Truth about GMT II 3186 movement~

[HKperf]

Here's some interesting information I've gathered.
In regards to the stick dial and 3186 new movement that are on the ceramic model could be irrelavant. because i have a z-serial early 06 purchased gmt also has a stick dial.
Now 99% of M-serial's would have the new 3186 movement. and there are three ways of checking it.

one is to open the case. which i have on my coke M. came out 3186

two is to do the wiggle test with the small hour hand to see if the 24 hour hand wiggles with the minute hand. if it wiggles then no. 3185

three is to check the manual. 3186 comes with ceramic model manual.

i've spend lots of time and money purchasing different model gmt's to figure out on my own.
not a bad idea to start contacting your local AD's to get one.
pepsi M 3186 with stick dial should be the most difficult one to find.

AD's are running low on the inventory and starting to relize the demand out there. So a lot of AD's arent willing to discount on these.

[briantheartist]

Cool, I have a pepsi M series at my store.....time to make some calls and sell that puppy!

[Trurolexer]

Nice info...

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Nice information!

Thanks for sharing!

[Marrk]

With all due respect, I have been following the market on GMT IIs for the last few weeks (finally bought a Pepsi on April 5), and my experience is that M-series supply is still abundant and ADs haven't even received all shipments yet, some of which were placed with Rolex as long ago as Oct. '07. So, it may be a tad early to start the stampede.

Just my gloss on the market in these parts. Just what I see and hear. For what it is worth.

You are quite right, the chains are selling them at $57XX.00 and, as soon as you get there, can't wait to tell you that it's now a "collector's item." Talk about the "hard sell." Jeesh.

Originally Posted by HKperf

Here's some interesting information I've gathered.
In regards to the stick dial and 3186 new movement that are on the ceramic model could be irrelavant. because i have a z-serial early 06 purchased gmt also has a stick dial.
Now 99% of M-serial's would have the new 3186 movement. and there are three ways of checking it.

one is to open the case. which i have on my coke M. came out 3186

two is to do the wiggle test with the small hour hand to see if the 24 hour hand wiggles with the minute hand. if it wiggles then no. 3185

three is to check the manual. 3186 comes with ceramic model manual.

i've spend lots of time and money purchasing different model gmt's to figure out on my own.
not a bad idea to start contacting your local AD's to get one.
pepsi M 3186 with stick dial should be the most difficult one to find.

AD's are running low on the inventory and starting to relize the demand out there. So a lot of AD's arent willing to discount on these.

[Mandrake]

I bought a few days ago an M-Series ((M38xxxxx) 16710, and was open by AD although took pic of wrong side on movement, but could see a blue hairspring. Is a stick dial, but only difference with your theory is that I got the "old" manual, not the one that comes with the ceramic one. Ah, also passes the "wiggle" test perfectly....



So I agree that if you have a M Series 16710, most probably has a 3186 inside....

Regards
Carlos

[flumazenil]

All of the ceramic gmt's have the 3186 movement, right?

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by flumazenil

All of the ceramic gmt's have the 3186 movement, right?

Right!!

[Scarface]

Originally Posted by Mandrake

I bought a few days ago an M-Series ((M38xxxxx) 16710, and was open by AD although took pic of wrong side on movement, but could see a blue hairspring. Is a stick dial, but only difference with your theory is that I got the "old" manual, not the one that comes with the ceramic one. Ah, also passes the "wiggle" test perfectly....

So I agree that if you have a M Series 16710, most probably has a 3186 inside....

Regards
Carlos

Same here, I bough mine two days ago, M-series GMT-II Pepsi, "stick" dial, old manuals, passes wiggle test, didn't open it though...

One thing I have to add though is the smoother movement of the seconds hand which seems different from the 3185.

[2careless]

Well, a stick font doesn't necessarily mean the watch has 3186, although a M series probably is. Following is a z-serial stick font with 3185.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Rolex-GMT-Mas...QQcmdZViewItem

[ldmarcht]

For what its worth, I have a 16710 Pepsi purchased late in 2007 with "sticks" and the right one is actually shorter than the left one, packaged with the ceramic booklet and DOESN'T pass the wiggle test.
So is that a weird watch or what?
BTW, I love the watch and it's been with me all over the world and does not disappoint in any measure

[ldmarcht]

one other odd thing, this watch was packaged without the green holographic sticker on the back as well...

[scottschoe]

IMO it boils down to:

Booklets don't matter. AD's probably don't know one from another.
Dial fonts don't matter on M serials: it's probably a 3186 no matter what font you have
Dial fonts matter sometimes on Z serials: most that passed the wiggle test were sticks

[MrCowboy99]

FYI.. I just purchased a coke, serial "Z9..." and it passes the wiggle test. It has offcenter the "-" in the GMT - Master and the old booklet. The font on the dial is the "rectangle" II. This is the documented third font where there is no seperation between the top and bottom cross of the "I"s thus making it look like a rectangle. I think it might have a 3186, but I wont know until 5-7 years when I take it in for service. :)

[hbbfam]

My exp II has no separation between the two 'I"s. It looks like a box. Are there different fonts other than this one? It is a late "z".

[buz-lh]

I still think the only way to know for sure is to open it up which I will not do. Late Z with II no wiggle. Came with old manual. Who knows?

[HKperf]

theres no need to open the back case. late Z's and M's most likely to have the 3186 movement. stick dial and the manual, irrelavent.
Simply do the wiggle test and you ll know right away...
and the rolex is still shipping these out but not manufacturing.

[TempoKing]

Originally Posted by HKperf

theres no need to open the back case. late Z's and M's most likely to have the 3186 movement. stick dial and the manual, irrelavent.
Simply do the wiggle test and you ll know right away...
and the rolex is still shipping these out but not manufacturing.

Another super satisfied friend/client/fellow member of mine.

He bought my 16710/3186 GMT II M serial 2008... promptly paid the price we agreed with "lightning speed"

John is a gentleman..
100% an asset to TRF.

[The Mole]

Originally Posted by HKperf

theres no need to open the back case. late Z's and M's most likely to have the 3186 movement. stick dial and the manual, irrelavent.
Simply do the wiggle test and you ll know right away...
and the rolex is still shipping these out but not manufacturing.

I have a Z8xxx 16710 pepsi with a "ll" dial, had the back opened and it was a 3185 movement inside.

[jake1530]

2 careless, that ebay website read "miprint". That wasn't really a misprint was it? I know it sounds like a dumb question, but I'm curious about it now, thanks in advance, Jake.

[2careless]

Originally Posted by jake1530

2 careless, that ebay website read "miprint". That wasn't really a misprint was it? I know it sounds like a dumb question, but I'm curious about it now, thanks in advance, Jake.

Put it this way, if Rolex is selling the watch and give it full warranty, it's a proper Rolex supported product.
If it is classified as "misprint", then one can say all the new 116710 prints are misprints too - their "GMT-Master II" are all printed "GMT- Master []" just like the 16710 "rect" dial.

I'm of the firm belief that due to various reasons, they couldn't deliver a pepsi or coke ceramic bezel and so they are still churning out the old 16710 pepsi/coke but since they have used up the 3185 stock they just put in 3186 movements into these 16710 pepsi/cokes.

It remains to be seen in future how many these "transitional" 16710s are produced and if there are only a few then they may become quite desired.

However, suffix to say that the value of this piece will NOT be higher than current 16710 plus a 116710 together because you can always cannibalise the 3186 movement from the 116710 and put it into the 16710 to create a franken 16710 "transitional" ...

[BillA]

It is amazing that we are still having this conversation on the forum, I find it funny that this info can be churned around some more and say the same thing.

In regards to the "wiggle test", it has already been proven that it means nothing. A poster on this forum said he 24h hand did wiggle, opened it up, and it had the 3186 not 3185 under the hood.

As far as the manuals are concerned, it also means nothing. I am in the middle of a trade with a fellow enthusiast who got the old manual with his GMT IIC and I got the new manual with my 16710.

As far as later serial numbers on the Z series or M series, means nothing.

Wiggle......manuals.......anything else, means nothing.........you have to crack the back open on the sucker. "Keep on cracking", guys. I will find out on mine when it goes for its day at the Spa in 5-7 yrs. Just enjoy your watch for now.

[HKperf]

the test tempoking did earlier, he was only looking at the minute hand not the 24hr hand.
after receiving the watch from him, it passed the wiggle test.
most accurate and definite way of checking...DO NOT OPEN THE CASE!!!! just do the test~