Hands-on Reviews, Rolex

Rolex Explorer II 16570 – perfect first luxury watch to start your collection with


Some thoughts on this extremely understated Rolex sports watch and why is it worth getting one as your first luxury watch.

Let me introduce to you one of my favourite Rolex sports watches in the entire range – Rolex Explorer II 16570. I love this watch, due to quite a few reasons I will discuss further in this post. The one featured today is example dated back to 2007 in lovely condition for its age.


My first rule, which is my navigation point I tend to always follow is – NOT to buy new watches (there are few exceptions of this rule, which will be discussed in another post). The reason is quite simple and straightforward. Buying new, makes you lose 30-50% value of the watch you buy. Even though, you get a nice discount from your local AD, you are still loser. Initially, you may not notice that, but everything is verified when it comes to selling your watch to a pre-owned watch dealer or online, by using popular auction websites. Buying second-hand is great, because by using right tools (websites) and doing your homework before your each purchase, can turn you into some sort of ‘stock trader’. You are not guaranteed to make money on every single watch bought used, however you can either lose less than buying new or you can get your money back and go for another purchase.


Buying Rolex means saving. Initially it may not sound true, because these watches don’t come cheap, however they are fairly easy and inexpensive in terms of maintenance. Your average fully-trained watchmaker can conduct the full service of the Rolex’s movement in affordable price. Spare parts like glass, dials, bracelets can be found online, so there is no point of servicing it in official Rolex service centre, which can take up to 8 weeks and cost you a fortune. 

I decided to go for the Rolex Explorer II 16570, simply because of what you get for your money…and it looks just awesome. I have always liked the GMT function in watches, as it gives the watch this nice twist of this additional complication, which you can talk about to your curious friends during a party or dinner. If you were to buy GMT-Master II 16750 with the very same function + rotating bezel, you would need to spend at least £6,500. The price of the Rolex Explorer II 16570 starts from £3,600, depending on the presence of box & papers and of course, its condition. 


For unknown reason, Rolex Explorer 16570 has always been the odd one between Rolex Submariner 16610 and Rolex GMT-Master II 16750. In my opinion, it’s a perfect hybrid, combining beauty of two worlds together. You get a nice sporty appearance of the Submariner 16610 and complication from GMT-Master II 16750. If I were to choose between Submariner 16610 and Explorer II 16570, I would go for the second option. Rolex is a brand with mass-produced products and in this crazy game it’s nice to have something a little bit less obvious and more sophisticated than Submariner 16610.


The last key point is its white ‘polar’ dial, changing so much in general appearance of this watch and making it ‘boredom-resistant’.

error: