A watch made for people who can’t see the sun, now worn mostly by people with windows. The orange hand, the “Polar” dial, the wrists that made its name, and what you’re really paying for.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Pieces are pre-owned and sold by independent resellers. Finely Owned is independent and isn’t affiliated with Rolex.
A 42mm case with the big orange hand, which points to a modern reference, the 216570 or the 226570. The listing doesn’t state the reference, so ask the seller for it and the serial. Listed as pre-loved, sold by Rebag through Amazon Luxury Stores.
Collector’s note: pre-owned. Offered by Rebag, an independent reseller. Authenticated by the seller. Returns follow Amazon Luxury policy. Listings change, and price and availability are set by the seller on Amazon. Ask the seller for the serial and papers before you buy. Finely Owned is independent and isn’t affiliated with Rolex. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The appraisal
He’s sitting by the window with his coffee, and his sleeve has ridden up just enough. A trained eye goes to the watch before it goes to the man.
It’s steel, plain steel, and a little bigger than it needs to be for a Tuesday. The dial is white, the hands are black, and one extra hand, a slim orange arrow, is pointing at a number on the bezel that nobody at this table needs. That bezel doesn’t turn. It’s engraved from one to twenty-four, which tells you the watch was built to answer a question most of us never ask: is it day or night?
Then the smaller things. The bracelet is brushed, not polished, and the wear on it is even, so it’s worn every day and not saved for occasions. The case edges are still crisp, so nobody has buffed away its history. The orange hand sits a few hours off from the hour hand, which means he keeps a second city on his wrist, maybe where the family is, maybe where the work is.
What does it say about him? That he likes things that do a job. That he’d rather be recognized by the three people in the room who know watches than by everyone else. And that he bought a tool for an expedition he’ll probably never take, knowing exactly how good it is anyway.
Where it came from
1971: a watch for the dark
The original Explorer arrived in 1953, the year of the first ascent of Everest. Eighteen years later, in 1971, Rolex added a second one. In its own history, Rolex says the Explorer II was made for polar explorers, speleologists (people who explore and study caves), and “all those pushing the boundaries of exploration,” with a 24-hour hand that helps “around the poles and beneath ground when you can’t tell night from day.”
That’s the whole idea. Spend days underground, or weeks under a sun that never sets, and your body loses the thread. A normal watch tells you it’s 7 o’clock. It doesn’t tell you which 7. The Explorer II’s orange hand goes round once a day against a fixed 24-hour bezel, so a glance answers it. Rolex also gave it a date window, because when you’ve lost track of the hours you lose track of the days, too. Rolex calls the orange hand “Ariadne’s thread,” after the thread that led Theseus out of the labyrinth in the Greek myth.
The cave story: real, but mostly marketing
The cave connection is real in the sense that Rolex designed and pitched the watch that way, and still does. Wikipedia, Hodinkee and Revolution all describe the first model as a watch for cavers. What’s harder to find is evidence that cavers actually bought it in numbers. They didn’t, as far as we can tell. The ref. 1655 sold slowly. Collector sources describe a lukewarm reception, a dial people found busy, an audience that was tiny, and watches that sat unsold on shop shelves until production ended in the mid-1980s. One collector guide puts it plainly: the caving purpose was “the intended purpose (or at least marketing position).” So the honest version is this: the cave was the brief and the brochure. It was never a mass movement of speleologists.
The most documented early wearer was in fact a caver: the French volcanologist Haroun Tazieff, who trained as a mining engineer and speleologist before he spent his life on the rims of volcanoes. More on him below.
The references and their nicknames
- Ref. 1655 (1971 to the mid-1980s). Black dial, steel case, a big orange arrow for a 24-hour hand. That hand moved in step with the hour hand and couldn’t be set on its own, so it was a day-and-night indicator, not a second time zone. Italian collectors call it the “Freccione,” the big arrow. It’s also widely called the “Steve McQueen,” which is a misnomer: there are no known photographs of McQueen wearing one. The Rolex he’s photographed in is a Submariner. The name stuck anyway, and now it’s part of the watch’s story.
- Ref. 16550 (mid-1980s). The 24-hour hand became independently adjustable, which turned the Explorer II into a true two-time-zone watch, and a white dial joined the black. Collectors call the white version the “Polar.” That’s collector shorthand, not a Rolex name.
- Ref. 16570 (1989 to 2010). The long-running one, and the reference most pre-owned buyers meet first. Over two decades its luminous material, dial text and case details changed several times, which matters when you buy (see the guide below).
- Ref. 216570 (2011). For the model’s 40th anniversary, Rolex enlarged the case to 42mm and brought back the big orange hand, which had been dropped in the meantime.
- Ref. 226570 (2021). For the 50th anniversary, the current model kept the 42mm steel case and the steel bezel, and took the calibre 3285 it shares with the GMT-Master II, with a power reserve of about 70 hours. Hodinkee noted at launch that the bezel stayed brushed steel rather than ceramic, and called that “a good thing.”
A 40mm case points to the long-running 16570. The listing doesn’t state the reference, so ask the seller for it and the serial before you buy. Listed as pre-loved, sold by Rebag through Amazon Luxury Stores.
Collector’s note: pre-owned. Offered by Rebag, an independent reseller. Authenticated by the seller. Returns follow Amazon Luxury policy. Listings change, and price and availability are set by the seller on Amazon. Ask the seller for the serial and papers before you buy. Finely Owned is independent and isn’t affiliated with Rolex. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Famous wrists and moments
A volcano, 1972
Haroun Tazieff wore his Explorer II over the sleeve of his thermal suit, into the heat and sulphur of active eruptions. In 1972 he wrote to Rolex that his watch had “just passed, with flying colours, its first – and extremely demanding – volcanic test, in very aggressive gases on Mount Etna. It worked perfectly, which was not the case for the watches of my teammates.” Rolex still tells that story on its own pages, and it’s the best-documented field test the model has.
A helicopter pilot
Prince Harry was photographed wearing a white-dial Explorer II, the 42mm ref. 216570, at RAF Honington in February 2012 (a Getty Images photo), and watch press reports he wore it through his Army service, including his deployment to Afghanistan as an Apache co-pilot gunner. Some writers have wondered whether his was one of the numbered Explorer IIs later made for the UK Attack Helicopter Force. Nobody has confirmed that, so treat it as speculation.
A skyscraper, 2026
When Alex Honnold free-soloed Taipei 101 on January 25, 2026, streamed live on Netflix, people noticed the black-dial Explorer II on his wrist. Here’s the honest detail: he didn’t climb in it. Reports from the day say his wrists were bare on the building, as you’d expect, and the watch appeared afterwards at press events. Watches of Espionage notes that he wears a black-dial Explorer II, likely the current reference, in public appearances, and that he hosts a podcast made in partnership with Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, though he isn’t listed as a Rolex Testimonee. (Wikipedia currently says he wore it while climbing. The reporting we found says otherwise.)
What owners say
These are owners’ own accounts, paraphrased in our words. They’re one person’s experience each, not facts about every watch.
The traveler who chose the Polar. A collector on r/rolex wrote in July 2024 that they’d originally wanted a GMT-Master II and chose a white-dial Explorer II instead, and after a year and a half they’d loved it. They worried at first that the flat white dial and matte black hands would feel too much like a tool, and it didn’t. They called it the most legible watch they’ve owned, said the lume was excellent, and said the orange hand is honestly as much about looks as about the second time zone. On a 7.25-inch wrist it fit well, the quick-extension link made it easy in hot, humid weather, and they wear it with slacks and a button-down, and even with a suit.
The one that felt heavy. On the Rolex Forums, a collector described in July 2025 owning a white-dial 42mm since 2023, calling it a dream watch, and still struggling to wear it for more than a day. Coming from a 36mm Explorer, it felt heavy and slid around their wrist, even worn snug, though they loved how it looked. The replies are the useful part. Several longtime owners said theirs is one of the most comfortable watches they own, one pointed out that it’s a noticeably heavier watch than the 36mm Explorer, and others suggested a half-link on the six o’clock side and resizing the bracelet with the extension closed. The takeaway: try one on, and get the fit right before you judge it.
The ding magnet. In an April 2023 r/rolex thread, a new owner of the current model who’d previously owned a 16570 warned that the brushed steel bezel picks up dings easily. In the same thread, another collector said their previous-generation white-dial is their everyday “beater,” and called it the last true tool watch Rolex makes. Both are the same truth seen from two sides: this watch is meant to be worn, and it shows it.
The buying guide
What holds value
- The story and the job. The Explorer II was built for a purpose, and it still looks like it. Watches with a real reason to exist tend to age better than ones designed only to be noticed.
- Steel sports-watch pedigree. It shares the Oyster case architecture of Rolex’s professional models, and the current model shares its calibre with the GMT-Master II.
- The vintage exception. The ref. 1655 has a collector following of its own, nicknames and all. With vintage pieces, originality and condition drive the price. Modern Explorer IIs are watches to wear, priced by condition, completeness and the market. “Holds its value” describes the model’s standing, not a promise about any one watch.
Box and papers
Box, warranty card and service records all help, and they help most when they match the watch. Ask for photos of the reference and serial numbers and check them against the papers. An independent resale doesn’t carry Rolex’s own guarantee, so read the listing’s warranty field. Rolex’s Certified Pre-Owned program is a separate thing.
Service
Current models are rated as Superlative Chronometers, tested to −2/+2 seconds a day after casing, with about 70 hours of power reserve on the 226570. Ask when the watch was last serviced and by whom, and keep the paperwork. Don’t size, service or alter it until you’ve decided to keep it, so you stay inside the 30-day return window.
What to check
- Sold by. Name the reseller and read how it authenticates. In Amazon Luxury, pre-owned watches come from independent resellers in its program, such as What Goes Around Comes Around.
- Reference against title. Is it a 16570, a 216570 or a 226570, white or black? The description should agree with the reference, and the case size should match (the 42mm models are the 216570 and 226570; earlier ones are smaller).
- The orange hand. On models with the independent hour hand, make sure it sets smoothly and the date changes cleanly.
- The bezel and case edges. The bezel is steel, not ceramic, so it shows scratches (see the “ding magnet” above). Crisp case edges suggest little polishing.
- Mixed details on a 16570. Lume went from tritium to LumiNova to Super-LumiNova, the dial text changed to match, later cases dropped the drilled lug holes, and from the mid-2000s the inner ring around the dial was engraved “ROLEX.” A listing that mixes these details deserves a question.
- Fit. It’s a 42mm watch on most current listings, and owners disagree about how it wears. If you can, try one on first.
Current pieces
The 42mm case and the big orange hand point to one of the modern references, the 216570 or the 226570. Listed as pre-loved, condition “Very Good,” sold by Rebag through Amazon Luxury Stores. The listing doesn’t state the reference, so ask the seller for it and the serial before you buy.
A 40mm case points to the long-running 16570, the reference most pre-owned buyers meet first. Listed as pre-loved, condition “Very Good,” sold by Rebag through Amazon Luxury Stores. The listing doesn’t state the reference, so ask the seller for it and the serial before you buy.
Collector’s note: pre-owned. Offered by Rebag, an independent reseller. Authenticated by the seller. Returns follow Amazon Luxury policy. Listings change, and price and availability are set by the seller on Amazon. Finely Owned is independent and isn’t affiliated with Rolex. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Why it costs what it does
You’re paying for a hand that was drawn for a cave, a steel bezel that refuses to be precious, and fifty-odd years of people who wore it where watches go to die. Most owners never need to know whether it’s 2 a.m. or 2 p.m. They wear it anyway, and that’s the most honest compliment a tool can be paid.
More appraisals: The Watches Worth Knowing: Stories Behind the Dials.
Sources
- Rolex, History 1971–1992
- Rolex, Explorer II
- Rolex, “Explorer: a real-world laboratory”
- Rolex, Explorer II, “Exploration to the ends of the Earth” (Haroun Tazieff)
- Rolex, Explorer II m226570-0001
- Wikipedia, Rolex Explorer II
- Hodinkee, “Introducing The New Rolex Explorer II Ref. 226570” (Apr 7, 2021)
- Revolution, “Tooled Up: The Rolex Explorer II Reference 1655”
- Revolution, “Steve McQueen: The Watches”
- Monochrome, “The History of the Rolex Explorer II”
- Chrono24 Magazine, Rolex Explorer II Buyer’s Guide
- Beyond the Dial, Explorer II collector guide
- FLOAT, Ref. 1655 “Freccione”
- Getty Images, Prince Harry at RAF Honington, Feb 10, 2012
- Tatler Asia, watches spotted on Prince Harry
- Watches of Espionage, Prince Harry
- Watches of Espionage, Alex Honnold
- ELLE Taiwan, Alex Honnold and Taipei 101 (Jan 27, 2026)
- Owner accounts: r/rolex, “226570 Wearability”; Rolex Forums, “226570 – thinking about giving up”; r/rolex, 226570 owner thread
This guide earns a commission on qualifying purchases made through its links, at no cost to you. The pieces featured are pre-owned and are sold and authenticated by independent resellers, such as What Goes Around Comes Around, through Amazon Luxury Stores. Finely Owned is independent and isn’t affiliated with Rolex. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to describe the piece. Full disclosure.
[…] More appraisals: The Watches Worth Knowing: Stories Behind the Dials, including Why the Rolex Explorer II Costs What It Does. […]
[…] More appraisals: The Watches Worth Knowing: Stories Behind the Dials, including Why the Rolex Explorer II Costs What It Does. […]
[…] More appraisals: The Watches Worth Knowing: Stories Behind the Dials, including Why the Rolex Explorer II Costs What It Does. […]
[…] More appraisals: The Watches Worth Knowing: Stories Behind the Dials, including Why the Rolex Explorer II Costs What It Does. […]