When it comes to Rolex watches, a few words have lost all meaning. “Underrated,” “Sleeper” and “underrated” may not be completely meaningless at this point, but we’re getting there fast. Frankly, social media and articles like this won’t help the avid hunter, but you’d be surprised how many people I meet know nothing about Explorer II. In this article, I’m going to talk about the Explorer II Ref. 16570, which was the 40mm version that was produced for 22 years, from 1989 through 2011. Low-key design, dual time zone functionality, near indestructibility, and a doggedly non-luxury attitude, the Explorer II 16570 may be the best value fashionable Rolex replica watch out there.
Of course, I’m a bit biased towards Explorer II. It has always been my favorite Rolex sports watch, hands down. Actually, the first Rolex I bought was a 216570 black dial. While the Submariner, GMT-Master II, and Daytona get all the spotlights, the Explorer II has been Rolex’s low-key utilitarian tool watch that is also a real travel watch for decades now. A bit of the black sheep of the Rolex sports-watch family, the Explorer II is Prince Harry to the GMT-Master II’s Prince William.
Introduced as a watch for spelunkers, the Explorer II design is function over form. The darkness in some of these caves makes it impossible to tell whether it is day or night, which is the reason for the 24-hour hand and fixed bezel. While the original Explorer II Ref. 1655 was not at all meant to be a travel replica watch, the 16570 introduced an independent hour hand that functionally made the watch a dual time zone travel watch.
The 16550 also introduced the two dial options that remain to this day, with a black or white (aka Polar) dial. The Polar dial models had a paint defect that caused the dial to slowly turn into a cream color, making them highly coveted by collectors. Inside the 16570 is the caliber 3185 movements (models post-2006 have the slightly updated 3186), which was introduced in 1988 and was used in the Explorer II and the GMT-Master II.
Though they are actually the same watch, there have been various serial numbers associated with fake Rolex Explorer II 16570 watches over the years that have mostly subtle differences.
Finally, some of the post-2006 16570 models have the caliber 3186 movements, which were upgraded with a parachronism hairspring. There is a bit of a “wobble” from the GMT hand on the 3185 when adjusting the time, which this new hairspring on the 3186 managed to prevent. This is not a huge difference, but Rolex is constantly improving and reiterating.