitional generation | Discontinued |
| 126711CHNR | 2018–present | Everose Rolesor, calibre 3285 | In production |
| 126715CHNR | 2018–present | Full Everose gold, calibre 3285 | In production |
The modern CHNR pair uses Everose, Rolex’s proprietary pink-gold alloy introduced in 2005 and cast in the company’s own foundry so its colour cannot fade. Purists note the current bezel reads black and brown rather than the vintage brown and gold, which is why the 1675/3 retains a devoted following of its own as two-tone vintage Rolex has come back into fashion.
Super clone availability
We stock two Root Beer super clones of the GMT-Master II 126711CHNR in Everose Rolesor with black dial, priced between £434 and £904 — a Japanese-movement build at the lower figure and a Swiss-movement SuperClone at the top. Both reproduce the two-tone case and bracelet and the black-and-brown ceramic bezel of the current reference; the difference between them is the movement tier alone.