Watch Nicknames: Batgirl, Hulk, Pepsi, And Friends
Rolex has never officially named a single one of its most famous nicknames. Not “Batman,” not “Pepsi,” not “Hulk”—every one of those names came from collectors, message boards, and dealers, years after the watch shipped. The reference numbers Rolex issues are technically accurate but functionally useless in conversation. Try saying “116710BLNR” out loud at a watch meetup and watch people’s eyes glaze over. Say “Batman” and everyone knows exactly which GMT-Master II you mean. That gap between what Rolex calls things and what collectors call them is where watch culture actually lives.
Where Nicknames Come From
Watch brands, especially Rolex, don’t name their sports watches descriptively. They number them. A Submarin ref. 16610 isn’t called the “Black Dial with Green Bezel”—it’s just a number. Collectors fill that vacuum by naming watches based on what they actually look like, what celebrities wore them, or what production quirks define them. A bezel color combination, a dial pattern, a celebrity association, even a production error that became a feature—any of these can become the name people actually use, while the manufacturer’s official reference gets relegated to spec sheets and auction listings.
This matters because nicknames encode information. “Kermit” immediately tells you: Submariner, black dial, green bezel, produced around 2003 (the first year Rolex offered green on steel). “Paul Newman” tells you: Daytona, exotic dial, a watch a famous person wore that became historically significant. These names are shorthand that would take 20 seconds to explain otherwise.
The Bezel-Color Nicknames
This is the richest category, almost all Rolex GMT-Master and Submariner references. The GMT-Master II with a blue-and-red rotating bezel is the “Pepsi,” a nickname old enough to predate the modern ceramic versions by decades. The “Coke” (red and black bezel) is less commonly used now but still current. The blue-and-black bezel, introduced on ref. 116710BLNR in 2013, is the “Batman,” a reference to both the color combination and vague connection to the Batman movies (which makes the nickname more fun than logical).
The all-green Submariner ref. 116610LV is the “Hulk,” a name that’s stuck despite being genuinely silly. The earlier 16610LV, with a black dial and green bezel—the first Submariner to ever use green on steel, introduced in 2003—is the “Kermit,” a softer and more appropriate nickname. A brown-and-gold two-tone GMT bezel gets called “Root Beer,” a reference that’s mostly slang among serious collectors at this point.
There’s a logic to bezel nicknames even if it’s not always obvious. Rolex green has changed between production years and references, so “Hulk,” “Kermit,” and “Starbucks” (green bezel on green dial) all represent distinct products. Collectors needed different names to distinguish them, and these names stuck because they’re memorable and easy to say.
The Celebrity Nicknames
The Daytona ref. 6239 with its art-deco-style stepped dial and contrasting subdials is the “Paul Newman,” named for the actor who wore one constantly and whose personal example later set an auction record of $17.75 million. That watch was so closely associated with Newman that Rolex later created an “exotic” dial finish based on his personal watches. It’s the only watch nickname that’s derived from celebrity ownership and became so dominant that new Daytonas still get compared to it.
The Rolex Explorer II ref. 1655, with its bold orange 24-hour hand, picked up the nickname “Steve McQueen” even though there’s no solid evidence the actor ever actually owned one. The name stuck anyway, purely on vibe and orange-hand energy. Some historical accuracy is lost in a lot of vintage watch culture, replaced by “this is cool and the name fits.” But that’s not entirely a flaw—it’s part of how collector culture works.
The Omega Seamaster worn on-screen by Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig gets called the “Bond Seamaster” by fans, even though Omega’s own marketing leans into that connection so hard that the nickname has become official marketing copy. Omega isn’t pretending the association happened naturally; they’re claiming it directly. That’s the difference between a grassroots nickname and a marketing-created one.
The Dial-Pattern Nicknames
Some nicknames describe the dial layout rather than the case or bezel. “Panda dial” refers to a light-colored dial with dark contrasting subdials—most associated with the Rolex Daytona but used loosely across brands like TAG Heuer’s vintage Carrera. The name is vivid and immediately clear to anyone who knows what a panda looks like. Flip the contrast, dark dial with light subdials, and collectors call it a “Reverse Panda.”
“Exotic dial” is a term Rolex uses officially now for the stepped, art-deco-style finish on certain Daytonas, but it started as collector slang. The finish is visually distinctive and harder to produce than flat printing, so collectors noticed and named it. Audemars Piguet’s original ultra-thin 1972 Royal Oak, ref. 5402ST, is simply “the Jumbo” among collectors, a nod to its then-unusually large 39mm case.
The dial-pattern names are less universal than bezel colors because they’re not always visually identical across production years. A Rolex Daytona panda dial from 1965 might look subtly different from a 1972 panda, but they’re both pandas. That creates room for confusion, which is exactly why detailed specifications matter when you’re buying used watches.
Why These Nicknames Matter
These aren’t just cute labels. On the secondary market, a nickname can shift a price meaningfully. Dealers list “Hulk Submariner,” not “ref. 116610LV,” because that’s what buyers search for on websites and forums. Nicknames are currency in collector culture. They compress an entire watch’s story—its era, its rarity, its visual signature—into a single word.
Say “Kermit” and you’re communicating: green bezel, black dial, stainless steel, 2003, the first of its kind. That’s a lot of information in one syllable. Without that shorthand, every conversation would need to include elaborate specifications. Instead, a collector can walk into a dealer and say “I’m looking for a Pepsi in good condition” and the dealer knows exactly what size, what movement, what era, what approximate price to expect.
The nicknames also stabilize around certain references while leaving others unnamed. There are dozens of Rolex models, but only a handful have universally recognized nicknames. Why does the ceramic GMT-Master have “Pepsi” but the Yachtmaster doesn’t? Partly because the Yachtmaster is less popular with collectors. Partly because its color combinations don’t evoke immediate comparisons. The nicknames that survive are the ones that stick because they’re useful, not just because someone invented them.
Using Nicknames Safely When Buying
If you’re shopping for a vintage watch and you only know the nickname, do your homework. “Batman” tells you color combination and approximate reference, but not production year or whether this specific example has been serviced, refinished, or Frankensteined with parts from different eras. A dealer might use “Batman” loosely to describe any blue-and-black GMT, when technically only certain references qualify.
Cross-reference the nickname against the serial number and case references. Make sure the dial, hands, and bezel are correct for the year you’re buying. A “Paul Newman” is a specific thing—only certain references with specific dial finishes deserve the name. Buying what you think is a Paul Newman Daytona only to learn the dial is a restoration is a $30,000 mistake.
Learn the nicknames for the pieces you actually care about. Master the reference numbers too. That knowledge doesn’t make you an expert, but it does make you a safer buyer and a better conversation participant at watch meetups. And it does mean you’ll follow the culture—the real, lived culture of watch collecting—with significantly more clarity.
Play today’s watch at https://game.watchdle.com/
