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Royal Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim spotted wearing Rolex

The Crown Prince of Johor, General Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, was photographed wearing the Rolex GMT-Master II reference 126719BLRO — one of the most technically and materially distinguished references in the current Rolex catalogue. The sighting placed one of Malaysia's most prominent royals firmly within the conversation around serious contemporary collecting.

Rolex debuted the 126719BLRO at Baselworld 2019, and it immediately commanded attention. Built on the Oyster case in 18kt white gold at 40mm, the reference carries the now-legendary Pepsi bezel — blue and red ceramic Cerachrom insert — which Rolex had, until that generation, restricted to the stainless steel 126710BLRO. Elevating the colourway to white gold gave it an entirely different register: cooler in tone, weightier in feel, and considerably rarer on the wrist.

The movement inside is the calibre 3285, Rolex's proprietary GMT manufacture movement featuring a Chronergy escapement, Parachrom hairspring, and a 70-hour power reserve. The independently adjustable GMT hand allows a third time zone to be tracked without disturbing the local time setting — a practical complication that made the original GMT-Master a tool watch for Pan Am pilots in 1955, and remains genuinely useful today. The calibre is certified as a Superlative Chronometer, accurate to ±2 seconds per day.

The dial is the element that elevates the 126719BLRO into collector mythology. Cut from genuine iron-nickel meteorite, it exhibits the characteristic Widmanstätten crystalline pattern — a structure that forms only over millions of years of slow cooling in space. No two dials are identical, which gives an otherwise mass-produced luxury object an irreducibly individual character. Combined with white gold applied hour markers and hands, the result is restrained but extraordinary.

For the grey market, the 126719BLRO trades at a substantial premium over its retail price, reflecting white gold scarcity and the meteorite dial's enduring desirability among collectors. Tunku Ismail is known for a collection that spans Patek Philippe and Richard Mille alongside Rolex — his choice of this particular reference signals an appreciation for the point where technical credibility meets material rarity.