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Having the privilege of owning both the gen and rep of this watch, this will be my first comparative review for 2012..I know that this comparison has been done to death by previous members but this is my take on the Rolex Explorer II 16570.. The white dial (aka “Polar”) is the gen whilst the black dial is the rep.. Before I start on the comparison, here are some measurements on this timepiece: Case Size: Sports Model: Explorer II Reference: 16570 Movement: Rolex Caliber 3185 Date: Yes Material: 903L grade Stainless Steel Case (mm): 39.5 Thickness (mm): 12.2 Bezel (mm): 39 Crystal (mm): 30.5 Synthetic Sapphire Bracelet Width (mm): 20 Clasp Width (mm): 16.5 Water Resistance: 330ft. / 100m. Note: I am waiting on a digital caliper and will include the measurements of the rep soon. Official Adverts from Rolex: Some background info: The Explorer II (1655 “Orange-Hand) was introduced in 1971 as a supplement to the original Rolex Explorer, and with the current model 165 The Explorer II was designed for cave exploration, or any other sort of extended expeditions and the GMT hand was originally used to give the wearer an indication of day and night. The red “GMT” hand used in conjunction with the 24 hr. markings on the bezel serve this purpose and indicating a second time-zone. My Explorer II was purchased pre-owned from a gen forum in mid-2011, and mine is from the K Series that has drilled through lug holes (in the later Y series production run, Rolex switched to solid lugs without the hole visible from the outside of the lug). This dial is also equipped with Superluminova on its hour markers, which allows for better visibility in the dark. This was my first modern Rolex I purchased and will always be treasured and a keeper in my watchbox. Having owned many other watches (gen & rep) with black dials, the white dial and understated bezel makes this watch an excellent choice to wear casually as well as with a suit. Having the Rolex caliber 3185 within the Explorer II help make the decision to purchase a lot simpler for me. Here’s my complete Explorer family. From Left to Right: Explorer I 39mm 214270, Explorer I 36mm 14270, Explorer II 1655, Explorer II 16570 (White & Black) Base watch (rep) was purchased from Stan (WBK) with a Swiss 2836-2 with modified GMT function. It had the ‘stick dial’ which was never produced for the Explorer II but have been documented for the GMT Master II 16710. Upon receipt of the base watch, I noticed that the GMT hand was slipping so off it went to Spinmaster for service and resetting of the hands. To get a more accurate dial, I PM-ed Angus (PureTime) to help me source the latest rep dial. He had been most helpful in tracking this for me and I am more grateful for that assistance. Spin also helped me fit in the sourced dial and trimmed the Crown Guards to a more accurate look. Total cost of the Rep (as of now): US$350 Cost of the Gen: US$3,350 Let’s start off the review with a frontal shot of the watches: Gen: Rep: Visually it looks ok. Definitely passes the 6inch test (IMO) but on further inspection, date font seems alil thicker and cyclops magnification looks more than 2.5x. Rehaut also looks alright..no wokky-ness here and also no engraving to worry about.. Lumeshot: In Semi-dark room: In Dark room: Gen is on the left, Rep on the right. Both were exposed to the same amount of sunlight (abt 10 seconds) and taken in a semi-dark room. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the lume on the rep dial. Lume on the hands definitely need to be redone. Dial Font: Gen: Rep: Font looks accurate and crisp. Coronot also looks spot-on. Spacing and Font of “Swiss Made”: Gen: Rep: Printing is crisp but font type is different from gen. Minute markers on the rep are also further away from the rehaut as compared to the gen. Hour / Minute Hand: Gen: Rep: Obvious difference in the size of the “Y” on the hour hand and lume width on both hands. GMT Hand: Gen: Rep: Color of the Red GMT hand seems to be the right shade but triangle on the rep hand looks alil smaller than the gen. Stacking of Hands on Gen: Seconds, Minute, GMT, Hand Stacking of Hands on Rep: Seconds, Minute, Hour, GMT Crown / Crown Guard: Gen: Rep: Crown is lower on the rep, due to the thickness of the movement. Rep is running on a Swiss 2836-2 modified GMT movement. Coronet is passable if you are not too fussy. Gen: Rep: Thickness of the rep Crown is an obvious flaw and threading on the tube is definitely better machined on the gen. Luckily both gen crowns/tubes can be quite easily sourced. CGs on the rep has already been trimmed but due to lack of material, it looks more like Pointed CGs rather than the Flat top CGs. This is not so obvious when worn on the wrist. Bezel Marker Font (Used "14" as example): Gen: Rep: Font type again is slightly different. Application of black enamel paint on the gen bezel looks more refined whilst the rep looks crudely painted on. Bezel Marker Placement (Used "12" as example) / Crystal Height & Bevel: Gen: Rep: Placement of bezel marker is slightly closer to the ‘lip’ on the rep. As seen from the pics, this difference is very minute. Height and Bevel looks quite spot-on. Cyclops , Date Wheel (DW): Gen: Rep: Cyclops is inaccurate and is most probably the culprit in the slightly larger magnification. DW on the rep is shifted towards the right whilst the DW on the gen is more centered. As mentioned earlier, date font is slightly thicker on the rep. Caseback: Gen: Rep: ‘Teeth’ on the rep is not as refined as the gen and seems to be slightly thicker than the gen. SEL Fitment / Case Lugs: Gen: Rep: Gen wins hands-down in this department. However this can be easily resolved. Good news is the gen SEL bracelet can be fitted onto the rep. Direction of brushings on the case lugs and SEL bracelet looks more prominent on the gen. Brushing with a green Scrub pad would help out the rep in this aspect. Bracelet & Foldover Clasp: Gen: Rep: Clasp looks visually 100% identical. However, you can see from the next few pics, the side profile that the rep is slightly thicker and longer than the gen. This is also the case when comparing the small foldover clasp. Rep is slightly larger than the gen. Rep on the left, Gen on the right Clasp Inner Stamping - Engraving : Gen: Rep: Gen is 78790A whilst rep is 93250. Stamping is not as crisp on the rep. Laser engraving on the rep is too deep. Final Thoughts: For a tenth of the price of the gen, the rep is definitely a watch that is a must in the watchbox. This model is also understated and not as widely recognizable as the Rolex Submariner. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed publishing this.

Hello RWG ! I take a bit of free time to share with you my current parts waiting another parts to be mount... Too bad, I can't do anything as I have not received my other parts now... Hands set... And a new Phong case-set (the first one was lost 2 months ago, thanks to USPS !) Thanks again to T. and S. that were true gentlemen's to deal with for two of these parts ! Please enjoy the few pics : Cheers ! R.

Hey guys, just recieved this Ladymatic from Josh. Thought I'd share.. The box set is AMAZING! How about this for an Xmas gift..

Contributions by: georgegrasser; wraithride, FxrAndy How it's made luxury watches How it's made leather watchbands How it's made Panerai Part 1 www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=namj9CES-TE Part 2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNcf5o9N3WA&feature=youtube_gdata_player The Fake Trade - documentary www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5zcqgcZfOw&feature=youtube_gdata_player This will take you to Basel World videos, it is the huge annual watch show where the crazy watches are unveiled and info about super exclusive watch brands you have never heard of http://www.youtube.c...l1043l0.2.3l5l0 National Geographic Illicit The Dark Trade Part 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG2Zvr2AS0k&feature=youtube_gdata_player Part 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9xVPagquTg&feature=youtube_gdata_player Part 3: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJBs14CoYF4&feature=youtube_gdata_player Part 4: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIomhsT3cys&feature=youtube_gdata_player Propper watch making Roger Smith basic watch $100k 2 year waiting list http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltJyKCw8XKE&featureyoutube_gdata_player more here http://www.youtube.c.../rwsmithwatches YouTube also has official videos created by watch brands like Rolex and Zenith about how their products are made or tested or premiered. I was going to make a list, but it's so endless and constantly updating, it would be silly to aggregate. What else do you have? - just a few years ago you had to have a dvr, now You Tube has everything, even the nudie video you took of your GF you took in the 80's and thought you erased. Or the super8 - no not that super 8 the one with no sound and a projector

Looking fwd to someone's incoming SD....

BF3 is hands down the better of the two. Awesome games both of them.

Day three with the 360...fallin' in love more and more ;-)

Too bad the hands don't match. I just gave it a fresh service and it's running like a top!

Happy Friday to all Trying out my new UN Maxi-Marine 45 RG. Only trouble, seems the autowind does not work. The rotor moves both directions, but seems kind of jerky. Has to manual wind, even I know one is not supposed to, due to recomendations from the Zigmeister and many more. This 23J asia movement (possibly Seagull) with Secs and date at 6 and working PR at 12, though, has a supersmooth manual wind. I have never felt such smooth wind from any rep, Swiss ETA, Asian ETA or 7750. The closest ones are 21J asia which allways seems much smoother to wind than any 2836, Swiss or Asia for that matter. Here it is:

I'm not certain that a 564/565 is correct for a no-date; my all original '67 165.024 has a 552 inside... 564/565 would be the correct movement if you wanted to build a 166.024 date model, but I believe a 552 would be a more period correct movement for a 165.024...

OldCorvette: From what I've seen, Yuki's case is essentially the same as the old Vietnamese case that's been floating around for a while. The big improvement in Yuki's most recent batch appears to be the bezel insert. The numerals on these used to be an awful shade of pineapple yellow; they're white now. These more expensive cases shouldn't be confused with the more commonly available, ETA-based reps that sell for $200-300. Those are very inaccurate dimensionally, especially when viewed from the side. You'd be wasting your time trying to fit a c.5xx in one. Please see the following threads I of mine: Franken Vintage Seamaster 300 - My build, using a c.552 and a Vietnam case. Vintage SM300: All NOS'd Up - I swap out the Vietnam case for a genuine Omega replacement. A comparison of the VN SM300 and the genuine replacement case. Putting an all-NOS SM300 together used to be a great project for a reasonable amount of cash, before Omega jacked up its parts prices. Now, you may be better off buying a Watchco-assembled unit from eBay (USD 2000, rather than AUD 3000). No-Date builds are a few hundred bucks more expensive, due to the scarcity of dials.

The gen retails under $700. I don't think they will ever rep it. And, yes it is a beautiful watch actually, seen it at AD store the other day.

Thank you Projectologist. Also what I am seeing from your posts is that you own a genuine and the V1 rep. So if you say things like "Slap a ST-36 movement in a V1 and you're good to go" and "Actually the V2 case isn't any more accurate than V1..." - it looks to me like getting less expensive V1 and ST-36 movement for it makes most sense. Which is what I think I will do... THANKS!

The v1 case is more curved....quite noticeably so. The v2 has a squarer more close to gen appearance. Strap also is better with the v2. Also like the case back much more with the v2. Both have pluses and minuses but after great consideration I'm going with the V2. Many pics of the gen under different lighting I presume show a more yellow/orange appearance.

My Daughter is doing great and hoping to compete in her Gymnastics competition on the 15th. I really missed this family....

Thanks Zig, the job was done yesterday, does it change anything? What is the best to do now to minimize the damage?

no comment

I just received my Glashutte Original Senator Sixties in Gold from Robert (PWC), and wanted to share a wrist shot. It is approximately 42mm across, which is larger than the gen's 39mm, but it's quite nice, with a beautiful sunburst dial. It feels quite substantial, at about 2.3 oz. The included replica strap in light brown wasn't that great, with the top layer delaminating at the edges, and the two layers (which sandwich and keep the first keeper stationary) came apart as well. I swapped the strap for another replica strap which I bought, which I think is an improvement, since the gold goes better with a black strap.

Thanks for this post. Before I joined this forum in the summer I almost fell for myswissreplica.com which I see is thankfully down!