Rolex leaned into valuable metals this yr. Amongst different fashions, the favored GMT-Grasp II acquired a valuable steel case, bracelet, and a (very) particular dial.
Launched at Watches and Wonders 2025, the newest Rolex GMT-Grasp II “Tiger Iron” options the identical 40 mm diameter case and 70-hour automated winding caliber 3285 launched in 2018. It’s fitted with the identical bi-directional bezel and brown and black ceramic bezel insert, with a water-resistance ranking of 100 meters, the GMT-Grasp II “Tiger Iron” presents hours, minutes, central seconds, date, and a second time zone in 24-hour format, and an Oyster bracelet. Nothing is new, except for the dial. And what a dial it’s.
Created from pure stone, combining tiger’s eye, crimson jasper, and hematite, this new dial might be a dialog piece that stands out in comparison with normal GMT-Grasp IIs, this yr, and for years to come back.
Gold reached a historic excessive of $3,500 per ounce in April 2025, after skyrocketing roughly $1,000 per ounce in simply 12 months. Whether or not this was the impetus for Rolex selecting such an costly valuable steel, at the moment greater than triple the value of platinum per ounce, or if it was simply a part of a planning course of set in movement months or years in the past, is unclear.
What’s clear is that Rolex tends not simply to set tendencies, however to know tendencies earlier than they occur. Maybe that’s a results of years of gross sales information (and different information) it compiles, or possibly it’s simply an innate information of its rich retailer and shopper community, or on the most elementary degree, might the choice be a results of the dogmatic nature wherein the crown operates?
At $49,400, the GMT-Grasp II “Tiger Iron” in Everose Gold (Ref. 126715CHNR) is greater than 4 instances the value of the usual $10,800 to $11,000 Bruce Wayne GMT-Grasp II (Ref. 126710GRNR), which was introduced in 2024.
It will be fascinating to know what number of ounces of gold had been used. No matter that quantity, it’s protected to imagine that 4 Bruce Wayne GMT-Grasp IIs will admire higher than one GMT-Grasp II “Tiger Iron” in Everose Gold — even when gold continues to climb above its historic peak.
Photographs by Rolex.
