1995 Rolex Explorer II Ref. 16570 'Polar'

The first GMT-Master in production ever was the ref. 6542 and was introduced in 1954. But, perhaps one of the most popular vintage Rolex GMT-Master watches is this ref. 1675. Introduced in 1959 and produced till 1980.

 

Although the Explorer II debuted in the 1970s with the Reference 1655 (1971-1984), it wasn't until the 1980s release of the Reference 16550 that Rolex offered a white-dialed 'Polar' version. The Reference 16550 replaced the Caliber 1575 from the previous model with the newer Caliber 3085 and featured a redesigned handset to match the other Professional Series models. The Caliber 3085 allowed the 24-hour hand to be adjusted independently from the hour hand for the first time, making the Explorer II capable of displaying a second time zone rather than just a day/night indication.

 

The Reference 16570 was the natural continuation of the 16550 design, with the same general features: it maintained the 39mm case, elongated GMT hand, 100m water resistance rating, and fixed 24-hour bezel of the previous generation — however, white gold surrounds gave way to black surrounds on 'Polar' variants. Certain later examples of the 16570 did away with lug holes for the bracelet attachment for the first time (a 'no-holes' case), while most of the earlier versions featured the punched case design ('holey' lugs). Punched lugs began to disappear completely from the Rolex catalog around the turn of the 21st century.

 

The earliest 16570s had tritium lume, but by 1998, Rolex had shifted to non-radioactive Luminova.

This tritium Ref. 16570 dates to from 1995, and it’s nicknamed ‘Chi Chi di Mais’ or corn kernals in English because of the creamy patina contrast with the white or ‘Polar’ porcelain dial.

 

This example features a flawless white ‘Polar’ dial, that shows a charming and perfectly matching light tritium patina hour markers and hands.

 

The 40mm stainless steel case remains thick showing sharp bevels and normal marks from use. The case back remains in the same condition.

 

It comes fitted in the original 20mm Rolex Oyster 78360 stainless steel bracelet with 501B end links and clasp date code S12 that shows very little stretch. It fits from a 15,5cm wrist up to a 17,5cm one.

 

The watch is running well and keeping time, although service history is unknown.

 

Macros of the dial and case are available under request.