When Rolex introduced Cerachrom, the story attached to it was that a two-color ceramic bezel could not be made: the firing process would not hold a clean boundary between colors. The 116710BLNR, introduced in 2013, is Rolex answering its own objection - a single ceramic insert, blue and black, the boundary running through the middle of a monobloc part, promptly nicknamed Batman. It joined the black-bezel 116710LN as a sibling rather than replacing it, and both left the catalog together in 2019.
As the first two-color ceramic it is a genuine first in the family's file, the same class of fact as the 16760's independent hour hand or the 6542's bezel itself. Its six-year run beside the LN also makes the pair a clean study in how a bezel makes the watch: identical case, movement, and bracelet, two very different market lives.
A modern classic on a technical first, young enough that condition is expected and originality is checkable against papers. The counterfeit pressure is high and platform authentication is the sensible route at this price.
Production windows and specifications compiled from documented collector references and period catalogs, cross-checked across independent sources; manufacturer records for this era are approximate by Seiko's own account.