Man, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a Rolex GMT-Master II Root Beer Bezel for a while now, you know, the one from the official flagship store. These things are seriously classy, but the price tag? Don’t even get me started. So, I thought, why not try to make a high-imitation version myself? I mean, how hard could it be, right?
First off, I started digging around for info on the real deal. Found out the genuine Rolex Root Beer comes in a couple of versions. One’s got a gold bezel and the other’s rocking a steel one, like the Pepsi model. I figured the steel one would be easier to replicate, so I went with that. I also found this info about other brands, like Stuhrling and Mathey-Tissot, which have their own GMT watches. But they don’t have the two-color bezel that is so iconic on the Root Beer.
Next up, I needed some parts. I searched for anything that looked similar to the Rolex. And started gathering all the bits and pieces – a stainless steel case, a black dial, and some hands that looked close enough. Of course, finding a brown and black ceramic bezel that looked exactly like the Root Beer’s was a real pain. But there’s this brand, Squale, that makes diving watches and I managed to find one of their bezels in brown ceramic with gold markers. It wasn’t an exact match, but it was the closest I could get my hands on. Also, I found a movement that was similar to the Rolex movement, to give it that automatic self-winding action.
- Sourcing the parts: This took a lot of time, scouring online and offline, looking for the best matches.
- Assembling the watch: This was tricky. I mean, I’m no watchmaker. But I watched a bunch of videos and took it slow.
- Fitting the bezel: The Squale bezel was not a direct fit. I used all sorts of tools to make some adjustments to get it to fit, but it wasn’t perfect.
- Fine-tuning: I did the best I could to make the watch look and feel like a real Rolex.
Putting it all together was a whole other challenge. I’m no watchmaker, but I figured I could give it a shot. Found some tutorials online, got some basic tools, and started tinkering. Let me tell you, it was way harder than I expected. Getting the movement in place, attaching the hands, and fitting the bezel were all a major struggle. I tried to make it look as legit as possible.
The Result
After a ton of work, I finally had something that resembled a Rolex GMT-Master II Root Beer Bezel. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. The bezel didn’t quite fit right, and the overall quality was nowhere near the real thing, but from a distance, it looked kinda convincing. The Squale bezel had a similar vibe. If I showed someone who didn’t know much about watches, they probably wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference at first glance.Would I wear it out? Probably not. It’s more of a fun project than something I’d actually use to replace a real Rolex. But hey, it was a fun experiment, and I learned a lot about watches in the process. Maybe one day I’ll save up enough to buy the real deal, but for now, I’ve got my own little “Root Beer” to remind me of this crazy project. It’s got a unique story, I guess. And it is way cheaper!
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