Seth Chandler's Rolex GMT Master...

The Mocha GMT

Rolex Reference 1675/8

It is amazing how many great Rolex friend's I have made all over the world like Abel in Argentina and Seth Chandler in San Francisco. Seth and I had a small GTG a few weeks ago at Perry's on Union Street in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. If Rolex was a restaurant it would be Perry's.

At Perry's, Seth showed me his 1972 18kt yellow gold Rolex GMT and I almost fell out of my chair. I was shocked at how great looking this watch was in person. I obviously had never seen one in person. I asked Seth if I could try it on and he said yes–I ended up wearing it the rest of the dinner and could not seem to stop staring at it in awe!!!

I mentioned to Seth we had to photograph his watch for Jake's Rolex Watch Blog. I tried taking some shots with my iPhone but the light was not very good. Seth and I got together recently and I took these shots of his stunningly cool watch.

In a previous conversation Seth pointed out I mistakenly had been referring to the all gold Rolex GMT with the all brown bezel as the Root Beer. He pointed out he thought the Root Beer was the two-tone version of the GMT with the split yellow and brown dial–like the Coke or Pepsi, but half brown and half yellow.

I mentioned Dennis and I were the first to coin the term, "The 7up Sub" for the LV submariner on RolexForums.com. I asked Seth, "If this all gold GMT is not a Root Beer what is it named?" Seth said he did not think it had a nickname, so I said I thought we should name it. We tried a few names out and the one that stuck was "The Mocha."

By the way, Charles Newgas, the moderator from Timezone.com and I nicknamed the black bezel GMT "The Espresso" last year when I wrote a fascinating article about the term he coined named "WISitus" which you can read by clicking here.

I mentioned to Seth I thought the leather band he chose for his watch perfectly complimented the watch. He mentioned he bought it from a German company named Jürgens that makes leather watch straps from leather World War II gun holsters. The more I looked at the band, the more I was impressed with the construction and overall vibe.

This model of Rolex has a number of unusual design characteristics that make it really interesting. It has a matte brown or coffee-with-milk colored dial. The matte dial gives the watch an unusually cool vibe. If anybody from the Rolex design department is reading this, please bring back this color combo with a ceramic bezel, Supercase, maxi-markers and fat hands. It is an absolute winner.

The watch also has nipple indices and a tall jet-plastic crystal that give the watch a definite vintage Rolex look.

The watch also has an applied yellow gold crown on the dial which sits up proud and gives the dial a really elegant and finished look.

One of the things I like so much about this watch with this leather band combination is how low key it is. The GMT has a skinnier body and a twin-lock winding crown which give the watch an overall dressier look.

Also, the brown bezel is such a rich looking color. The watch also kind of reminds me of a recess peanut-butter-cup for some reason.

I think form these photos you can see how photogenic and great looking this vintage Rolex GMT Master is. In my opinion, these vintage Rolex watch models speak volumes about how absolutely timeless Rolex design is!!! The fact that a four decade old Rolex is as appealing to me as a new one is just amazing.

I would like to thank Seth Chandler for taking the time to share this beauty with us and I would like to dedicate this story to one of Jake's Rolex Watch Blog's biggest fans. His name is Abel and he lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Abel first wrote in September of 2008 when he saw Jake's Rolex Watch Blog to tell me how much he was enjoying it. He saw a story I published about Bill Cosby and Robert Culp wearing Rolex GMT Pepsi's on the major 1960s TV show named I Spy. Abel shared a story about how his parents bought him a no date Submariner for his 18th Birthday back in 1966 and how he has been a huge Rolex fan ever since. Abel is 60 now and I just wanted to thank him for his kindness toward Jake's Rolex Watch Blog. As they say Abel, this one's for you pal !!!!