{"id":3566,"date":"2026-08-10T07:22:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T03:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecrypt.libascollective.com\/rolex-gmt-nicknames-pepsi-batman-root-beer-smurf\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T07:22:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T03:22:26","slug":"rolex-gmt-nicknames-pepsi-batman-root-beer-smurf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecrypt.libascollective.com\/rolex-gmt-nicknames-pepsi-batman-root-beer-smurf\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolex GMT Nicknames Explained: Pepsi, Batman, Root Beer & Smurf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quick answer:<\/strong> Rolex’s famous nicknames come from the two-colour bezels on the GMT-Master II. The Pepsi<\/strong> is red & blue, the Batman<\/strong> is black & blue, the Root Beer<\/strong> is brown & black, the Coke<\/strong> is red & black, and the Sprite<\/strong> is green & black. The Smurf<\/strong> is not a GMT at all — it is the all-blue white-gold Submariner. Collectors coined the names; Rolex has never used them officially.<\/p>\n

If you have spent any time around watch collectors, you have heard someone say “I’m after a Batman” or “the Pepsi is finally back on a Jubilee.” To an outsider it sounds like nonsense. In reality it is one of the most charming quirks in luxury watchmaking: an unofficial vocabulary, invented by enthusiasts, that Rolex quietly tolerates but has never printed on a single dial. This guide explains every major Rolex nickname — what it refers to, which reference number it maps to, why the name stuck, and what each one costs pre-owned in the UAE today.<\/p>\n

Why does Rolex have so many nicknames?<\/h2>\n

Rolex names its watches in a deliberately plain, technical way: GMT-Master II, Submariner Date, Cosmograph Daytona. The catalogue talks in reference numbers — 126710BLRO, 126720VTNR, 116619LB. Those strings are precise, but they are impossible to say out loud and impossible to remember. So collectors did what every passionate community does: they invented their own shorthand.<\/p>\n

Almost every nickname describes a colour<\/strong>. The GMT-Master II is the perfect canvas for this because its defining feature — the 24-hour rotating bezel — is split into two colours. Each two-tone combination looked like something familiar (a soft-drink logo, a superhero’s costume), and the name spread by word of mouth until it was more widely used than the reference number itself. Rolex has never endorsed the names, but it has also never fought them, and today they are the everyday language of the pre-owned market. When you shop for a used Rolex in Dubai, dealers will list a watch as a “Pepsi” long before they mention 126710BLRO.<\/p>\n

The Rolex GMT-Master II nicknames, decoded<\/h2>\n

The GMT-Master was born in the 1950s as a tool watch for Pan Am pilots crossing time zones, and the two-tone bezel has been its signature ever since. Here is every nickname on the modern and vintage GMT, colour by colour.<\/p>\n

Pepsi — red & blue<\/h3>\n

The original and the icon. The very first GMT-Master (reference 6542, 1955) wore a red-and-blue bezel, and because those are the colours of the Pepsi-Cola logo, the “Pepsi” nickname was born and never left. Red traditionally marked daytime hours and blue marked the night, a genuinely useful visual aid for a pilot reading a second time zone.<\/p>\n

Today the Pepsi lives on as the GMT-Master II reference 126710BLRO<\/strong>, launched in 2018 in Oystersteel with a red-and-blue Cerachrom ceramic bezel, most commonly seen on the five-link Jubilee bracelet. It remains one of the hardest current Rolex sports models to buy at retail, which keeps pre-owned demand — and prices — consistently high. There is also a coveted white-gold Pepsi (116719BLRO \/ 126719BLRO) with a meteorite-dial variant that collectors chase hard.<\/p>\n

Batman & Batgirl — black & blue<\/h3>\n

When Rolex introduced a black-and-blue ceramic bezel in 2013 on reference 116710BLNR<\/strong>, collectors instantly christened it the “Batman” after the caped crusader’s dark-blue palette. (You will occasionally hear the same watch called the “Bruiser,” but Batman won.) It was mounted on the three-link Oyster bracelet.<\/p>\n

In 2019 Rolex updated the black-and-blue GMT to reference 126710BLNR<\/strong> and offered it on the dressier five-link Jubilee bracelet. Purists needed a way to distinguish the two, so the Jubilee version picked up the nickname “Batgirl.”<\/strong> Same colours, different bracelet, different name — a perfect example of how granular collector slang can get.<\/p>\n

Root Beer (Rootbeer) — brown & black<\/h3>\n

The brown-and-black GMT has one of the oldest nicknames of all. Vintage two-tone GMT-Masters from the 1970s and 80s (references 1675\/3 and 16753, some with the collectible “nipple” dial) wore brown-and-gold tones and were dubbed the “Root Beer” after the fizzy brown soda. This is the watch famously associated with Clint Eastwood, so it also carries the alternative nickname “Clint Eastwood.”<\/p>\n

The modern Root Beer is reference 126711CHNR<\/strong>, released in 2018 in Everose Rolesor (a mix of Oystersteel and Rolex’s proprietary 18ct Everose gold) with a brown-and-black Cerachrom bezel. So yes — unlike the all-steel Pepsi or Batman, the modern Root Beer genuinely contains solid rose gold, which is reflected in its higher price.<\/p>\n

Sprite — green & black (and left-handed)<\/h3>\n

The newest nickname on the list. In 2022 Rolex did something it had never done on a production GMT: it moved the crown and date window to the left<\/em> side of the case, creating a “destro” (left-handed) watch for wearers who want it on the right wrist. Reference 126720VTNR<\/strong> pairs that quirk with a green-and-black bezel, and collectors named it the “Sprite” after the green soft-drink can. Its unusual layout and limited availability made it an instant grail.<\/p>\n

Coke — red & black<\/h3>\n

The red-and-black bezel earned the “Coke” nickname — the other half of the soft-drink rivalry. It appeared on the aluminium-bezel GMT-Master II reference 16710<\/strong>, which was discontinued around 2007. Rolex has not produced a red-and-black ceramic Coke in the modern line-up, so a genuine Coke today means a vintage or neo-vintage watch, which makes clean examples increasingly collectible.<\/p>\n

Rolex nicknames beyond the GMT<\/h2>\n

The GMT gets the most nicknames, but the habit spread across the whole Rolex catalogue. A few you should know — and one very common point of confusion.<\/p>\n

Smurf — and why it is NOT a GMT<\/h3>\n

This one trips up a lot of buyers. The Smurf<\/strong> is not<\/em> a GMT-Master. It is the Submariner Date reference 116619LB<\/strong>, a white-gold diver with an all-blue dial and matching blue Cerachrom bezel, launched in 2008 and named after the little blue cartoon characters. Its successor is the 126619LB. If a listing calls a red-and-blue GMT a “Smurf,” that is a mistake — the Smurf is entirely blue, made of solid white gold, and is one of the heaviest, most expensive watches in the Submariner family.<\/p>\n

Hulk, Kermit & Starbucks — the green Submariners<\/h3>\n

Green is Rolex’s house colour, so the green Submariners collected nicknames too. The Hulk<\/strong> is the Submariner 116610LV with a green dial and<\/em> green bezel. The Kermit<\/strong> is the earlier 16610LV 50th-anniversary model with a green bezel but a black<\/em> dial. The current green-bezel\/black-dial model (126610LV) is nicknamed the Starbucks<\/strong> (or “Cermit”) after the coffee chain’s green.<\/p>\n

Rolex nickname quick-reference table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Nickname<\/th>\nBezel \/ colour<\/th>\nModel<\/th>\nModern reference<\/th>\nStatus<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Pepsi<\/td>\nRed & blue<\/td>\nGMT-Master II<\/td>\n126710BLRO<\/td>\nCurrent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Batman<\/td>\nBlack & blue (Oyster)<\/td>\nGMT-Master II<\/td>\n116710BLNR<\/td>\nDiscontinued<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Batgirl<\/td>\nBlack & blue (Jubilee)<\/td>\nGMT-Master II<\/td>\n126710BLNR<\/td>\nCurrent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Root Beer<\/td>\nBrown & black<\/td>\nGMT-Master II (Everose)<\/td>\n126711CHNR<\/td>\nCurrent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sprite<\/td>\nGreen & black (left-hand)<\/td>\nGMT-Master II<\/td>\n126720VTNR<\/td>\nCurrent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Coke<\/td>\nRed & black<\/td>\nGMT-Master II<\/td>\n16710<\/td>\nDiscontinued<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Smurf<\/td>\nAll blue<\/td>\nSubmariner Date (white gold)<\/td>\n116619LB \/ 126619LB<\/td>\nNeo-vintage \/ current<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hulk<\/td>\nGreen dial & bezel<\/td>\nSubmariner<\/td>\n116610LV<\/td>\nDiscontinued<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Starbucks<\/td>\nGreen bezel, black dial<\/td>\nSubmariner<\/td>\n126610LV<\/td>\nCurrent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Buying a nicknamed Rolex pre-owned in Dubai<\/h2>\n

The nicknamed GMTs are, almost by definition, the hardest Rolex models to buy at a boutique — waiting lists for a steel Pepsi or Batgirl can run for years. That is precisely why the pre-owned market matters: it is where these watches are actually available, priced by supply and demand rather than by a waiting list.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, Libas Collective has more than 90 authenticated pre-owned Rolex watches<\/strong> live, including a rotating selection of GMT-Master II references. Pre-owned GMT-Master II prices on the platform currently run from roughly AED 76,000<\/strong> for entry-level steel configurations to AED 245,000+<\/strong> for the most sought-after gold and rare-dial variants, with the typical GMT sitting around AED 93,000<\/strong>. Because availability and configuration change constantly, the live pre-owned Rolex collection<\/a> and the wider luxury watches catalogue<\/a> are the best places to see exactly what is in stock and at what price today.<\/p>\n

A few practical pointers when shopping for a nicknamed Rolex in the UAE:<\/p>\n