I don’t talk much about my personal life here on WCL and what makes me tick, no pun intended. However, the reason why I really liked the new Left-Handed Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126720VTNR has to do with why I fell in love with Rolexes in the first place. Let’s go back to Mexico City in the late 1970s when I was not even a tween yet. At that time, a distant cousin of mine who’s nickname was ‘El Chico’ would come for dinner at my parent’s house and he would always be wearing a different Rolex or Tudor watch. Mexico is well known to be a country with a ‘caste system’ type of society and that’s also why the watch you wear plays such an important role in determining your place in society and it goes beyond being a ‘mere’ status symbol.
On his wrist, I saw half a dozen different Rolexes and four to five different Tudor watches —I still wonder what happened to his watches after he passed. His favorite Rolex and the one that he would wear the most was a gorgeous GMT-Master Pepsi ref. 1675. At that time I didn’t understand why he also had another GMT-Master ref. 1675 with a solid black bezel that to me back then looked almost identical. Now looking back, I can see that ‘El Chico’ was the first real watch collector —just like all of us— I was exposed to.
He was for sure a cool guy that made us laugh every time he would come over and all his stories were truly captivating; but besides his fun contagious energy, there was one thing that characterized him and that I still remember to this day more than 40 years later.
That one thing is where the new left-handed Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126720VTNR comes into the picture, and why I say that this new watch touched my heart.
‘El Chico’ was the first person I noticed that would be wearing his watches on his right hand, despite that he was not a left-handed person. Since I’ve always had somewhat of an inquisitive personality that goes back to my childhood, I remember asking him why he would wear his watches on the right hand.
His answer was very simple and straight forward. It also got stuck in my mind up to this day.
“I wear my watches on my right hand because every time I shake someone’s hand, they can see that I am wearing a Rolex and that is my presentation card. It is the first impression they get from me.”
Oh boy! what a great statement. The moment I saw the new Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126720VTNR in the metal, I knew ‘El Chico’ would’ve liked to own one and it would’ve been the perfect watch for a man with such a bold personality and charming character.
The new Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126720VTNR is a perfect watch for anyone out there whether you are left-handed or not. It’s a unique-looking watch that shows Rolex prowess at doing things right and shaking the watch industry a little bit. This model features a black dial and a two-color Cerachrom bezel insert in green and black ceramic. Designed to show the time in two different time zones simultaneously during intercontinental flights, the GMT-Master II has come to be recognized for its robustness and versatile appearance.
While Rolex doesn’t have much history —let’s say like Panerai— with creating left-handed ‘destro’ watches, there are some outcasts out there that were fitted with crowns on the left side for the comfort of Comex divers.
What I love about the new Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126720VTNR is that this watch doesn’t simply has a dial turned upside down from the more usual position but it was designed exactly like this and the movement had to undergo a redesign to become a left-handed watch.
The Left-Handed Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126720VTNR features a 40 mm stainless steel case equipped with an Oyster bracelet and powered by the in-house Rolex calibre 3285 with a precision of -2/+2 sec/day —superior to COSC standards— and which yields a power reserve of 70 hours.
On the wrist, the Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126720VTNR looks great and its green and black bezel seems to work well with any outfit —definitely not as striking as the colors on the batman/batgirl.
Whether you decide to wear the watch on your left or right hand that’s a different story. The watch looks great on either as you can see in the pictures below. Without a doubt a huge home run for Rolex and one of our favorite releases by the brand.
Now, every time you see this watch, think of my story and try to find out why you became a watch collector in the first place. If you have a story worth publishing, please send it to me and I’ll do the rest.
Sticker Price $11,050 USD. For more info on Rolex click here.
