Where has the Rolex GMT-Master travelled?

Rolex GMT-Master ref. 1675 / Credit: HQ Milton

The Tom Sheppard Sahara Expedition (1975)

The Joint Services West East Sahara Expedition completed the first crossing of the Sahara from the West to East between January 25th and May 3rd, 1975. The expedition was made up of eight men and four Land Rovers, who travelled 12,054 km to cross the African desert.

They successfully completed a gravity measurement traverse, a number of other scientific projects, and made new contributions to the methods of successful navigation.

Tom Sheppard was the leader of this expedition of the Sahara, ranging from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, through the Mauritian Empty Quarter. This was a barren region, a map of which had yet to be made. As more complicated equipment was deemed too risky for this expedition, Tom Sheppard used only the sun, the stars, and his Rolex GMT-Master wristwatch for his navigation. His tools for all six of his desert expeditions from 1967-1975.

The Joint Services West East Sahara Expedition in Sudan (1975) / Credit: Sahara Overland

The World’s First Driver to Hit Supersonic Speed. Stan Barrett (1979)

Stan Barrett hit 739 mph at Edwards Air Force Base in California to become the world’s first driver to hit supersonic speed in 1979.

Barrett entered into his Budweiser projectile rocket, propelled by a hydrogen peroxide motor which produced over 24,000 pounds of thrust. Within 4 seconds, he was travelling at 250 mph; in 8 seconds, he ignited a Sidewinder AIM-9 missile. This additional thrust propelled him past 730 mph, past the threshold for Mach 1.

Unfortunately, due to various factors in the verification of the data, this record is still up for debate. For one, the radar speedometers accidently measured a passing truck’s speed instead of the rocket’s.

Paul Newman, who was Stan’s friend, gifted him the Rolex Daytona that he is wearing in addition to the Rolex GMT-Master. It was a gift specifically for this record and both were worn simultaneously.

Stan Barrett wearing a Rolex Daytona and Rolex GMT-Master (1975) / Credit: Rolex Magazine

William J. Knight Became the Fastest Person on the Planet (1967)

William J. ‘Pete’ Knight was an Air Force Major who piloted Hypersonic X-15 aircrafts. On October 3rd, 1967, Knight became the world’s fastest person after achieving a speed of Mach 6.7 (8,200 km/h). Nearly seven times the speed of sound and still to this day the fastest speed ever achieved by a manned aircraft.

These aircrafts had the ability to leave the earth's atmosphere, allowing X-15 pilots to obtain astronaut wings while flying the rocket powered planes.

William J. Knight and his model X-15 Aircraft and Rolex-GMT wristwatch / Credit: Blogspot

Will Steger’s North Pole Expedition (1986)

William Steger underwent a 57-day expedition to the North Pole with his GMT-Master II Oyster Perpetual. Under the leadership of William, a small team embarked on the Steger International Polar Expedition, using only a dogsled, sextant, and their Rolexes for navigation. This was the first confirmed trip to the North pole without a resupply.

The final team of five to reach the North Pole. A total of seven people had started the expedition. / Credit: The Bismarck Tribune

By: Eric Mulder

Read more:

Sheppard, Tom. “The Joint Services West East Sahara Expedition, 1975.” The Geographical Journal, July 1976, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1796595.
“Stuntman Stan Barrett breaks the sound barrier.” History, January 27th, 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/stuntman-stan-barrett-breaks-the-sound-barrier.
Lerner, Preston. “Did Stan Barrett break the sound barrier?” Motorsport Magazine, January 2020, https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-2020/118/stan-barrett.
Ehrlich, Jake. “Stan Barrett: The World's First Supersonic Driver.” Rolex Magazine, April 9th, 2019, https://www.rolexmagazine.com/2016/07/stan-barrett-worlds-first-supersonic.html.
“World's Fastest Man Remembered.” NASA, October 5th, 2004, https://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/Pete_Knight.html.
Ehrlich, Jake. “Steger International Polar Expedition.” Rolex Magazine, December 2nd, 2018, https://www.rolexmagazine.com/2010/08/steger-international-polar-expedition.html#/page/.