The 1655 was powered by the 26-jewel Calibre 1575 GMT, which is the same movement as in ref. The ref. 1675 GMT-Master. Calibre 1675 GMT-Master. A modified Calibre1570 base movement, the Calibre1575 had a calendar feature and logically Calibre1575 GMT had an additional 24-hour hand. The automatic movement had a hacking-seconds function (where the second hand stops when you pull out the winding cap to change the time). It also boasted 48 hours of power reserve. The chronometer-rated watch was fitted with a stainless steel case measuring 39mm with crown guards. It had a non-rotating bezel that displayed 24-hour marks in Arabic numerals, and odd numbers with hash markers.
The McQueen big Arrow
Vintage Rolex collectors love nothing more than to give a watch a name or nickname. At the moment, the "Paul Newman Daytona" is the most obvious name. The Italians are credited with the invention of the art of collecting watches. We use a lot Italian slang in our vintage watch vocabulary. Ovettone is the Italian word for big bubbleback watches from the 1950s, Padellone is the term for large ref. Moonphase watch 8171 and Stelline for watches that have small stars in the hour markers.
The 1655 Rolex GMT Master Replica is known by two names - Freccione, which means "big arrow", and Steve Mcqueen. The name is derived from its large, boldly colored 24-hour hand. The second nickname comes from the fact that the actor wore one often. It was actually a matte dialed Rolex Submariner reference. The most famous watch that he wore was the Rolex Submariner ref.
In this case, the devil is in details. The dials, bezels, and seconds hands are all details. Let's begin with the dials. In fact, there were seven dials made during the life of the 1655. Five by Stern and two by Beyeler as service replacement dials. The two service dials, which were made available after the production of the watches and stored to be used for decades following the initial production run, were not readily available at the time the watches were produced. Remember that Rolex wasn't always the in-house manufacturer it is now. Production of components was outsourced. We see differences in the dials and bezels supplied.
Here, we will not focus on service dials but rather on the main production. Marks (MK), one to five (1-5), are the designations. The dials featured a large triangular hour marker at 12 o’clock, and rectangular hour markers between 6 and 9 o’clock. The minute track contains the remaining hour markers, which are extra-bold minute marks. The dial becomes a bit busier on the outer edge, where the 24-hour markers are offset from the hour markers. The dial has a distinctive appearance, which led to some collectors calling it the Disco Dial due to its similarity to a disco floor from the 1970s with square flashing light panels. The dials are marked with different text.
The watch was designed for potholers and speleologists. It allowed them to track the time, and whether it's am or pm using the large, luminous 24-hour dial. This is a specialist application, but it's also very useful for people who spend a lot of time out of the sunlight. This would be useful to explorers on continents with periods of continuous daylight or darkness.
