Some Rolex nicknames take years to stick. "Root Beer" took about five minutes. The GMT-Master II 126711CHNR pairs Oystersteel with warm Everose gold, tops it with a brown-and-black Cerachrom bezel, and somehow ends up looking both vintage and completely modern at the same time. It's the GMT for people who find the Pepsi a little too obvious and a full gold watch a little too much.
It's also, quietly, one of the best strap watches Rolex makes right now. The two-tone Oyster bracelet is beautiful, but it commits the watch to one mood. Swap it onto the right rubber strap and the 126711CHNR shifts from "boardroom two-tone" to "travel watch you actually beat up" in about thirty seconds, without losing an ounce of that Everose warmth.
Sizing first: what fits the 126711CHNR
Good news: this is one of the easiest Rolex references to buy a strap for.
The GMT-Master II 126711CHNR uses a 40mm case with a 20mm lug width. On Helvetus product pages for the GMT-Master II, there's no size option you need to pick. Every strap in the GMT-Master II range is already made for this case, shaped to sit flush against the lugs with no gaps. So the only decisions left are the fun ones: which color, and whether you want the deployant version that works with your original Rolex clasp or a classic pin buckle.
That deployant detail matters more on this reference than most. The 126711CHNR's Oysterlock clasp carries Everose gold, and keeping it on the wrist means your rubber strap still shows a flash of rose gold at the clasp. Owners love that.
Why the Root Beer earned its cult
The 126711CHNR arrived in 2018 and did something the GMT-Master II line had never done before: it brought in Everose gold. The original brown-and-gold "Root Beer" GMTs of the 1970s and 80s had been gone since 2006, and this was their comeback — rebuilt with a scratch-proof brown and black ceramic bezel, Everose numerals, and the caliber 3285 with roughly 70 hours of power reserve inside.
Collectors gravitate to it because it's the rare two-tone that reads warm instead of flashy. Everose is softer than yellow gold, the brown bezel keeps everything earthy, and the black dial anchors it all. It's a watch that's been spotted on some seriously famous wrists over the years, and yet on a day-to-day basis it flies further under the radar than any Pepsi or Batman. That warm color palette is exactly what makes strap selection interesting: everything you put on this watch has to get along with brown, black, and rose gold at the same time.
These are the combinations that do.
Brown: the strap this watch was designed around
Start here: Brown Rolex GMT-Master II Rubber Strap
Brown rubber on the Root Beer is about as close to a guaranteed win as strap matching gets, and it's one of the most popular choices among owners of this reference. The strap picks up the brown half of the bezel, flows into the warmth of the Everose, and turns the whole watch into one continuous, rich color story. It also does something unexpected: it makes the 126711CHNR feel more like a vintage revival and less like a modern two-tone, which is precisely the character people bought this watch for.
If you order one strap for this GMT, this is the one.
Black: the everyday reset
The counterweight: Black Rolex GMT-Master II Rubber Strap
Black plays to the other half of the watch — the black dial and the lower half of the bezel — and it dials the gold down from "statement" to "detail." The Everose stops being the first thing people notice and becomes the thing they notice second, which is a genuinely useful trick if you wear the Root Beer to work, to the gym, and everywhere in between. Sharp, quiet, zero maintenance. The strap you never have to think about.
Grey: the modern neutral
The sleeper: Grey Rolex GMT-Master II Rubber Strap
Cool grey against warm Everose is one of those pairings that shouldn't be talked about more than it is. The neutral tone gives the rose gold nothing to compete with, so the precious metal pops harder than it does on black — but the overall look stays understated and contemporary. If your wardrobe leans grey, navy, and neutral basics, this is the combination that will make people ask what strap that is.
Orange: the curveball
And for the brave: Orange Rolex GMT-Master II Rubber Strap
Hear this one out. Orange sits in the same warm family as the brown bezel and the Everose accents, so instead of clashing, it amplifies everything. The result is loud, sunny, and very much a summer-and-holiday setup — the Root Beer with the volume turned all the way up. Not the strap for every day, but as a second strap in the rotation, it's ridiculously fun, and it photographs like nothing else in this guide.
One place to see it all
Every color above, plus the rest of the range, lives in the GMT-Master II collection — each strap available as a deployant version for your original Rolex clasp or with a pin buckle: All Rolex GMT-Master II Rubber Straps
No sizing to figure out, no lug width to double-check. Everything there fits your 126711CHNR.
Final thoughts
A Root Beer on the bracelet is a watch you admire. A Root Beer on rubber is a watch you take places — lighter on the wrist, indifferent to sweat and saltwater, and far kinder to your Everose center links, which stay pristine at home while the watch does what a GMT was built to do.
Helvetus makes the switch simple: every strap is designed for a precise fit on the GMT-Master II, covered by a lifetime warranty, and shipped free worldwide with no import costs at checkout. More than 50,000 customers around the world have already upgraded their watches this way. Go brown for the signature Root Beer look, black for the daily grind, grey for quiet confidence — and keep the orange in your bag for when the sun comes out.
