Rolex's New Ceramic Bezel Patent: Red and Black 'Coke' Comeback?

Over the last five years, I have been hoping to see the GMT Master II offered with a black and red ceramic bezel insert. This year, I am about 99.9% sure it's coming. You are probably asking yourself why I should feel so confident about this. Do I have access to top secret files at Rolex SA? Did I hack the mainframe at Rolex, like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible? Sorry to burst your bubble – it’s none of that – but I am pretty sure we’ll see a ceramic ‘Coke’ GMT this year, and I will tell you why.

Rolex Bi-Color Ceramic Bezels

Image Source: Swiss Watch Expo

Quick review of what has been happening in the Rolex world when it comes to bi-color ceramic bezels. As of right now, Rolex offers a blue and black ‘Batman’ variation, a brown and black ‘Root Beer’ variation, a blue and red ‘Pepsi’ variation, a green and black ‘Sprite’ variation and, as of last year, a gray and black variation. These are four stellar offerings from what is, in this writer’s opinion, Rolex’s most sought-after collection in the GMT Master II. However, the “Coke” color combination of red and black has been seemingly ignored by Rolex. From what we have been able to gleam from the connections we have, this ceramic insert has been a real challenge to recreate in Cerachrom (ceramic) …until now.

Rolex Bi-Color Ceramic Patent

Image Sources: espacenet.com

The editorial team at Everest has uncovered a not-so-obvious patent filed by Rolex, for a process of manufacturing two-colored ceramic inserts, notably those that are black and red. It was filed in 2022, but published just a few days ago on January 31st. The original patent documentation is entirely in French, but the document name is translated to “Production of a multi-coloured ceramic component” and the detailed drawings are pictured above. The documentation clarifies a focus on melding the color red and the color black into a two colored ceramic ring. Here is a direct quote from the ‘Summary Of The Invention’ section of the patent: 

“More specifically, a first object of the present invention is to propose a solution for manufacturing a ceramic component that makes it possible to obtain a ceramic whose colour is controlled, notably making it possible to obtain a multicoloured, notably two-tone, notably red and black result.”

I was able to review the entirety of the documentation attached to the patent, clearly stating that the purpose of this patent is for processing the production of a two-colored bezel in red and black. With Watches and Wonders just around the corner, will we see a ‘Coke’ comeback?

‘Coke’ GMT-Master II at Watches and Wonders 2024?

While there’s no surefire way to know what Rolex will release at any given time, this newly-published patent at least tells us that The Crown is making an effort to produce red and black ‘Coke’ ceramic bezel inserts. My gut tells me that 2024 is the year we’ll see the ‘Coke’ comeback, but what do you think? Let us know in the comments below.