The 2025 Root Beer Completes Rolex Palette of Possibility
A New Dial Approach Disrupts the Rolex Established Way
Even though Rolex has been making the GMT-Master II in yellow, white and Everose (18-karat gold), dial variety fell behind: beyond the white-gold (of the so-called) Pepsi, black lacquer ruled on modern ceramic-bezel models. The iron version of the new tiger breaks that trend and gate a wider shift on monochrome conservatism to creativity in geology. That change further reflects a broader industry trend, where this year stone dials represented about 8 percent of all new Swiss luxury books, compared with 4 percent in 2021. With the state of the cult model being readjusted as opposed to a special low-volume, Rolex sends a message of certainty that the mass consumer now desires material heritage just as much as the mechanical heritage. And I recall the feel of an onyx-dial Day-Date in Geneva last spring; the buzz it caused in first-time collectors was an augury of the action today.
Lapidary Art Encountering Aviation History
The iron GMT-Master II of the tiger is not an innovation as reference but an innovation as surface: Rolex cuts discs out of metamorphic rock, an interlayer of golden tiger eyed spheres, red jasper and hematite, which have a thickness of but only 0.8 mm. But in place of the single minerals often seen in dials of this type, its striped latticework glows burnt orange and crimson when struck by light, recalling the fizz of the counterpart 007 bezel when viewing the Ursus Root Beer watch on the wrist. To achieve this Rolex engineers had to strengthen the underside with an invisible lattice so as to cut on deep fissures that occurred when its hands were set manually through a process adapted by Rolex out of its meteorite workshop. That technical crossing-over suggests economies of scale that will open up new hard-stone editions potentially even in steel, the price-sensitive market.
The Story of a Collector Is in Reference Numbers
Mechanically identical, the watch retains the umbrella reference 126715CHNR, but Rolex surreptitiously introduces a numbers suffix of 0002 to commemorate the stone dial which an archivist will find significant after the model has reached the end of the road. Those pursuing the white-gold meteorite version of the -0003 of 2023 had 1-year-old secondary market prices skyrocket by 35 % since then; another such dynamic may well occur here with the pegged annual production still pegged at well below 2 % of all GMT GMT-productions as rumour has it the target on exotic dials. What is more important, the model brings to the fore the fact that micro-suffixes have become de facto SKUs in an age when provenance and resale transparency obsesses the market.
Everose Gold Case: Beyond a Warm Color
Recognizing that copper burns out over time, Rolex developed its own alloy called Everose that is crystallized with copper and accompanied by a pinch of platinum to deteriorate or fade as seen earlier in rose-gold watches. Its typical 40 mm Oyster case resists a pressure of 100 m, a versatile bi-directional Cerachrom insert of brown (coffee) and black (cola) recalls the original 1970s Root Beer without worrying about the possibility of fade due to the aluminium component. Weighing slightly more (c. 5 g) in the hand, the stone-dial version seems a touch heavier than its black-dial counterpart, owing to the base plate added to support the stone dial, but balance is neutral on the wrist because the weight is centred and it slackens evenly across the wrist. In a very short flight on Berlin to Zurich, I discovered that the Triplock crown is fast to reseal in mid-air when altering time zones in existence to prove that heritage design can still be satisfying to frequent travelers.
Significant Reference Comparison
| Model | Case Material | Dial Material | MSRP (USD) | Year Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger iron 126715CHNR-0002 18 k, Everose gold | 18 k Everose gold | Tiger iron stone | 49 400 | 2025 |
| Standard 126715CHNR-0001 | 18 k Everose gold | Black lacquer | 42 000 | 2018 |
| White-Gold 126719BLRO Meteorite | 18 k white gold | Gibeon meteorite | 47 900 | 2023 |
Calibre 3285: Stability – Efficiency
The calibre 3285 has maintained the independent 12-hour hand that travellers love, but has the Chronergy escapement which of course is the true party trick, and which Rolex now has incorporated into 87 % of its 2025 production. Skeletonizing the pallet fork and the gear teeth, engineers increased efficiency 15 per cent over the outgoing 3186, giving a 70-hour reserve that leaves the watch parked on Friday evening and finds it alive on Monday morning. The blue Parachrom hairspring used in the movement has tolerated extreme temperature variants of -10 teilC to 60 teilC and justified its use when the same lab (Dubois in Switzerland) attempted to replicate the extremities of cabin and tarmac during the same day. The calibre’s COSC-plus precision (-2/+2 s) is one of the most restrictive in the industry and the Swiss average of -4/+6 s chronometer in 2024.
Daily Wear Bracelet Ergonomics Optimised
The already three-link Oyster bracelet is remodeled, this time machine turned of solid Everose at both ends. The use of single-sided screw allows it to be simpler to size – the previous fidgety twin-screw links gone, and within the Oysterlock clasp is a 5 mm Easylink extension. Such micro-adjust came in handy last year when I hit a humid stop-over in Singapore, where swell in the wrist became more of a priority than comfort. The Oyster, however, is sportier and shows less resistance to stretch compared with the Jubilee fitted to some of the white-gold GMTs, although that is at the expense of a slight additional weight. To lots of people, the fact that the bracelet mimics the effects of sunsets in copper color without tarnishing provides good cause as to why they would prefer Everose over yellow gold.
The Market Dynamics and Pricing Signals
The tiger version of the iron GMT-Master II sets you back a cool 49,400 at the retail level, making the tiger the second-most-expensive reference in the line, second only to the green-dial white-gold “Sprite,” also introduced at 2025 Watches & Wonders. The top-quality demonstrates the rarity of the stone: tiger veins of iron reduce to centimetres thick in the Australian Pilbara area where Rolex obtains its slabs. But beneath that there is, of course, an even stronger tide in its favor: Swiss watch exports rose 7.6 % year-on-year in 2024, with models valued over CHF 25,000 pacing the way. According to Morgan Stanley analysts, stone and enamel dials fetch up to 18 % uplift in average margin over regular models which gives Rolex protection in the volatile forex movements. Provided that inflation drops to under 3 % in major markets by Q4 2025, the stone-dial mania may spill over to middle segments, remodelling the ways in which collectors distribute budgets outside stainless-steel mainstays.
Author Bio: Mark J. Ellison is a horology commentator based in Berlin, a former aerospace engineer who addresses the meeting of material science and the development of luxury watches.
