The Rolex Explorer II 16570 is a stainless steel Rolex sports watch produced between 1989 and 2011. The watch experienced minor updates through its production lifecycle and is one of many similar 40mm watches of the era among the GMT masters (16700 & 16710), the Submariners (14060, 16610) and Seadweller (16600).
The 40mm five-digit Rolex are some of the most iconic watches ever produced. The case dimensions and thickness of the 16570 make a good match for any sized wrist enabling wide range of wearers. Aside from the name, the modern five-digit Rolex Explorer II has very little to do with Explorer I. Lore says, the original 1655 was created as some sort of spelunker tool when it joined the collection. However, it is safe to say that today, the 16570 is a bauble for angry and frustrated middle class men looking for a fix through their hobbies.
Basic Information
| Manufacturer | Rolex |
| Reference | 16570 |
| Movement | 3185 (3186, rare) |
| Diameter | 40mm |
| Thickness | 12.2mm |
| Lug to lug | 47,5mm |
| Lug width | 20mm |
| Material | Stainless Steel |
| Water Resistance | 100 m |
Case & Bracelet
The case of the 16570 has brushed tops and polished sides. Until 2002 – 2003 (Y-serial) the cases had drilled lug holes. The earlier watches had chamfers at the edge of the lugs until Rolex stopped using them. Solid end-link (SEL) bracelet bracelet was introduced in 2001. Early 90s clasps came without the folding lock. Solid end-link bracelet can be identified from the end-link that extends from the case.
Dial
The Rolex Explorer 2 16570 comes with either black or white dial. In addition, before 1998 dial plots and hands were tritium. For a short period from 1998 to the dials were luminova and from 2000 onwards the dials have SuperLuminova. In the very late of the production run, Rolex changed the thickness of the black surrounds of the indexes. This resulted in ‘thin frame’ variant.
The white ‘Polar’ dial is very attractive. The indexes and hands are surrounded by black borders as opposed to white gold surrounds in the black dial versions. It is also the only watch with a white dial among the 40mm Rolex Sports watches making it somewhat unique.
The black dial variant, on the other hand, especially when not on bracelet, looks nothing like Rolex at all. The steel bezel is sufficient to to give the watch with sufficiently distinctive look from the GMT Master or Submariner, while still remaining comfy in the black dial zone.
Movement
The 16570 came with two moments: 3185 and 3186. The differences of the movements can be found discussed online ad nauseam. In short, 3186 had initial flaw with the date change mechanism and some watches had to go for an early service. Naturally, Rolex created an improved replacement part and by now most watches have been taken care of. Because of Rolex Collector Economics, the watches with the 3186 are much more expensive than watches with the cal 3185 movement.
Conclusion
I have only experience of the white dial 16570 and I doubt that I will get the black dial version any time soon. For a collector, the reference has many things to factor in when making a purchase: thin or thick frame, 3186 or 3185, tritium or SuperLuminova, white or black dial, lug holes or no lugholes, SEL or no-SEL. My personal preference is:
- SuperLuminova, for the bright green and slightly longer lasting illumination.
- Solid-End-Link Bracelet, for the improved wearability.
- Lug holes, for the toolwatch look.
- White dial, by preference.
If I had to pick one watch from the 40mm Rolex line up, it’d be the white dial Rolex Explorer II. It sits somewhere between Submariner and GMT Master and it is just extremely wearable on my average 17cm wrist.
Ghost of Gerald Genta 