The Rolex GMT was first designed as an aviator watch and developed in cooperation with Pan Am. As flying distances increased, the pilots travelled through multiple time zones so in the 1950s Pan Am requested that Rolex develop a watch that would be able to show different times simultaneously. The newly introduced fourth hand permitted the display of an additional time, with the corresponding number markings on the outer bezel. Pilots used the second time to display the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which led Rolex to the name this special watch the GMT Master. Even though the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was replaced in 1972 to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by the Aviation Industry, the term GMT is still known and kept as part of the name of the GMT Master.

The first GMT used a regular Turn-O-Graph but was fashioned with a different bezel and modified movement.

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 Rolex GMT-Master II