Okay, so I’ve been wanting to get my hands on a decent Rolex Batman for a while now. You know, the one with the black and blue bezel? Yeah, that one. But who has like 15 grand just lying around? Not me, that’s for sure. So, I decided to try and make a pretty convincing imitation myself.
First, I spent a couple of days just looking at pictures online. I mean, really studying them. I looked at how the light hits the bezel, how the colors change a bit in different lighting, the font of the numbers, everything. You gotta know your enemy, right?
Then, I got myself a cheap watch that had a similar overall shape to the real Rolex GMT-Master II. I found one online for like thirty bucks. It was nothing special, but it was a good starting point. Next, I needed to get that iconic bezel. That was the tricky part.
I ended up ordering a ceramic bezel insert online. It was advertised as a “replacement” bezel, but let’s be honest, it was clearly meant for knock-offs. It cost me around fifty bucks, which was way more than the watch itself, but still, way cheaper than a real Rolex. It was surprisingly good quality for such a cheap item.
Getting the old bezel off the cheap watch was a bit of a pain. I used a small, flathead screwdriver and a lot of patience. I didn’t want to scratch the watch case, so I went really slowly. Eventually, it popped off.
Then came the moment of truth: putting on the new Batman bezel. I lined it up carefully, making sure the 12 o’clock marker was in the right spot. Then, I pressed it down firmly, and it snapped into place. I was actually pretty shocked at how well it fit. It looks pretty decent!
- Bought a cheap watch online.
- Ordered a ceramic Batman bezel insert.
- Removed the original bezel from the cheap watch.
- Attached the new Batman bezel to the watch.
I wore the watch around for a few days, and honestly, I was pretty happy with how it looked. I mean, it’s not fooling any serious watch collector, but to the average person, it’s a pretty good imitation. I even got a few compliments on it, which was kind of cool.
So, yeah, that’s how I made my own “homage” to the Rolex GMT-Master II Batman. It was a fun little project, and it saved me a ton of money. Would I do it again? Probably. Maybe next time I’ll try to replicate a different model. Who knows?
The Results
All in all, not bad for a DIY project. It’s not perfect, but for a total of under a hundred bucks, I’m not complaining. It scratches that itch for a cool-looking watch without breaking the bank.