Seadweller4000

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time 'TS Eliot After the Submariner, the Explorer is one of the most easily recognizable of all Rolex watches. With its black dial, large luminous triangle marker at 12, and luminous arabic numerals for the other quarters, it is the perfect mixture of a sport and a dress watch. It seems to have been around as long as there have been Rolexes, but that is not exactly true. The generally accepted origin of the Explorer is that it was first designed and made in honor of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. They were the first to reach the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953, and did so wearing Rolex wristwatches. Robustness, temperature deviation, water ressistance and mechanical load - I couldn’t think of a better (and probably harder) way to prove the abilities of a watch. That has not been a coincident by any chance, but a very clever marketing trick: it is worth noting that the name "Explorer" was registered in Geneva on the January 26, 1953, obviously before the conquest of the world's highest mountain. Since that Event, the Explorer has been patiently developed and in the early 1970s a larger model appeared: the 1655 Explorer II. It is essentially a GMT-Master with a fixed bezel. Using the same calibre 1575 movement as a GMT- Master, it also had a fourth hand which rotated once every 24 hours, however on the Explorer II the hour was read from this from a fixed, engraved 24 hour steel bezel. The watch was introduced as being especially useful for the speleologist ( or cave explorer), who, Rolex claimed "soon loses all notion of time: morning, afternoon, day, or night. " For these intrepid souls Rolex developed the watch which would tell them whether the "2" on the dial was 2:00 a.m. or 2 :00 p-m. (14:00 h). This may well be true, and perhaps cave dwellers are more susceptible to losing track of time than others. Check out By-Tor’s cool review of it, here. With it’s date display and a second timezone, it got a litte away from the basicness of the older brother, that stayed what it was supposed to be: a robust three hands watch. Genuine Technical Data: Reference: 14270 Caliber: 3000 Movement: Selfwinding mechanical Powerreserve: min. 42h Vibration: 28.800bph Jewel: 27 jewels Calendar: none Case: Steel Crown: screw-locked, 2 gaskets Caseback: Screwed in Crystal: sapphire Diameter: 35.5mm Thickness: 11.4mm Weight: 105g Water-resistance: 100m The Replica The case. The relatively simple three piece case (bezel, band, and back) is clearly strong and rigid. (Rigidity is an important issue in maintaining water-resistance in use that involves impact that can distort the alignment of the case.) While the bezel and band sides (which are integral with the strap lugs) are polished, the upper horizontal surface of band and lugs is brushed. Actually, the gen’s finish of the brushed parts is NOT superior to the finish of the replica, as you can see in the picture below: The polished sides of the case, however, are an unusual, peculiarly appealing double-horn shape characteristic of many Rolexes, and are polished to a shine close to white gold. The replica for comparison here has been worn frequently, so there are desk-diving scratches. However, as you can see, the polished sides are of an almost equal quality to the genuine ones. The uncoated sapphire crystal, as can be seen, is set largely outside the bezel on the 14270. You got to be careful for it is actually not protected by the bezel anymore and you could bust out a piece of the crystal easily by knocking against a hard object. In my opinion, the flat sapphire is reflecting so strong, it causes difficulties in easily reading the time on genuine and replica from certain angles. Last mentioned has it’s first “weak” point here: it’s crystal sits high – but not as high as the genuine’s. Also for the 14270, there shouldn’t be a laser-etched coronet at six o’ clock. When I received the replica, I thought that the internal surfaces and backs of the lugs are quite poor finished way worse than the visible top and side surfaces: even with the bracelet in place, the inside lower lug edges and tips are pretty sharp. Then I found out about the gen. Check it out: The completely undecorated back is made like in common Rolex-style with the famous serrated wrench ring. You can open it with any Rolex-style case-opener, but a Bergeon will be best as a watchmaster assured me (#5, 29.5 mm). In his opinion, the Rolex system is perhaps the finest screwed back design in available. Unlike other designs – with holes, slots, or hexagonal protrusions - it allows removal / reattachment of backs without the slightest visible mark left on the watch. Another point where the replica is equal to the gen. Dial and hands. The Explorer I has got a black, powder-coated glossy dial with an outer ring of second-indexes. Did you know that it is 1.15mm larger than a modern seadweller-dial? The hour-markers are made of white gold just like any modern Rolex sportsmodel has them. The dial and hands are detailed, extremely well made, and immaculately finished. I was told by the AD that, together, they represent a significant portion of the manufacturing costs of this watch. I don’t know how expensive this little amount of white gold can be, but I am sure it won’t be more expensive for Rolex to produce, than for the rep-makers. The hands look good, imo. Unfortunately, there are some quality differences between rep and gen, the font looks a bit crisper and it appears bolder. Not that much you could notice if not comparing side by side: The dial is AWESOME. I really can’t think of an other dial so close to the genuine. Note that the imitated model, a 14270, with the space between “swiss made” measuring about 1mm below the six, has had tritium markers. The current 114270 has got Superluminova. However, these two references are so close to each other, that you could easily superlume it with C1 mixed with just a little bit of C3 without getting called out, believe me. The rehaut. It is not very deep on the genuine, and it is not at the rep. Not an issue here as it is with modern Subs. The crown. It is pretty airy. The line under the coronet tells us that it is a twinlock, which is also used for several Datejusts or Day-Dates. It has two gaskets that will keep the watch water-resistant. In contrast to the big brother, Explorer II, it is not protected by crownguards. Unfortunately, the replica’s crown is not as close to the gen as the rest of the watch – again, it is hard to notice. It screws in and out very smooth. The genuine Explorer’s Oysterbracelet consists of 12 links, two of them can be removed to fit smaller wrists (such as mine). The replica’s bracelet however can be adjusted by three parts. Both are connected with screws that make adjusting pretty easy (just like on any other Oyster). The replica imitates the bracelet of the modern 114270, as it has a brushed surface, but polished sides. However, it doesn’t have solid end-links, like the gen. The older 14270, which the rest of the rep is closer to, has hollow end-links like this: The modern bracelet suits the whole watch a lot better than the old one if you ask me. The conection to the case is on all versions, no matter if gen or rep, pretty bad. It looks wrong and cheap, for the bracelet is not attached to the bezel in a clean way. The clasp is a little shorter than the one of a Submariner, because it does not have to hide a diver-extension. It comes with a flip-lock which prevents an unintentional opening. You can also adjust it by small pins. All marks are stamped, and they are stamped pretty well on the replica. It differs visually a little between gen and rep. Conclusion. If there is a Rolex with at least some sort of understatement, it will certainly be the Explorer I. The classic, black glossy dial is timeless and there is no disturbing datemag. The replica is powered by a swiss ETA 2836, which is pretty damn reliable and could be fixed by every watchmaker around the planet. It has the same beatrate as the genuine movement, 28.800bph and there is no date trouble. If I don’t regard the unworthy endlinks (which are the same on the genuine as well), I have to say that this replica is very well constructed and more than worth a 150 bucks. Compared to the $4k+ you gotta pay for the gen, this is an awesome deal – truly a “superrep”, if you ask me! It is the perfect daily beater, if you don’t mind it’s rather small size. As Rolex has let this model almost unaltered since its first release, I am quite sure that the mixture out of 14270 and 114270 won’t be noticed by even experienced watch collectors. I pressure tested mine and it took 5 bar without any modification (I do not guarantee for others though). You can wear an Explorer I perfectly to jeans, as well as to a suit. But honestly, it fits just BEST my girlfriend. I simply cannot tell how good it looks on her. After my 1665 GW review got a little too much into history of this great watch, I have tried to keep that part more briefly – I apologize to all interested. I hope you like it anyway. Thanks for reading!

Same old, same old...

I've heard that the weakest point on the replica is the clasp, which is pretty uncomfortable...

AFAIK, all 1665 were produced with tritium. It yellows and looses luminosity when aging. The red lettered dials should be about 5-10 years older than the white lettered - therefore the repmakers made them more yellow (my guess). However, I have seen pictures of genuines which weren't yellowed at all... (Maybe they were stored in a safe all the time, who knows?)

Wouldn't go for a gen SOSF, the rep is too good. I'd go for a Sinn U1 or if possible for a U2! Just can't beat the value...

Omega-day for me:

Thanks everyone for your kind words! Updated with some info regarding the datefont which changed to wrong ETA-font on later models. Cheers.

Congrats on a great watch - and of course on graduation! Btw, what are you going to study?

Dunno, but I just got the genuine dial today. Now I'll only need case and hands for it...

Would be very interested, too. (Ingenieur and Omega SMP chrono crystals)

I just love the Black Magic, would definately buy it if the quality is equal to the SS HBB.

60

Ingy today Cheers!

You can't tell from just comparing two pics. Those pictures show watches from different angles and distances. I think the font is pretty close, actually. (Still saying that this one is too expensive...)

Thank you all for your kind words, it wasfun doin' it and very informative. In fact, I had collected so much information that I forgot half of it - but I think it carries enough information, already... Don't wanna bore you guys. Updated with some info regarding the "Polex" and some beautiful pictures from TTK he allowed me to use. Cheers.

A review of one of the most famous toolwatches ever. Being a symbol for all: reliability, road capability, utility value and even increasing the last, it started out of a true functional idea. We need to start a little earlier. 1927. Canberra becomes Australia

Classy. I am thinking about purchasing a gen... One of my favourite watches.

http://cgi.ebay.de/Panerai-Luminor-Submers...1QQcmdZViewItem I really can't tell...

Great review, interesting read und nice pictures! Thank you very much for putting this up! Cheers!

Wow, thats really generous! BTW thanks for that Omegamania-link! This community is awesome.

Everything working fine here.

Slightly... maybe a bit more than that. Posing like John Wayne. But hey! Don't worry, no one has anything to fear from law abiding citizens who own or carry guns, plain and simple...

Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?

Indeed. And I am glad about that.