This watch has been reviewed by many different people over the years, and my favorite review was done by James Stacey for HODINKEE. If you have not seen it, I suggest you take a look. They have all done a great job covering the watch’s technical details, and I will not do so here. I would rather do a quick story on what it is like to wear the watch and some of the things I like and do not like about it.
This is a watch I have wanted to buy and wear for many years but never had the chance. It was difficult for me to see one in person while they were still in production, and it has been even harder for me to see once they were discontinued. Again, until recently, I lived in a very rural area, and there were not many watch stores for me to visit. However, I had the chance to trade a couple watches for one, and for the past few months, I have worn it nearly every day.
I want to say upfront that I did not receive any support from Rolex when it came to acquiring this watch, nor did I receive any support from any other dealer, retailer, re-seller, or sponsor. I acquired it by trading two watches I had purchased outright with my money.
This watch was manufactured in 2017 and is the Mark II variant with longer hands that properly fit the dial and the luminous numerals. It came with its box and papers and had been recently serviced and cleaned. When I received it, it was running +2 seconds a day. After a month or so, it started to speed up, and it now runs at +4 seconds a day, no matter what position I leave it in at night or what I do with it during the day. Somedays, I take it running, others hiking, and during others, it sits with me while I do school work. There have been no variations in its timekeeping; it still runs at precisely +4 seconds a day.
The day I got the watch, it was hot and very dry, in the mid-nineties Fahrenheit with less than ten percent relative humidity, and I took it hiking to get a feel for it. I sized the bracelet so it would be a little loose and decided that popping the Easylink would also be a good idea. At home, in the relatively cool air, it felt pretty good on its bracelet, but I knew this could change once outside, especially when my wrists were swollen and sweaty.
The 39mm size is nearly perfect, and I wish they had not discontinued this size. I will not wade into the debate about the correct size for a watch, but this watch feels very good on my wrist, probably the best any watch has felt on my wrist. It is not too thick, at just over 11mm, and sits nicely on the wrist. One issue I have had over the years with watches is the watch head itself flopping around on my wrist when it gets wet, but I rarely have this problem with the Explorer. It makes wearing it in the heat comfortable enough.
On the first hike, I did not mind the bracelet, but as time passed, I found it was not comfortable enough for me to want to continually wear, especially if I was running at certain points during a hike or using my arms a lot. As with many bracelets, it is difficult to get a good fit, and this reduces the wearing enjoyment. Too tight, and it doesn’t move around, but then it is harder for me to move my hand around, like when I have to climb over large rocks. Too loose, and it is comfortable, but then it slides around all the time, and I constantly have to move it to sit correctly on my wrist. This problem was solved by using one of Erica’s Original MN straps, an Everest rubber strap, and the Rolex Oysterflex strap I somehow acquired.
Of the three, I like the Oysterflex the best. However, as I am now in a large metropolitan area, my chances to take it hiking while wearing the Oysterflex have been nonexistent. When I wear it running, it is very comfortable and does not move around much, even when I am sweating heavily (it is very humid here) or it is raining. I also find that the Oysterflex does not move around on my wrist when doing pullups or pushups, nor does it ever become too tight and uncomfortable. I wear it with the Easylink secured in the middle of the three adjustment areas and the extension open at all times. I think the ridges on the inside of the strap play a large part in it being able to move with my body, and they allow my wrist to expand and contract comfortably without me needing to adjust the clasp. It is too bad Rolex does not sell these on any of their stainless steel professional models; it is too bad we can’t buy the Oysterflex unless we own a watch that comes with one from the factory. Selling them to all Rolex owners could really help people find a comfortable strap alternative to the bracelet and still keep all their parts OEM Rolex parts. Also, I believe the Oysterflex is more comfortable than the Everest rubber strap, just in case you were wondering.
Reading the time is easy, as it should be. The Explorer is known for its ease of use, and this does not come as a surprise. I can’t say I have ever struggled to see what time it is, and even when it is dirty, or I am in a cave or mine shaft, it is still easy to read.
The lume is excellent. It lights up with even the faintest exposure to light and lasts through the entire night with no issues. I never have a problem reading the time when I wake up at 4am. Compared to my OP 36mm, I prefer the hands on the Explorer, especially the Mercedes hour hand and the second hand with the lume on it. It is nice to be able to track the seconds in the dark.
The shock resistance of the movement was something I was not planning on testing, but it was something that happened nonetheless. There have been multiple times the watch has been dropped and hit. Before I go any further, I want to say all these drops and hits came AFTER it shifted from keeping +2 seconds a day to +4 seconds a day. The first big shock came when I walked up a steep hillside, lost my footing in the soft soil, and fell backward. I hit the watch on a few things when I fell, but a big rock was the last thing it hit before I came to a stop. I thought it was broken after a hit like that, but it was running fine when I looked at it. I reset the time when I got home to see if it had suffered any damage to its accuracy, and after a week of tracking it, the watch was still +4 seconds every day.
The second hit came when I was moving some rocks at my range. I was mindlessly setting a large rock I had moved out of the road down and slammed my watch into another rock sitting on the ground next to where I was placing the rock. The impact was enough to rip my gloves and push the plastic knuckle protectors out of their pouch. Besides a small dent in the bezel, the watch was fine, and it kept time to +4 seconds a day.
The third happened when the watch got stuck on a strap on my backpack while I was removing the pack. Somehow, the force of pulling the bag off was enough to pop the clasp open and wrench the watch off my wrist. It landed on the small rocks and debris that made up the waste pile from the mine I was going to explore from about four feet up. Again, the watch suffered some scratches, but it still kept time to +4 seconds a day.
The fourth happened while four-wheeling. I was on top of a ridge on a very windy day. The four-wheeler I was in has a fully enclosed cabin, and the doors are plastic and metal with a small hinge that keeps them in place. I must not have closed the door completely because as I was standing alongside the vehicle, the door blew open and slammed directly into my watch. No issues again, although I thought for sure this would have done it in.
And the last came when I was cleaning my watch recently. I washed it with warm water after a very sweaty and humid day. I had been stuck in a suit all day, and I had not stopped sweating once, and the watch felt dirty and gross. I placed it in a towel on the counter and walked away to get something. My partner grabbed the towel, thinking it was empty and that I had left it sitting on the counter because I was lazy. She did not know the watch was in there, and it went flying across the kitchen and landed on the tiled floor. After crying for a few minutes out of fear for the watch, I picked it up and saw it was still running. I set the time, and it runs perfectly at exactly +4 seconds a day. Perhaps the damage has not set in completely yet, and it will stop running soon, but for now, it is working perfectly.
While this watch was intended to climb mountains, I received it at a time when my mountain climbing days were coming to an end, at least for a while. I thought it made a better statement as I wore it into the unknown (for me, at least) world of big-city living, corporate jobs, and in-person school. This is much more of an exploration for me to undertake than climbing a mountain, and I was, and still am, more nervous trying to live in this world than I ever was back home.
Exploring is about going into the unknown and pushing oneself to do something one did not know one could do or never thought was possible. And perhaps this is the perfect use for this Explorer. It can be a companion for every journey in life, not just the extreme expeditions of Edmond Hillary or Mike Horn. There are highways of people climbing Everest now (see Nirmal Purja’s picture if you do not believe me) and thousands upon thousands of people moving to the mountains to become adventurers. But exploring does not just mean going into the wilderness seeking to tackle nature; it can also mean living in places that make us uncomfortable or that do not represent one’s political beliefs or views of life. It may just be a watch. But it is an excellent companion to have while exploring all of life’s experiences.
EscapementSV 