We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
'TS Eliot
After the Submariner, the Explorer is one of the most easily recognizable of all Rolex watches. With its black dial, large luminous triangle marker at 12, and luminous arabic numerals for the other quarters, it is the perfect mixture of a sport and a dress watch. It seems to have been around as long as there have been Rolexes, but that is not exactly true.
The generally accepted origin of the Explorer is that it was first designed and made in honor of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
They were the first to reach the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953, and did so wearing Rolex wristwatches. Robustness, temperature deviation, water ressistance and mechanical load - I couldn’t think of a better (and probably harder) way to prove the abilities of a watch. That has not been a coincident by any chance, but a very clever marketing trick: it is worth noting that the name "Explorer" was registered in Geneva on the January 26, 1953, obviously before the conquest of the world's highest mountain.
Since that Event, the Explorer has been patiently developed and in the early 1970s a larger model appeared: the 1655 Explorer II. It is essentially a GMT-Master with a fixed bezel. Using the same calibre 1575 movement as a GMT- Master, it also had a fourth hand which rotated once every 24 hours, however on the Explorer II the hour was read from this from a fixed, engraved 24 hour steel bezel.
The watch was introduced as being especially useful for the speleologist ( or cave explorer), who, Rolex claimed "soon loses all notion of time: morning, afternoon, day, or night. " For these intrepid souls Rolex developed the watch which would tell them whether the "2" on the dial was 2:00 a.m. or 2 :00 p-m. (14:00 h). This may well be true, and perhaps cave dwellers are more susceptible to losing track of time than others. :lol:
Check out By-Tor’s cool review of it, here.
With it’s date display and a second timezone, it got a litte away from the basicness of the older brother, that stayed what it was supposed to be: a robust three hands watch.
Genuine Technical Data:
Reference: 14270
Caliber: 3000
Movement: Selfwinding mechanical
Powerreserve: min. 42h
Vibration: 28.800bph
Jewel: 27 jewels
Calendar: none
Case: Steel
Crown: screw-locked, 2 gaskets
Caseback: Screwed in
Crystal: sapphire
Diameter: 35.5mm
Thickness: 11.4mm
Weight: 105g
Water-resistance: 100m
The Replica
The case.
The relatively simple three piece case (bezel, band, and back) is clearly strong and rigid. (Rigidity is an important issue in maintaining water-resistance in use that involves impact that can distort the alignment of the case.) While the bezel and band sides (which are integral with the strap lugs) are polished, the upper horizontal surface of band and lugs is brushed. Actually, the gen’s finish of the brushed parts is NOT superior to the finish of the replica, as you can see in the picture below:
The polished sides of the case, however, are an unusual, peculiarly appealing double-horn shape characteristic of many Rolexes, and are polished to a shine close to white gold. The replica for comparison here has been worn frequently, so there are desk-diving scratches. However, as you can see, the polished sides are of an almost equal quality to the genuine ones.
The uncoated sapphire crystal, as can be seen, is set largely outside the bezel on the 14270. You got to be careful for it is actually not protected by the bezel anymore and you could bust out a piece of the crystal easily by knocking against a hard object. In my opinion, the flat sapphire is reflecting so strong, it causes difficulties in easily reading the time on genuine and replica from certain angles. Last mentioned has it’s first “weakâ€
