The Rolex Pepsi has always been one of those watches that gets people talking, and right now, it’s generating more conversation than ever. There are reports that Rolex has informed authorized dealers they will not be receiving any more deliveries of the steel Pepsi, reference 126710BLRO. Rolex has not issued a public statement confirming or denying a discontinuation, so for now, this is not official. What we do know is that rumors like this tend to ripple through the market pretty quickly, especially for collectors, buyers, and sellers watching the pre-owned market.
What the Rumor Says and Where It Stands
Before getting too far into what a Rolex Pepsi discontinued watch might mean, it’s worth separating what’s actually happening from what’s just speculation. There are a few real facts in the mix, along with plenty of theories.
What Rolex Has (and Hasn’t) Said
An industry publication reported that Rolex notified authorized dealers that no further deliveries of the steel GMT-Master II Pepsi would be coming, and that customers still on waitlists were being directed toward other Rolex models. Around the same time, multiple authorized dealer websites, including some of the largest names in the business, stopped showing the Pepsi in their online GMT-Master II sections. Both the steel reference 126710BLRO and the Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi white gold 126719BLRO disappeared from many of these sites. Interestingly, the watch is still on Rolex’s own website. That alone does not confirm it’s still in active production, though.
Rolex has not made a formal announcement. The brand rarely comments on its product lineup outside of its annual presentations, and Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026, scheduled for mid-April, is the next logical moment when any changes to the catalog would be made public. Until then, the situation remains unconfirmed. We’ll have to treat any information circulating online or through dealer channels as preliminary.
Why the Watch Community Is Paying Attention
Rumors about the Pepsi being discontinued aren’t new. They tend to pop up every so often, and in most cases they end up being nothing more than speculation. What makes the current situation feel different is the combination of factors lining up at once: Pepsi watches disappearing from dealer websites, reports from ADs turning away prospective buyers, and the timing just before a major industry event. Online watch communities have been vocal about it, and secondary market pricing has already begun to react.
At Bob’s Watches, the GMT-Master II Pepsi has consistently been one of the most requested references on the pre-owned Rolex market. Demand for Pepsi watches has never really been quiet, but interest from buyers has picked up noticeably in recent weeks. We’re seeing more inquiries come in, and the shift is starting to show up in pre-owned pricing as well.
The Rolex Pepsi: A Quick History Worth Knowing
The red and blue bezel is not a recent design decision. It goes back to 1954, when the very first GMT-Master was introduced, originally developed in partnership with Pan American World Airways to give pilots a practical way to track two time zones simultaneously. The color coding was functional as much as it was visual, with red representing daytime hours and blue representing nighttime. That original design has pretty much shaped the identity of the GMT-Master ever since.
The modern ceramic Pepsi made its debut in white gold in 2014, followed by the stainless steel version at Baselworld 2018. The Rolex Pepsi GMT-Master II 126710BLRO brought the Pepsi back to steel for the first time in over a decade, paired with the Jubilee bracelet and the updated Caliber 3285 movement. It was nearly impossible to source at retail from the moment it hit the market. The famous Jubilee bracelet, the cerachrom bezel, and the Pepsi color scheme in steel made it one of the most requested watches of its generation. The long waitlists at authorized dealers didn’t hurt either. If anything, they made the watch even more desirable.
Why Would Rolex Discontinue the Pepsi?
Considering the Pepsi is one of the most iconic watches in the GMT-Master II lineup, pulling it from the catalog would be a major decision. Several theories are circulating. So far, Rolex hasn’t confirmed any of them.
The Ceramic Bezel Challenge
In any Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi review, the bi-color cerachrom bezel insert is one of the first features praised, but it’s also where many of the production-related rumors come from. Producing a single ceramic piece in two distinct colors requires a highly controlled sintering process, and reports going back to at least 2023 suggested that Rolex was experiencing elevated rejection rates during manufacturing. A two-tone ceramic insert is much harder to produce consistently than a single-color one, and even small variations in temperature or pigment during firing can affect the final color result.
Rolex’s own 2013 patent for the bi-color ceramic process acknowledged that variables in pigmentation can lead to inconsistent results. The steel Pepsi has been in production since 2018, so the manufacturing process should be well established by now. But if a large number of bezels still fail quality control, it would naturally limit how many watches can eventually make it to market. Some believe production challenges may have made the current bezel version too expensive to produce while still meeting demand, particularly as Rolex looks ahead to what may come next.
Reading the Room Before Watches and Wonders
Rolex has done this before, quietly phasing out references ahead of big announcements. Discontinuing a current model is often the precursor to introducing an updated or redesigned version, and the timing here is really hard to ignore. Rolex Watches and Wonders announcements will start to trickle out April 14 through 20 during the event, and speculation within collector communities is already focused on what might replace the Pepsi, or what new GMT colorway might arrive alongside it.
One theory is that the “Coke” bezel will return, a red and black configuration that appeared on early GMT-Master models and still hasn’t been made in ceramic. Rolex filed a patent in 2022 for a manufacturing process specifically capable of producing a red and black ceramic component, which has only fueled the speculation. Whether that theory proves accurate or not, the pattern of clearing a beloved reference before a major show is familiar to collectors who followed the Rolex Submariner “Hulk” situation.
What Discontinuation Does to Rolex Prices: A Look at the Hulk
The Rolex Submariner in green, known as the Hulk (reference 116610LV), is one of the best recent examples of how Rolex discontinuations play out on the pre-owned market. Rolex removed it from the catalog in 2020 when it updated the Submariner collection. In the months and years following that announcement, the Hulk’s pre-owned price climbed steadily, driven by the fact that no new supply would ever come to market again. Collectors who had passed on it at retail reconsidered. Those who already owned one found themselves holding an increasingly scarce asset.
The Rolex Pepsi and the Hulk are similar in a few important ways. Both are steel sports watches. Both carry strong name recognition beyond the collector community. And both had secondary market premiums well above retail even before discontinuation entered the picture. If the Pepsi ends up following the same pattern, this moment, before any official announcement, may eventually look like a good time to have bought one.
What This Could Mean for the Secondary Market?
Whether Rolex confirms the discontinuation at Watches and Wonders or not, the secondary market is already reacting. Looking at how these situations usually play out can help buyers and sellers decide what to do next.
Supply Is Already Drying Up
When authorized dealers stop receiving inventory, the pre-owned market quickly becomes the main place buyers can actually find the watch. When that happens, prices often start to climb, sometimes pretty quickly. According to several market tracking reports, pre-owned Pepsi prices have been rising since late 2025 and have continued to rise into early 2026. The watch was already selling well above its retail price before these rumors began circulating, and that gap has only continued to widen.
It is also worth noting that the impact extends to other Rolex GMT-Master II references. When one receives more attention, demand naturally shifts to other alternatives. The “Batgirl” (reference 126710BLNR on a Jubilee bracelet) and the “Batman” (same movement and bezel, Oyster bracelet) have both seen upward price movement in recent weeks, as buyers who can’t get their hands on a Pepsi consider what else within the GMT family might benefit from the same dynamic.
How Buyers and Sellers Should Think About It
For buyers, the reality right now is simple: the watch likely costs more than it did six months ago. The pre-owned market tends to react quickly to rumors of a discontinuation, sometimes even before anything official is announced. Even so, the long-term case for the Pepsi still looks solid no matter what Rolex decides to reveal in April. A steel Pepsi with box and papers, especially in unworn or lightly worn condition, has historically held its value well, even during softer periods in the watch market.
For sellers or current owners, the Hulk is a really helpful comparison. When the green Submariner was discontinued, some owners sold right away and captured the initial jump in prices. Others held onto their watches and saw values continue to climb over time. Something similar could play out here. At Bob’s Watches, we’re actively buying pre-owned Pepsi GMTs in all conditions and bracelet configurations, and our team can provide an up-to-date market estimate for anyone curious about what their watch may be worth today.
Keeping an Eye on What Comes Next
The next key moment will come in April at Watches and Wonders Geneva. That’s when Rolex typically reveals any updates to its lineup, and if the Pepsi is truly being discontinued, we’ll likely hear about it there. It will also be the moment to see whether Rolex plans to introduce anything new in its place. Collectors will be paying close attention, and so will we.
What is certain is that Rolex Pepsi for sale, in any version, remains a historically significant watch with deep roots in Rolex’s catalog. Whether this moment ends up marking the final chapter of the 126710BLRO or the start of something new, the Pepsi has already secured its place in modern Rolex history, and the pre-owned market clearly reflects that. You can view current Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi listings at Bob’s Watches to see available inventory and current pricing.
