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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Carsen Holaday

Rolex just discontinued one of its most famous watches after 12-year run

Rolex has officially discontinued its beloved Pepsi watch model after a legendary 12-year run.

After years of speculation about the iconic colorway’s fate, the stainless steel and white gold GMT-Master II timepieces are nowhere to be found in any form on the Swiss watch giant’s website.

The models were made famous for their blue and red Cerachrom bezels — which resembled the logo of the soft drink it was named after — but it was reportedly those bezels that brought about its end.

According to WatchPro, the bold color combination on the bezels is uniquely difficult to manufacture, which caused quality control issues over the years and ultimately led to its ending.

Rolex confirmed the model’s discontinuation after it disappeared from the brand’s website during its spring refresh for the 2026 Watches and Wonders trade show in Geneva, Switzerland. The company declined to comment further on the discontinuation when approached by The Independent.

At the time it was discontinued, the Pepsi model was nearly impossible to obtain. The watch was retailing for $11,800 in steel on an Oyster bracelet, $12,000 in steel on a Jubilee bracelet, $50,700 in white gold with a blue dial and $53,100 in white gold with a meteorite dial, according to Hodinkee. Following its end, it will likely spike even higher in resale prices.

The watch, which was previously made in four models, has been taken off the market before.

Earliest versions of the model date back to 1954, with a design created for Pan Am pilots to track multiple time zones. The blue and red colorway quickly became one of Rolex’s most popular watches, especially because of its limited supply.

However, the watch variant was retired from the brand’s catalog from 2007 to 2014.

The return of the beloved bezels came when Rolex launched Pepsi, the first ceramic-bezeled white gold GMT-Master II in 2014.

In 2018, the watch became available in stainless steel, but only on a jubilee bracelet. It later became available on an Oyster bracelet in 2021.

Now, after Pepsi’s discontinuation, only three bezel variants are left in stainless steel: black and blue, which is called Batman or Batgirl; black and grey; and the green and black bezel, which is called Sprite.

Another watch leaving Rolex’s collection this spring is the white gold Cookie Monster model, which was a follow-up to the Smurf model and sported a blue ceramic bezel with a black dial. The watch sold for $52,100 before it was discontinued.

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