The short answer
Rolex discontinued the steel Pepsi in April 2026, and the chase is on. For most buyers, chasing it is the wrong move.
The Pepsi and the Batman are the same watch under the bezel: same 40mm case, same caliber 3285, same bracelet. You are paying thousands extra for a red-and-blue insert and a discontinuation headline.
If you want a steel ceramic GMT in 2026 and you are not a committed Pepsi collector, the Batman is the smarter buy. Here is the math.
All images in this post are AI-generated and may not perfectly represent the actual watch references discussed. They are intended for illustration only.
The discontinued steel Pepsi 126710BLRO is the GMT everyone is chasing in 2026.
What changed in April
Rolex discontinued the steel Pepsi (126710BLRO) at Watches and Wonders on April 14, 2026, and did not announce a replacement.
There is no Coke bezel waiting in the wings. With the Pepsi gone, the Batman (126710BLNR) is now the most available color-bezel steel GMT in the current catalog, per WatchGuys, though authorized-dealer allocation stays near zero for most buyers.
Discontinuation did what it always does. It turned demand for the Pepsi into a scramble.
The scramble is already priced in
This is the part flippers miss. The Pepsi move already happened.
Purchase requests for the Pepsi surged about 500% in March and listings thinned as owners pulled inventory off the market, WatchGuys' 2026 release coverage notes. Buying now means buying after the run, not before it.
The premium you are actually paying
All three current steel GMTs left retail near the same price. The secondary market tells a very different story.
| Reference | Nickname | Retail (2026) | Pre-owned | Premium over retail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 126710BLRO | Pepsi (discontinued) | ~$11,800 | ~$20,000 to $27,000 | ~70 to 130% |
| 126710GRNR | Bruce Wayne | ~$11,100 | ~$19,000 to $23,000 | ~70 to 105% |
| 126710BLNR | Batman / Batgirl | ~$11,800 | ~$16,000 to $20,000 | ~35 to 70% |
Pre-owned ranges from WatchGuys; WatchCharts market values sit in the same zone, with the Pepsi near $21,989 and the Batman near $17,193. Ranges vary by bracelet, year, and condition.
The Batman saves you several thousand dollars over the Pepsi for the same wrist function and the same movement.
Same watch under the bezel
Strip the color and these are one watch. All three share the 40mm Oystersteel case, the caliber 3285 with a 70-hour power reserve, the Cerachrom ceramic bezel, and the same Oyster or Jubilee bracelet options.
The Batman 126710BLNR runs the same 40mm case and caliber 3285 for thousands less.
The Pepsi premium is not buying you more watch. It is buying you a red-and-blue bezel and a discontinued reference number.
Be honest about the trade-offs
This is not a free lunch, and a good dealer says so.
The Bruce Wayne 126710GRNR carries the highest short-term depreciation risk of the three.
The Batman and Bruce Wayne also trade well above retail, and AD allocation is effectively zero, so you are still paying a secondary premium on either one. The Bruce Wayne in particular carries real post-launch depreciation risk: WatchCharts rates its short-term risk 58 out of 100, on the high side, because it peaked above $30,000 right after its 2024 launch and has since settled.
None of these is cheap. The Batman is simply the least-inflated entry into a steel ceramic GMT right now.
Who should still buy the Pepsi
Some buyers should, and that is fine.
If you specifically want the Pepsi, value the now-discontinued status, or are completing a GMT-Master II set, the premium is the cost of the exact watch you want. That is a collector decision, not a value one, and there is nothing wrong with paying for the watch you love.
What we are pushing back on is the default assumption that the Pepsi is the GMT to buy. For a first GMT or a daily-wear traveler, it usually is not.
The dealer take
Buy the watch you want, but know what you are paying for. The Pepsi in 2026 is a hype-and-scarcity price. The Batman is the same machine for thousands less, and it is the one still in production.
For a first GMT or a daily traveler, the Batman is the steel ceramic bezel that makes sense.
For the full reference-by-reference picture, see the Rolex GMT-Master II buying guide, and for how these references moved right after the show, our post-Watches and Wonders market read.
Browse pre-owned GMT-Master II references at 5dwatches.com.