Air-king vs. Explorer 1 Any ideas?

[Overture]

So, im looking for a Rolex and went to a Rolex shop yesterday to try some. I tried the explorer 1 but it looked very small. The SA said it was 34 mm. But the Rolex website says it's 37. Andrew's website says it's 38mm WTF, does it mean that the rep's dimensions varies by 1mm? Anyone know the truth?

Also, the SA recommended an Air King, with a silver dial. He said airkings are 38 mm. It looked very similiar to the Explorer, except the dial. I much prefer black dials. Anyone know if air-kings come with the black dial?

Also, any other rolex watches you can recommend that don't have a date and have a black dial? I prefer to have a men's watch.

thanks guys!

[freddy333]

Try a no date Sub & do not base anything on the size of reps -- they are rarely made to exact dimensions, regardless of what the seller says.

I do not have the case dimensions for those watches handy right now, but maybe someone else will.

[Overture]

Try a no date Sub & do not base anything on the size of reps -- they are rarely made to exact dimensions, regardless of what the seller says.

I do not have the case dimensions for those watches handy right now, but maybe someone else will.

Hmmm.... thanks for the info. I'm not a big fan of Submariner, even without the date. Also, I heard there are no believable replicas of it. Don't know how true it is.

[chrgod]

Air-King is made with black dial. There are two different dial styles, plain stick markers or the Explorer-style with numerals@3,6,9.

I don't know if the very latest Air-King is bigger in size than the old version?

There is also a non-date Oyster Perpetual, it is also a simple, rather small watch.

Edited March 26, 2008 by chrgod

[stilty]

I don't know if Rolex recently changed case sizes either, but here are the sizes that I am aware of:

Air-King - 34mm

Explorer I - 36mm

Submariner - 40mm

How about the Milgauss? Did they have one in stock? That might be an option.

[Heywood]

The Explorer 1 case is approx 36mm without crown and the Airking is approx 34mm without crown. A bit small if you are used to wearing a 40mm+ dive watch. I used to wear a vintage Seamaster 300, but after time I've gotten used to a Franken-Explorer 1 and wear it every day now.