Rolex GMT-Master II “Sprite” ref. 126720VTNR

The Origins

Released in 1954, the GMT-Master was the result of the airline Pan Am and Rolex collaborating to design and create a watch that would be capable of telling the time in two different places at once. With the growing popularisation of commercial flying and the distances of flights becoming greater, pilots were travelling across time zones at an increasing pace and frequency. This resulted in a need for uniformity across the aviation industry so as to eliminate timing errors and the like. As a result, the aviation industry began to use a standard time zone and the Greenwich Mean Time was chosen. As such, the GMT-Master's fourth hand, its 2nd hour hand, was to stay on Greenwich Mean Time - which is where the name for the watch comes from. While the aviation industry switched to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in 1972, and pilots now set their watches to UTC, the name of the legendary GMT-Master was far too long in use for Rolex to change it.

The GMT-Master's evolution is clearly defined in two separate stages. These are designated by the naming conventions that Rolex have used since the collection’s debut. The first GMT is simply known as the GMT-Master, while its successor is known as the GMT-Master II. Produced between 1954 and 1988, the GMT-Master saw the collection move through several different case sizes, bezel insert materials, bezel colour combinations, dial designs and more. However, following the launch of the GMT-Master II in 1988, the collection has remained relatively true to its origins with a quite consistent design language barring the change from aluminium bezel insert to ceramic inserts that began in 2007. Today, Rolex have begun to experiment with the GMT-Master II once again and perhaps the most experimental of all of its recent releases is the left-handed GMT-Master II “Sprite” ref. 126720VTNR that debuted in 2022. 

The Case and Dial

Nicknamed, like plenty of Rolex’s other watches, after the colors in its bezel, the “Sprite” introduces a brand new bezel color combination to the GMT-Master II collection, black and green. Akin to the “Batman” in its inclusion of black, the “Sprite” takes a color typically associated with the Submariner, green, and applies it to the GMT-Master II’s bezel for the first time.

Beyond its bezel, the “Sprite” features a 40mm case, black dial and the option of either a Jubilee or Oyster bracelet, just like all other stainless steel GMT-Master II variants. However, the one very obvious difference that sets it apart from other GMT-Master II models, and almost every other release Rolex have ever debuted is its left-handed case, with its winding crown on the 9 o’clock side of the case. Additionally, the “Sprite”’s date window has moved from the typical 3 o’clock position to the 9 o’clock position, further highlighting how it has been specifically designed to be worn on the right hand, by left-handed collectors. Another LHD watch from the Rolex stable, the Tudor Pelagos LHD skipped this step. 

The Movement

As with any ref. 12xxxx model from Rolex, the “Sprite” features the latest GMT movement that Rolex has to offer. However, as its date window is not where you would expect, it is fitted with a modified version of the automatic cal. 3285 to change its date aperture position. Boasting an impressive power reserve of 70 hours, the cal. 3285 also includes a Rolex Parachrom Hairspring, Paraflex Shock Absorbers and a Chronergy Escapement with Optimized Energy Efficiency, all of which makes this a truly robust and capable movement that is equipped for just about everything you can throw at it.

Celeb Love

Given its rather unique left-handed design and unusual green and black colour combination – especially for Rolex, the “Sprite” was easily one of 2022’s hottest ‘it’ watches. While it was always going to be a hit with those who might be inclined to make a statement through their wristwear given its design, it was still interesting to see celebrities flocking to the “Sprite” in their droves. Spotted on the wrists of celebrities such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar Jr., Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Idris, Steven Zhang, Ed Sheeran and plenty of others.

Market Performance

In keeping with the entire GMT-Master collection’s impressive performance, the “Sprite”’s status as one of Rolex’s ‘it’ watches has enabled it to perform quite interestingly since its debut in 2022. Of course, when it first made its way onto the market, it was subject to an incredible amount of hype, and so its market value started blisteringly high in the mid $40000 range. However, once regular supply found its way onto the secondary market, it has been on a steady decline over the last two years. Fast-forward to today and its market value sits around $15700 on an Oyster bracelet or $19600 on a Jubilee bracelet, which represent price premiums over their MSRPs of $11250 and $11450 of 40% and 71%. 

While the market has a clear favourite, the “Sprite” illustrates that the worst time to buy a fresh type of release is immediately after it launches. Sure, celebrities will flock to the watch, but its long-term performance is likely to trend downwards, just as the “Sprite” on both the Oyster and Jubilee bracelet has done over the last 90 days, with the Oyster bracelet seeing a 3% decline and the Jubilee seeing a 1.5% decline. While the decline is slowing, it is still continuing.

Check out the live performance of Rolex GMT-Master II “Sprite” ref. 126720VTNR on The Wristcheck Index