1655 Explorer II : Ugly duckling or King of cool ?

[369mafia]

Or better…I am landing in Canada t mrw

You can just ship it to my hotel

Cool, where ya staying Toronto or Montreal?

 

[Karbon74]

Cool, where ya staying Toronto or Montreal?

Montreal

 

[369mafia]

Double exposure art piece I made to commemorate Messimer's climb in 1980 of Everest without supplemental oxygen and the 1655 on his wrist. I decided to put it on a shirt and order one for myself. Watch nerdy or what??

Got my 1655 shirt in Green today and it looks great and a good roomy fit!
Source

 

[369mafia]

Do the crown guard area look suspect to you or is it my eyes playing tricks on me??

 

[369mafia]

Also today is a monumental event for both Reinhold and the 1655



1655 T shirt

 

[Karbon74]

Do the crown guard area look suspect to you or is it my eyes playing tricks on me??

The CG look too blocky and the distance of the crown from bezel looks weird

 

[TubeGuy]

Test I just received this 1655 from 1984. It runs 1 sec/day off, the bracelet is still as new and so on. For so little apparent wear and original, the orange hand has a bit of the Albino look. Does anyone know if they can lose color even if not used much?

 

[369mafia]

Test I just received this 1655 from 1984. It runs 1 sec/day off, the bracelet is still as new and so on. For so little apparent wear and original, the orange hand has a bit of the Albino look. Does anyone know if they can lose color even if not used much?

Nice!!

Yes the finish is UV reactive on the orange hand . They have been shown to turn from a faded orange to a pale yellow to completely white

 

[1016 lover]

Test I just received this 1655 from 1984. It runs 1 sec/day off, the bracelet is still as new and so on. For so little apparent wear and original, the orange hand has a bit of the Albino look. Does anyone know if they can lose color even if not used much?

Wow, so beautifull, wath do you used for taking pictures?

 

[TubeGuy]

Thanks for the comments!
The pictures were taken by the seller in The Netherlands. I found it on Chrono24. It's supposed to be 100% original, hence my question: If it was not worn much, how did the orange hand fade? Bracelet is tight, and dated correctly.

 

[369mafia]

Thanks for the comments!
The pictures were taken by the seller in The Netherlands. I found it on Chrono24. It's supposed to be 100% original, hence my question: If it was not worn much, how did the orange hand fade? Bracelet is tight, and dated correctly.

UV exposure in combination with the chemical make up of the paint used on the hand , that plus time and you get a unique color.

 

[TubeGuy]

Right on. I just discovered that the bracelet has a date code of SP1 What the hell?

Sorry if this is hijacking. You guys have the deepest knowledge I've seen.

 

[automatico]

...I just received this 1655 from 1984. It runs 1 sec/day off, the bracelet is still as new and so on. For so little apparent wear and original, the orange hand has a bit of the Albino look. Does anyone know if they can lose color even if not used much?

Hard to beat a low mileage vintage watch!
I would trade an eXmark mower, a weed eater, 10 pounds of Hershey's Special chocolate bars, a black tomcat, and a case of cat food for it.
Plus some $$.

Faded hands...
I have some nos 1655 hands from 20 or 25 years back, always stored in a dark, dry cabinet and the 24H arrow is light orange, about the same as when I got them, far as I can tell. I have seen some 24H hands that were darker orange than my nos hands on used 'sunburned' watches and have also seen some that have turned different shades of yellow. On top of that, I have seen a few 24H hands that were more red than orange.
Do not know the stories on them though...oem, service, aftmkt, or refinished.

Besides 36mm 16xx DJs and 1016 Explorers, the 1655 is also a favorite. I have never owned a genuine 1016 or 1655 but still have a few 16xx DJs. I guess I should have bought a 1016 (or two) and a couple 1655 watches back when they were affordable but just never did.

Btw, the last 1603 D J I bought was May 12, 2015 for $575 with a black dial and original bracelet so anyone can see why I am out of the market.
I am a cheap bast***. Ha!
That's still over twice as much as I paid for the first new 1603 DJ I bought, a looong time ago.
Ended up with a few 5500 AKs, 16xx DJs, some old 'hand crankers' etc. No Explorers.

 

[TubeGuy]

I may have to send this back due to bracelet. Weird. I see no info for SP1. If it's a service replacement, those have regular date codes, right?

 

[369mafia]

I may have to send this back due to bracelet. Weird. I see no info for SP1. If it's a service replacement, those have regular date codes, right?

have you thought to ask the person who sold it to you?
if the bracelet is mint they it probably is a service replacement
unless your seller can confirm this, it may be aftermarket. which to me is not a big deal as long as the watch is legit., but I would ask for a bit of a refund if you were charged for a gen bracelet and got and aftermarket one

 

[TubeGuy]

have you thought to ask the person who sold it to you?
if the bracelet is mint they it probably is a service replacement
unless your seller can confirm this, it may be aftermarket. which to me is not a big deal as long as the watch is legit., but I would ask for a bit of a refund if you were charged for a gen bracelet and got and aftermarket one

I'm messaging him tonight. I paid $22.3k for it, and for that it was supposed to be all original. I like new old stock watches if/when they can be found.

I've searched and searched, and service bracelets do start with an S, but I find nothing about SP1 date code on a bracelet. And how do you quantify that value?

The case looks real good, but I wonder about the edges because they are so sharp. I mean beautiful. The dial and hands look right. But I f*cked up looking close enough.

Can't tell you how much I appreciate the feedback. Better experts here than Timezone.

 

[1016 lover]

Services ce bracelet or clasp from octobre 1991
S is service
P is 1991
10 october

 

[1016 lover]

Sorry
1 january

 

[TubeGuy]

Thanks. Back it goes. I found one that is crazy original, but I don't think I want to spend that much, if anything at all.

Here's something to look at:

1980 1655 all original

EDIT better link from Chrono24 1655 1980

 

[369mafia]

checked out the c24 link and pics.. that one is incredible.

however the dial looks like a mk4 or mk6 to me and not a mk5

The Rolex Explorer II Ref. 1655 : A Complete Guide - Italian Watch Spotter

Dear friends of IWS, welcome back to our magazine!

italianwatchspotter.com

perhaps my eyes are playing tricks.