Did Rolex Quietly Discontinue Its Most-Wanted Icon?

There is no shortage of Rolex watches that fit the definition of “desirable.”

Many of the brand’s references, mostly steel sports models, are notorious for their inaccessibility. Classic sports watches like the Daytona and Submariner generally can’t be bought by any average Joe strolling into a boutique; there’s an alleged unsaid rule that a customer must first spend a considerable amount of money purchasing less desirable models before being offered the opportunity to buy the watch they really want.

But I’m not here to talk about the business practices of Rolex authorized dealers — that topic has been covered ad nauseam elsewhere. Instead, I’m here to tackle the rumor that Rolex has secretly discontinued the most popular of these elusive sports watches — the GMT-Master II “Pepsi” in stainless steel.

Photo by Henry Phillips for Gear Patrol

Pepsi no more?

While rumors of the Pepsi’s unceremonious demise have been circulating on Reddit and other online watch forums for the better part of the last two months, the story gained mainstream attention when Wrist Enthusiast covered it on an Instagram post earlier this week, which then spurred a story from Time & Tide.

In his original post, Wrist Enthusiast founder Craig Karger notes that two versions of the Pepsi GMT — the steel reference 126710BLRO and the white gold reference 126719BLRO have quietly vanished from several authorized dealer websites.

He notes anecdotal stories from forums with Pepsi suitors claiming to have been told by various ADs that they were no longer taking orders for the Pepsi. What’s more, Karger adds that gray market dealers and secondary sellers have jacked up prices for the Pepsi, either in response to these rumors or because they have some inside information that’s not yet available to the masses.

However, in Time & Tide’s article, author Zach Blass notes that Chrono24’s price tracker only gives a 2 percent price increase for the steel Pepsi over the last month, which isn’t out of line with the 3.7 percent jump the watch has seen over the past six months.

Both journalists note that all versions of the Pepsi remain on Rolex’s website, so if it has been discontinued, Rolex doesn’t want to put the word out there yet.

Rolex

This time feels different…

Regarding watches disappearing from AD websites, I can confirm that that’s real. I checked the website of my local Rolex AD, Connecticut’s Lux Bond & Green, and sure enough, there wasn’t a Pepsi bezel in sight — despite the “Batman,” “Sprite,” “Root Beer” and “Bruce Wayne” GMTs all being accounted for.

As Lux Bond notes on its Rolex collection page, “The Rolex watches featured below are from the official catalogue and do not represent stock availability.” If that’s the case, then who drank all the Pepsi?

Lux Bond & Green

Pepsi discontinuation rumors are nothing new. Nearly every year since the return of the steel Pepsi to Rolex’s catalog in 2018, people have been claiming that the watch was getting the axe.

The most frequent reason cited was that the bicolor ceramic bezel was too difficult to produce in red and blue, but I really think this rumor just came from some people not liking the purply shade of blue that Rolex chose for the Pepsi’s Cerachrom bezel. If small, affordable brands like Steinhart can manage to make red-and-blue ceramic bezels, then Switzerland’s largest watchmaker should be able to manage just fine.

But this year’s rumor does feel different. All Pepsi bezel GMT-Master II variants disappearing from AD dealer sites is very odd, even if the watch still remains on Rolex’s website.

Rolex discontinuing its most popular watch wouldn’t be unheard of within the industry. Rival watchmaker Patek Philippe discontinued the steel Nautilus, Ref. 5711, in 2021, as it had become so popular that it began to define the brand. We still don’t have a replacement today, though I do think this is the year we’ll get one.

Patek Philippe

If Rolex is discontinuing the Pepsi, we will likely find out on April 14. That’s the first day of this year’s Watches and Wonders Geneva, the massive annual trade show during which Rolex unveils the vast majority of its releases for the year. Typically, as the brand updates its catalog on that day, a few older references tend to disappear without warning. Might the Pepsi fall victim to the culling this year?

If Rolex does discontinue the Pepsi, it’s not clear what will happen next. Will we have another lengthy stretch without a Pepsi in the catalog, or at least not a steel one, as we did from 2007 to 2018? Will the watch immediately be replaced by a new version of the Pepsi, perhaps one with a Cerachrom dial like the new Sprite we got last year? Or we will get a replacement in another color, like the return of the red-and-black “Coke” GMT?

No one knows, but keep an eye out in the days leading up to Watches and Wonders, as the rumor mill will be operating at full capacity come April.

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