The most important news from Rolex at Watches and Wonders is the one it did not announce. The discontinuation of the GMT-Master II “Pepsi” is a reminder that Rolex is not a watch brand but a luxury brand. And luxury brands do not live off bestsellers, but on managing desirability across an entire collection.
The removal of the red-and-blue GMT-Master II is a clear example of a logic that applies to luxury goods but often puzzles the watch world. Why discontinue the models the market demands most? While desirability in a Rolex watch stems from its built and quality, it also rests on rarity. Sometimes you have to end a story to let the myth grow.
Still, the Pepsi is not the 5711, a watch dominating the collection so much Patek Philippe chief executive Thierry Stern said it had become “too dangerous,” because it risked defining an entire brand.
For Rolex, there are practical reasons to discontinue the watch. It will likely return after a short absence with a new design and a new movement, providing a rationale for a higher price point, given that demand for the watch is among the highest in the collection. Its reintroduction would likely be staged with fanfare after the myth has had time to build. After all, Rolex must offer something new each year. And while “it is very hard to invent a Rolex,” in the words of Jean-Frédéric Dufour, Rolex’s true strength has always been in improving — and reintroducing — its decades-old catalogue of legendary models.
The other reason is the Coke. The red-and-black–bezel GMT will likely appear first in precious metal, in keeping with Rolex practice, before any steel version. And for a white-gold Coke to succeed, the steel Pepsi has to step aside, avoiding cannibalization of a more expensive sibling.