The new edition of the Rolex Replica Explorer II in 2021 in the form of the new reference 226570 was not a real surprise: The last update of the GMT watch, which stands in the long shadow of the Rolex Pepsi but still has many fans (waiting time easily 2 years or more), was 10 years ago. That was at Baselworld 2011 – a long, long time ago.

In 2021, the Rolex Explorer II is also celebrating its 50th birthday. Since Rolex traditionally launches anniversary models (like the Rolex Milgauss), you didn’t need a crystal ball to predict that something “new” would be coming. After all, the upgrade to the new 3200 caliber series was also due (more on that in a moment). Visually, however, there was nothing more than a homeopathically dosed facelift – and I say: good thing!

While the Rolex Explorer I “Mount Everest” watch was launched in 1953, the Rolex Explorer II followed in 1971 as a kind of “big brother”. And the big brother was a real “sportsman” compared to the classic three-hand Explorer I watch: The very first Explorer II with the reference 1655 came with a relatively large diameter of 39 mm for the time, an attached date magnifier, a stainless steel bezel with a 24-hour scale and an orange GMT hand, which earned the model the nickname “Orange Hand” or “Freccione” (from the Italian la freccia = arrow). As with the GMT-Master, the drive was provided by the GMT caliber 1575, introduced in 1965 and derived from the automatic caliber 1530. The price of the Explorer II 1655 at the time: under 1000 D-Marks.

From the Rolex Explorer II 1655 to the 16550

The 16550 brought some visual changes compared to the 1655: Instead of the printed, “offset”, square indices, applied, circular indices were used for the first time. There were also some changes to the set of hands – for example, the Rolex-typical Mercedes hour hand was used. The bezel engravings were also adjusted.

The design of the Explorer II has been adjusted only slightly since 1984 – all in all, the Explorer II 16550 is still very similar to the Explorer II 226570, which was reissued in 2021 as part of the 50th anniversary…

The “new” Rolex Explorer II 226570

Some Rolex fans were full of hope that the new 2021 Rolex Explorer II would be visually closer to the original Explorer II 1655. That would have been almost revolutionary for the watch manufacturer, which is considered conservative… and accordingly did not happen. Whether you like Rolex or not, you have to give the Genevans one thing: the company’s model policy is very stringent – the retro corner is clearly reserved only for the Rolex subsidiary Tudor (see, for example, Tudor Black Bay Bronze).

In particular, the radially brushed stainless steel bezel has been retained. And I say: good thing, because at the end of the day, the steel bezel with 24-hour division has always been the characteristic feature of the Explorer II.

Contrary to what you might expect, the bezel of the Explorer II cannot be rotated. This means that – unlike the GMT-Master II – only one additional time zone can be set.