Okay, so I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a Rolex GMT-Master II Root Beer for a while now. I mean, who wouldn’t? That thing is a beauty. But, you know, the price tag is just… ouch. So, I started looking into, shall we say, alternatives. Yeah, that’s right, I decided to try and make my own “homage” version. I know, I know, some people might roll their eyes, but hey, a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do, right?
First thing I did was jump online and start looking at what other folks had done. I mean, I’m not the first person to think of this, that’s for sure. Found a bunch of forums and articles talking about different watches that kind of look like the Root Beer, you know, with the brown and black bezel and all that. There’s this one brand, Stuhrling, that makes a watch called the Meridian 3968. It’s a quartz, which, okay, not as fancy as a mechanical, but it does the job. And it’s got that GMT hand, which is cool. Then there’s the Mathey-Tissot, that actually has a pretty good reputation. I read their history, found it pretty interesting. They’ve been making watches since, like, the 1800s. Anyway, their watch has that vintage vibe and also a two-tone Root Beer dial.
But I wanted something a bit more, I don’t know, special? So, I kept digging. Stumbled upon this Italian brand, Meccaniche Veneziane. They’ve got this Nereide GMT that’s a nod to some old submarine. It’s got a stainless steel case and a two-tone bezel that looks pretty sharp. And it is said to be inspired by the Nereide, a Venetian submarine built-in 1913. Not bad, right? And then there was also this Squale Atmos Heritage Ceramic 1545. The Squale brand makes pretty good diving watches. It has a matte black dial and a brown ceramic bezel with gold-filled index markers. Looks pretty solid.
But I wanted to take it a step further. I started looking into parts. Bezels, dials, hands, the whole nine yards. Found a bunch of websites that sell this stuff. It’s crazy what you can find online these days! It took me days to search for some high-quality parts, and luckily I found some good sellers.
Then came the hard part: putting it all together. Now, I’m not exactly a watchmaker, but I’m pretty handy. Watched a ton of videos, read a bunch of tutorials. Let me tell you, it was a learning experience. I messed up a few times, no doubt. Bent a couple of hands, scratched a dial or two. But I kept at it. I bought a U1 sub bracelet, seems it was the best choice. Finally, after a lot of trial and error, I had something that, well, it wasn’t a Rolex, but it looked pretty darn good to me.
Here’s what I ended up using:
- A case similar in size and shape to the GMT-Master II, around 42mm.
- A black dial, maxi style with rose gold luminous hour markers.
- A ceramic bezel, brown and black, of course.
- A decent automatic movement. I didn’t go too crazy on this, but I wanted something reliable.
- A two-tone bracelet. I tried to find one that looked as close to the original as possible. And I think I made a great choice by choosing a U1 sub bracelet.
The Result
So, yeah, it’s not the real deal, but I’m pretty proud of it. It’s got that Root Beer look, and it keeps time pretty well. Plus, I built it myself, which is kind of cool, right? It’s a conversation starter, for sure. People ask me about it all the time. And when I tell them the story, they’re usually pretty impressed. I guess not many people are crazy enough to try and build their own watch.
Would I rather have a real Rolex GMT-Master II Root Beer? Sure, who wouldn’t? But for now, this little project of mine is doing just fine. It’s a reminder that sometimes, you can make your own magic happen, even if it’s just a small tribute to the real thing.
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