The Pepsi effect, GMT-Master II prices since Rolex dropped the steel one
Rolex retired the steel GMT-Master II with the red and blue bezel this year. Pre-owned sales of the reference are up 60% on last year, and Chrono24 has it trading near $25,000.
When Rolex retired the steel GMT-Master II with the red and blue bezel earlier this year, the pre-owned market did what it always does with a discontinued Rolex. It went up. EveryWatch's half-year report gives the move its own section, "The Pepsi Effect," and counts a 60% year-over-year increase in secondary sales of Pepsi-bezel GMT-Master II references. Chrono24's Rolex Report 2026, published August 5, has the model up 24% in price over the year and trading near $25,000.
Two numbers, two different things
The 60% is sales, meaning how many dollars changed hands on the reference. The 24% is price, what one watch fetches. Both moving at once is the signature of a real discontinuation bump: more people buying, and each of them paying more.
The rest of the line
Chrono24's report singles out the Pepsi. The black-bezel 116710LN, the two-tone 116713LN and the grey-and-black 126713GRNR don't get the same treatment in it, which is the point: the spike belongs to one bezel, not to the GMT-Master II as a model. If you want a GMT without the discontinuation premium, those are where to look.
Rolex overall, a narrower lead
The same report says Rolex's pandemic premium has fully unwound. The brand still leads every segment, but its share of Chrono24 transactions is 30.5%, down from 44.1% at the peak and back to where it stood before 2019. Omega is second at 11%, Patek Philippe third at 5.9%. Younger buyers are spreading their money across more brands and leaning toward the Datejust over the sports models that defined the hype years.
If you're holding one
A discontinued reference tends to hold its bump for a while and then settle above where it started. If you have a Pepsi and want a number, we'll price it against what's selling this month, not against last year's peak.