Okay, guys, so today I’m gonna talk about my whole experience trying to make a high imitation of the Rolex GMT-Master II, the one with the “Root Beer” bezel. You know, the brown and black one? Yeah, that’s the one. I call it my “Original Order” project.
So, I really wanted to get this watch down. I searched everywhere, looking at forums, checking out different websites, you name it. I finally found one that was being advertised as a “Rolex GMT-Master II 126711CHNR ‘Root Beer'” bezel. It was used, but the seller said it was in perfect condition. I thought I could use it as a good reference to make sure I got the details right.
I started by taking a ton of pictures of the watch. I mean, every angle, close-ups, everything. I wanted to make sure I knew it inside and out. I noticed it had that two-tone bracelet, the black and brown bezel. It looked pretty good, I gotta say.
Getting to Work
Next, I started getting the materials. Now, I’m not using real gold or anything, but I found some pretty decent alternatives. I got some stainless steel for the case and bracelet and found some really good ceramic pieces for the bezel.
- Case and bracelet: Stainless steel, polished and brushed to match the real deal.
- Bezel: Ceramic, with that two-tone brown and black color. I made sure to get the numbers and markers looking right.
- Dial: Matte black, just like the original. I spent a lot of time getting the hour markers and hands right.
- Movement: I used a decent automatic movement. Not a Rolex movement, of course, but something reliable.
Putting it all together was tricky. I had to be super careful, especially with the bezel. I took my time, made sure everything fit just right. I even found some good-quality fake Rolex boxes and papers, just to complete the whole experience. It was a lot of work, but I was determined to make it as close to the real thing as possible.
After weeks of working on it, I finally finished. And you know what? It looked pretty damn good. I compared it to the pictures of the real one, and I was really happy with how it turned out. It wasn’t perfect, of course, but it was a really good imitation, especially for something I put together myself. I learned a lot from this project, and it was a fun challenge. I even wore it around a few times, and nobody could tell the difference! Pretty neat, huh?
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