Rolex Explorer II 16570 Polar

It is very interesting to consider that Rolex produces beautiful luxury watches on a large scale, but on the other side, if you look at many of their collections, the collections consist of models made for a very niche audience. For example, the Submariner is for divers, the GMT-Master for pilots and the Explorer for spelunkers. These are adventurers who explore caves.

This Rolex Explorer II 16570 dates from the year 1991. With its thick case and sharp lugs, this toolwatch is in beautiful condition! The fresh snow-white dial, also called 'Polar' among collectors, provides a classy, sporty and a slightly less understated look compared to the black Explorer II dial. The tritium on the dial and hands is starting to show a nice light cream discolouration, something that makes us very happy of course! The sporty 78360 Oyster bracelet shows little to no stretch for its age. The movement has been fully serviced. This perfect Vintage Rolex Explorer reference 16570 will be delivered with a 1-year mechanical warranty.

What you need to know:
- White (Polar) tritium dial with light cream discolouration
- Thick 40mm case and sharp lugs
- 78360 Oyster bracelet with 501B endlinks, P11 clasp code
- X71XXXX serial, dates back to the year 1991 
- 1 year mechanical warranty
- Free insured shipping

Rolex Explorer II

In 1985, Rolex introduced the Explorer II reference 16550 featuring sapphire crystal, a case size of 40mm and the 3085 calibre. The dial was also updated to look similar to other sports models with the famous Mercedes hands, and the triangle and rounded hour markers. Also, the 16550 came with the option of a black or a white dial instead of just black like the previous references. The 3085 calibre provided the function of independently pointing the 24-hour hand on the fixed 24-hour bezel. This allowed the Explorer II to display two time zones just like the GMT-Master. The Explorer II was now more practical and attractive to an even wider audience such as world travellers and adventurers.

In 1989, Rolex introduced a new upgraded version of the Explorer II, the reference 16570 with many features of the preceding reference. For example, the new 3185 calibre was added and the white Polar dials were provided with black outlines around the hour markers. The Explorer was later equipped with the 3186 calibre. The reference 16570 remained the same for 22 years and was available with a black or white dial.