1977 Rolex GMT-Master (Ref. 1675) Mk. III "Radial" Dial

The Rolex GMT is the jet-setting icon of the Rolex sports watch family. Like the Rolex Submariner, the Rolex GMT is sophisticated, rugged, and versatile. In 1954 Pan Am started using the newly designed Boeing 707 which allowed Pan Am to fly transcontinentally and is said to have started the commercially available jet age. In the same year, Rolex received a request from Pan Am to create a technical pilot's watch that could indicate two time zones simultaneously that could be issued by the airline to their crews on long-haul transcontinental international flights. The original Rolex GMT-Master has a fourth 24-hour hand directly displaying the same time zone as the standard 12-hour hand but on a 24-hour scale. 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 thus displaying a second-time zone on the 24-hour scale. 

The Mk. III matte dial for the Rolex ref. 1675 GMT-Master, also known as the "Radial Dial" or "Mini Dial", is revered as being the rarest and most unique variant among the matte dial range for the ref. 1675. The Radial dial is not only special among Rolex's GMT-Master models either. The Mk. III dial features design characteristics more similar to the Gilt-era of dial manufacturing, but not seen in any other dial produced by Rolex in the entirety of the matte dial sports models. The "Radial" or "Mini" dial nicknames come from the noticeably more centered and smaller lume plots represented as opposed to the more traditional Rolex matte dial format. The Mk. III ref. 1675 is loved by collectors not only for its rarity but because its characteristics offer a truly unique experience among one of the most historically significant references from Rolex.