Left-handed watches have been, for the entirety of the past century and the first decade of the present one, a niche product made in extremely small numbers in answer to an equally small demand. The consequence of such rarity is that with the blooming of watch collecting over the past decade, the few left-handed watches that came to auction became highly sought-after trophy pieces. Most notably, Rolex took the lead in that field thanks to a handful of left-handed vintage GMTs - a model that was one of the most “professional” of them all, developed for pilots, and thus comes as relatively small surprise that it features a certain number of left-handed examples: pilots necessarily demanded equipment as flawless as possible and were less prone to concessions, even one as little as a right-handed timepiece on a left-handed pilot.

It is thus with a profound nod to its distinguished history and heritage that Rolex released last year a modern variation of those vintage precursors: ref. 126720VTNR “Sprite” featuring a black/green (a color scheme never seen before) cerachrom bezel and, most notably, a left-handed case.

Incorporating a new spin on the hallowed GMT aesthetics and the left-handed nod to Rolex’s heritage for the most intellectual of collectors, the watch immediately climbed to the top of the “most wanted” list, a place that it did not relinquish to this day, also aided by what appears to be quite a restricted production so far.

Offered full set and in unworn condition, still retaining the bezel plastic protection and the plastics to the left side of the case (possibly an oversight at the moment of purchase), the present example is a wonderful occasion to “jump the queue” and gift yourself one of the most demanded modern Rolex timepieces.