Rolex Debuts First-Ever Ceramic Dial With New White-Gold GMT-Master II "Destro"

There’s no doubt the Land-Dweller is this year’s main event but that’s not the only major release we’ve seen Rolex deliver. The new white-gold GMT-Master II "Destro" for lefties debuts a very novel and incredibly cool Cerachrom dial for the first time. The Cerachrom dial is made by fitting a disc of material onto a brass plate, the same method the brand uses to make their stone dials. Here we see the same green shade seen on the lower half of the green-and-black bezel.

And beyond the ceramic dial, there is the inevitable “goldification” of the new GMT-Master II, which merits some further context as to where this watch sits in the strategic practices of Rolex as it pertains to its GMT watches nowadays. You may remember back in 2014 when Rolex released the long-awaited return to the Pepsi colorway in ceramic, with one catch — it was in white gold. Then 2018 arrived and brought the color scheme to stainless steel. The reason I bring this up is because, instead of having two identical Pepsi models in two metal configurations, Rolex tweaked its white-gold variation to include a blue dial as opposed to the classic black.

That was all to say that this is what I believe is being mirrored here with the green-and-black GMT in white gold. In order to differentiate it from its steel counterpart with a black dial, this one goes for the colorful. And unlike the Pepsi, which had a very muted blue dial, this makes an even punchier statement with its radical new ceramic dial.

The basics remain the same, with a 40mm-wide case that is water resistant to 100 meters and outfitted with the Caliber 3285 movement that is accurate to -+2 seconds/day and carries a 70-hour power reserve. The new Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 126729VTNR is priced at $46,750. You can learn more at rolex.com.