The Explorer II was first introduced in 1971 with the reference 1655. It was specially designed for speleologists who explore caverns beneath the earth’s surface. Rolex have been known for taking baby steps in the evolution of a model, the first being the aforementioned 1655, which is the piece we have on offer here dating from 1979.

The matte black dial which has light luminous hour markers with a large triangle at 12 o’clock. The dial is marked ‘T SWISS < 25 T’ below the 6 o’clock hour marker. It also features the iconic fat orange GMT hand and sword hands, as well as a date window at 3 o’clock. The dial has sustained some damage over time which you can see in the images. The fixed 24hr bezel sits on the 40mm stainless steel case which is in good overall condition although showing light signs of wear with hairline scratches. Housed behind the screw down case back, is the coveted automatic Rolex cal. 1570 movement which is running well. The watch is fitted with a stainless-steel Rolex oyster 78360 bracelet which is in a fair condition with slight slack and some hairline marks.

THE DETAILS…

Brand: Rolex

Model: Explorer II

Movement: Mechanical, automatic cal. 1570

Reference: 1655

Serial: 626****

Year: 1979

Material: Stainless steel

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, GMT, date

Box & Papers: N/A

Strap: Stainless steel, oyster 78360.

This watch is sold with a 6-month warranty. For more information, please visit our Warranties section in the Terms & Conditions.