The present watch is exceptionally rare due to the fact that Rolex rarely made special order watches. The dial and hand-set for the current watch was taken from the GMT-master, as this dial was more legible, which was necessary for Shepard, who spent most of his time making scientific observations. The bezel of the Explorer II was preferable to the Bezel of the GMT-Master as it is a one-piece fixed steel bezel. The name GMT-Master is a fitting tribute to an expedition that set off and finished in Greenwich England, the home of GMT. Transglobe Expedition, The first circumpolar journey round the earth, led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, was described in the New York Times as the world's last great adventure, and by the expedition patron, HRH The Prince of Wales as "mad but marvellous". In 1972 Ran's wife, Ginny, conceived the circumpolar idea. For seven years they strove to raise support for it and in 1979 set out from Greenwich in a thirty-year-old ice strengthened vessel, Benjamin Bowring, with a colourful crew of volunteers from many countries and backgrounds. The primary ?land team? was made up of three exceptional individuals, Sir Ranulph Fiennes Expedition Leader, Charlie Burton Mechanic and Cook and Oliver Shepard, Mechanic, Medic and Meteorologist. All of whom were former military men, Fiennes and Shepard both former S.A.S. The 100,000-mile route took them across the Sahara via Timbouctou, through the swamps and jungles of Mali and the Ivory Coast, over huge unexplored crevasse fields in Antarctica, through the inhospitable North West Passage, graveyard of so many famous venturers, and into the unpredictable hazards of the Arctic Ocean. Ranking alongside the journeys of Amundsen, Scott and Peary the Transglobe endeavour, a chance dream in 1972, became, on its completion ten years later, a truly historic voyage setting several records as well as being the first and only polar circumnavigation of the globe. "As long as such physical challenges exist, and as long as man cannot conquer nature, there will always, thank God, be people like the Transglobe explorers ready to risk death, in order to achieve something spectacular. They will always win our admiration." HRH The Prince of Wales. Oliver ?Ollie? Shepard, Born in 1946, Oliver went to Prep school in Ascot, followed by Eton College, where he first met Ran. In 1964, he was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards, after which he joined 21 Special Air Service Regiment ( Artists Rifles). In civilian life, he started his career with the Charrington Brewery in the East End of London in 1968, and stayed there until 1975, when he joined Ran and Ginny at the Duke of York Barracks, King?s Road, Chelsea. Between 1975 and 1979, TGE evolved, with the time being spent on numerous training courses, and the obtaining of sponsors for the vast amount of equipment needed. To keep body and soul together, he and Charlie worked part time in a local pub, the Admiral Codrington. In 1975 they went to Scotland, followed by Exercise Greenland in 1976, and The British North Pole Expedition in 1977. Together with Ran and Charlie, he was in the Travel Group of the Expedition, acting as Doctor/Dentist/Scientist, and Mechanic. Following are excerpts relating to Oliver Shepard taken from Sir Ranulph Fiennes writings from the expedition. ?Throughout the journey Oliver, aided by the others whenever they could be spared, was busy collecting specimens for the British Museum Natural History Section. Most frustrating were the bats they had asked for, which were only captured after four days of climbing about in wells and caves. Close second came a lizard called a zelgaag, which ?swims? through the sand so fast (said Oliver) that you have to ?dig like a maniac? to catch up with it. South of the Sahara the climate becomes more typically tropical and the vegetation greener and lusher. In the swamps of the Niger basin Oliver made forays in a collapsible boat powered by a British Seagull outboard.? ?Oliver Shepard, whose wife is in London, is the mechanic and meteorologist. He often sleeps when the others are awake, and vice versa, for he has to check his weird beehive and other monitors every six hours each day with radio reports to the world meteorological organisation. He put his sunshine recorder away early in May when the sun disappeared not to be seen again for many a long day. Oliver slaves away in another hut servicing the Allam generators which turn out all our electricity. ? ?When we packed up our three-man tent Ollie told me he felt very tired. This was unusual from someone who never complains about his sufferings. After four hours? travel he staggered off his skidoo and lurched over un-roped. His speech was slurred. ?I?m getting exposure. Must stop a bit.? He was shivering. As medic he knew exactly what symptoms to expect. In these conditions it would take us two hours to make camp so Charlie and I merely unpacked the vehicle tarpaulin and, struggling against the wind, secured it around a sledge in such a way as to provide a small windproof shelter. We boiled water from snow and gave Ollie two mugs of tea and some chocolate. He is physically the toughest of us all, so if he is already shivering on day two, despite full polar gear and a wolf-skin, then we will have to be very careful indeed.? Excerpts, information and photos taken from the website dedicated to this Expedition: www.transglobe-expedition.org.