Rolex 1655 Explorer II
The Rolex Explorer II 1655, famous among the fans of the crowned house, was introduced in 1971 and came in different versions with small graphical updates on the dial and bezel. These details, undoubtedly, have made this watch highly collectible and sought after in all its variations.
At the time of its release, Rolex watches were not regarded as the status symbols that they are today, and the Explorer II 1655 was aimed specifically at speleologists, intended to be much more of a 'tool watch' than a luxury item.
As a company that built its reputation producing high-end watches that were viewed as items of necessity rather than premium-priced accessories, this approach was very much in-line with Rolex's roots. The Explorer II 1655 was only ever manufactured in stainless steel, with absolutely no solid gold or two-tone options available. Additionally, like many of Rolex's other sports watches, the reference 1655 Explorer II was exclusively offered with a black dial.
Often referred to as the "Steve Mcqueen " but there was never any evidence he owned or wore one. Perhaps because he was the King of Cool and people thought the 1655 was a cool watch? Its internet watch lore.
In the 1970s, Messner championed the cause for ascending Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen, saying that he would do it "by fair means" or not at all.[13] In 1978, he reached the summit of Everest with Habeler.[14] This was the first time anyone had been that high without supplemental oxygen and Messner and Habeler achieved what certain doctors, specialists, and mountaineers thought impossible. He repeated the feat, without Habeler, from the Tibetan side in 1980, during the monsoon season. This was Everest's first solo summit.
We all know about Hillary's 1953 ascent of Everest however alot of speculation as to whether he wore a Rolex or not. However Reinhold defiantly wore his Exp 2 1655 so unless there were previous attempts before the 70's one could conclude that the 1655 was the first Rolex to be at the top of Everest?!!
This was the inspiration for the build.
So this was one of the first watches I originally bought from a TD way back when.....I think it was From Marv.
Since then. I had since bought and sold a 1655 a few times....I would obsess over it. wear it a while and then lose interest and sell it on.
However a few years ago I started collecting parts again for another one as I came across them. Bezel. hands , dial .
Then a little while ago , digging through my parts bin I found an old homage case set that I had bought for a my 1019 , however that never materialized because the crown and tube were too large.
Nothing is gen spec and everything is slightly off and that is how it ended up in the parts bin in the first place.. This time, I wanted to challenge myself and challenge it was. Every piece of this watch has been modified. case, dial , hands, movement.....all of it. defiantly not your typical Lego build It was like building a car , using components from every different car maker and trying to make it work. in principle it should work but there was a lot of cuss'n
The case was good otherwise, it had a 7mm crown and tube. so I had two options. Press in an aluminum plug and redrill or use JB weld and cement the tube into the case. I chose the latter.
It worked remarkably well. 2 part Jb weld , mix and fill hole in mid case. then I pressed the tube into the case and made sure it was centered and level and let dry. As the jb was drying I started to remove excess jb from inside the tube to make room for the stem. once it was dry it was solid I tested it and it appears to be water tight as well. Thats a bonus.
Before doing that I shaped the crown guards and did the metal work. shaped lugs, drilled out lug holes , minor case shaping .
I went with the Raffles 1655 dial. Based on its markings and cornet, it is modeled after a mk5 dial . however I had to shave down the diameter of the dial as it was a bit too large for the dial seat . it fit but it was a snug fit. so I shaved a few thou off and it fit. marked up the dial a bit around the center hole but no biggie really. its a cheap dial .
Next issue was the rehaut it was cutting off the text and markers. so out came the dremel again and I enlarged the dia of the rehaut to fit. I should have done more finish sanding on the rehaut but because it has been enlarged, slightly changing the angle , it is barely visible so its not a concern at this point. I may go back and go up a few grits to smooth it out.
smooth sailing from there right....nope. The date window didnt line up with the DG date wheel so I had to swap in a DWO (hassle) but after repeated attempts I finally got it to where I was happy with it and it did not interfere with other parts.
A while back I bought a Phong Bezel from the M2M parts. this part surprisingly fit the watch case and crystal with no modding. which is odd because the 25-116 crystal that you would usually use on a cartel case / 1655 / 1675 did not fit this case so I had to take measurements and luckily found one at Perrin that fit the case like glove. the cyclops isnt centered perfectly but its acceptable.
I repainted the orange hand to move of a subdued signal orange color. less day glow.
aged the lume on the dial and hands to match.
After alot of fiddling and tinkering and adjustment after adjustment after adjustment I finally got it together and its pretty sweet. IF I do say so myself. not perfect but good enough for the girls I go with , as they say.....
Sorry no progress build pics....however here is the result .
Overall I am pleased with the results.
I think I will eventually upgrade to a eta 2836 and will swap in a open 6-9 dwo at that time. other than that I am tired of looking at this thing on my bench and am glad it is on my wrist now.
SPECs:
Hommage case set - heavily modified , shaped and tweeked.
6mm raffles crown and tube
Perrin Crystal
Phong Bezel
Raffles Dial - modified and aged lume.
RAffles time Hands aged lume
repainted raffles orange hand. aged lume
The Rolex Explorer II 1655, famous among the fans of the crowned house, was introduced in 1971 and came in different versions with small graphical updates on the dial and bezel. These details, undoubtedly, have made this watch highly collectible and sought after in all its variations.
At the time of its release, Rolex watches were not regarded as the status symbols that they are today, and the Explorer II 1655 was aimed specifically at speleologists, intended to be much more of a 'tool watch' than a luxury item.
As a company that built its reputation producing high-end watches that were viewed as items of necessity rather than premium-priced accessories, this approach was very much in-line with Rolex's roots. The Explorer II 1655 was only ever manufactured in stainless steel, with absolutely no solid gold or two-tone options available. Additionally, like many of Rolex's other sports watches, the reference 1655 Explorer II was exclusively offered with a black dial.
Often referred to as the "Steve Mcqueen " but there was never any evidence he owned or wore one. Perhaps because he was the King of Cool and people thought the 1655 was a cool watch? Its internet watch lore.
In the 1970s, Messner championed the cause for ascending Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen, saying that he would do it "by fair means" or not at all.[13] In 1978, he reached the summit of Everest with Habeler.[14] This was the first time anyone had been that high without supplemental oxygen and Messner and Habeler achieved what certain doctors, specialists, and mountaineers thought impossible. He repeated the feat, without Habeler, from the Tibetan side in 1980, during the monsoon season. This was Everest's first solo summit.
We all know about Hillary's 1953 ascent of Everest however alot of speculation as to whether he wore a Rolex or not. However Reinhold defiantly wore his Exp 2 1655 so unless there were previous attempts before the 70's one could conclude that the 1655 was the first Rolex to be at the top of Everest?!!
This was the inspiration for the build.
So this was one of the first watches I originally bought from a TD way back when.....I think it was From Marv.
Since then. I had since bought and sold a 1655 a few times....I would obsess over it. wear it a while and then lose interest and sell it on.
However a few years ago I started collecting parts again for another one as I came across them. Bezel. hands , dial .
Then a little while ago , digging through my parts bin I found an old homage case set that I had bought for a my 1019 , however that never materialized because the crown and tube were too large.
Nothing is gen spec and everything is slightly off and that is how it ended up in the parts bin in the first place.. This time, I wanted to challenge myself and challenge it was. Every piece of this watch has been modified. case, dial , hands, movement.....all of it. defiantly not your typical Lego build It was like building a car , using components from every different car maker and trying to make it work. in principle it should work but there was a lot of cuss'n
The case was good otherwise, it had a 7mm crown and tube. so I had two options. Press in an aluminum plug and redrill or use JB weld and cement the tube into the case. I chose the latter.
It worked remarkably well. 2 part Jb weld , mix and fill hole in mid case. then I pressed the tube into the case and made sure it was centered and level and let dry. As the jb was drying I started to remove excess jb from inside the tube to make room for the stem. once it was dry it was solid I tested it and it appears to be water tight as well. Thats a bonus.
Before doing that I shaped the crown guards and did the metal work. shaped lugs, drilled out lug holes , minor case shaping .
I went with the Raffles 1655 dial. Based on its markings and cornet, it is modeled after a mk5 dial . however I had to shave down the diameter of the dial as it was a bit too large for the dial seat . it fit but it was a snug fit. so I shaved a few thou off and it fit. marked up the dial a bit around the center hole but no biggie really. its a cheap dial .
Next issue was the rehaut it was cutting off the text and markers. so out came the dremel again and I enlarged the dia of the rehaut to fit. I should have done more finish sanding on the rehaut but because it has been enlarged, slightly changing the angle , it is barely visible so its not a concern at this point. I may go back and go up a few grits to smooth it out.
smooth sailing from there right....nope. The date window didnt line up with the DG date wheel so I had to swap in a DWO (hassle) but after repeated attempts I finally got it to where I was happy with it and it did not interfere with other parts.
A while back I bought a Phong Bezel from the M2M parts. this part surprisingly fit the watch case and crystal with no modding. which is odd because the 25-116 crystal that you would usually use on a cartel case / 1655 / 1675 did not fit this case so I had to take measurements and luckily found one at Perrin that fit the case like glove. the cyclops isnt centered perfectly but its acceptable.
I repainted the orange hand to move of a subdued signal orange color. less day glow.
aged the lume on the dial and hands to match.
After alot of fiddling and tinkering and adjustment after adjustment after adjustment I finally got it together and its pretty sweet. IF I do say so myself. not perfect but good enough for the girls I go with , as they say.....
Sorry no progress build pics....however here is the result .
Overall I am pleased with the results.
I think I will eventually upgrade to a eta 2836 and will swap in a open 6-9 dwo at that time. other than that I am tired of looking at this thing on my bench and am glad it is on my wrist now.
SPECs:
Hommage case set - heavily modified , shaped and tweeked.
6mm raffles crown and tube
Perrin Crystal
Phong Bezel
Raffles Dial - modified and aged lume.
RAffles time Hands aged lume
repainted raffles orange hand. aged lume
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