Must say I agree with the chorus of disapproval over the two-tone Explorer. The bling seems to clash with the no-nonsense simple tool watch ethos. Although the price does as well, to be fair.
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Must say I agree with the chorus of disapproval over the two-tone Explorer. The bling seems to clash with the no-nonsense simple tool watch ethos. Although the price does as well, to be fair.
Probably the reverse as now they both look like a current model rather than being the old model ....
Return to the 36mm is an unexpected move but I think the 36mm is the best size for the Explorer (as I have one ) ... the gold one is awful and is at odds with the whole concept of the watch but then any precious metal tool watch is an oddity IMHO.
I also note they have returned the text EXPLORER back to the the top half of the dial as it had dropped down on the 39mm.
Also odd that the reference number remains 124270 for the new 36mm and the old 39mm; that has to cause confusion somewhere down the line ...
Explorer 36mm and green Palm DateJust are really good. Meh to everything else.
Might it be that 36mm is increasingly in demand because it is a size that can work for both men and women....
There’s a lot of ‘meh’s but personally I think it’s been a pretty strong six months for Rolex between the upgrade to the Sub, the release of the new OP line and bringing back the 36mm Explorer.
People say they are arrogant and don’t listen to the watch community but I’ve heard a lot of people wanting the maxi case on the Sub gone, and they did it. There was a lot of clamour for the return of the 36mm Explorer, and now it’s back. And, they often get criticised for how conservative they are as a brand, but they used the OP line to introduce a variety of colours in a variety of sizes. All strong moves.
I’m not sure what else people expect from them within the context of their brand DNA which is to make high quality watches in trusted, classic designs that have become iconic over decades and decades.
They got it a bit wrong when someone said make the Datejust dial look tropical [emoji23]
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I bought my 214270 39mm Explorer in 2014. The RRP was £4150 and I haggled the price down to £3900
Today you can buy the new black 36mm Explorer for £5150. You can bet it will sell well even with no haggling allowed.
That proves that Rolex have got the marketing strategy right.
Two tone Explorer; they’ll be claiming that the first PM watch up Everest was a Rolex next!
;)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...26b93c1eb8.jpg
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I wonder what the 36mm Explorer ACTUALLY measures. I'm willing to bet its a little bigger than stated.
It's a bloody shambles. Rolex need to do more of what the public want, rather than what they think will work. They have simply ran out of ideas because of their own stupidity IMHO.
36mm Explorer is a stone cold classic.
I'm annoyed I picked up a new 36mm Oyster Perpetual in black in December, umm-d and aah-d over a new OP or a used 14270/114270, and the 126000 was as close as I could get new. Wish I had just waited now....
For me the 36mm Explorer is the pick of the bunch and as said above the updates are what I was waiting for and why I didn’t pick up the old 36. Hopefully I will be able to get one.
I also like the Daytona meteorite but out of my price range.
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Great insight from Hodinkee :D
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1ac13161d7.jpg
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Didn’t Clarkson always say that Porsche designers had the easiest job in the world? The product designer (can’t be more than one) at Rolex must be in with a shout...
Its a deco palm motif.
If it had gs on the dial those who are all over birch spring summer autumn winter blueflake snowflake etc would be singing a different tune.
I think its the most interesting element of this years releases which have otherwise been mind numbingly dull.
I agree with a lot of the comments above the most boring release ever. Not the first being as such, the last releases were also rather 'meh'
Rolex daytona meteorite dial is interesting. I would like to see that in person.
What on earth was the design team thinking on that 'palmjust'
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Just wonder who would buy the new/old explorer 2 at retail price of 6,800 now?
And will the grey dealers who have increased the prices from an under retail to over 10k in the last year now come back down to more sensible levels. Surely nobody will pay over retail for these?
And to think in some parts of the world the doe-eyed would have set their alarms early to be confronted with what amounts to nothing new of note.
So many suckers out there so I’m sure plenty will sell their 1 year old watch and trade up to the new and not improved version for the plaudits from their peers.
:applause:
I quite like this. Pity it is only 36mm.
https://i.postimg.cc/C5cCgLYQ/A9-FDD...3-F0682-B6.jpg
Just playing around with the configurator. Quite like this.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...419a80343c.jpg
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I’m not a Datejust kind of person but if I were, that palm dial would actually quite appeal to me.
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The palm dial is alright, but I really like this ‘faceted’ pattern in blue. I don’t really need another datejust, but could be very tempted in this configuration - with brushed centre links obviously.
Edit - beaten to it above!
https://i.imgur.com/wd6UpnU.jpg
All this outrage for the explorer 2 just makes me want one more. They updated what needed to be updated, better movement, better bracelet, bit of a diet and better process for the hands. And they kept the good points that it already had, steel bezel, great case size, very easy to read.
Some of this backlash makes me think people are upset they won't get a huge markup if they bought one and flipped it in a couple of years.
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Personally I prefer the 39mm size of the Explorer 1, but I can recognise why they did it to create a unisex professional model that'll work for smaller wrists. Amazingly I can appreciate both and don't feel the need to rubbish the one I prefer less, a few in this thread could do with taking the same approach.
I agree with this. Seems many just focus on the negatives.
Palmjust is perfect for weed dealers 😁
The steel 36mm Explorer is the return of the perfect one watch as far as I'm concerned.
I don't work in design but I can imagine that keeping an existing reference the same in a refresh is, far from being the easiest job in the world, perhaps the hardest. The temptation to change and tinker because you could must be overwhelming. If Rolex thought the look of the Explorer II is just fine as it is then credit is due for their designers who must have exercised great discipline.
The two-tone Explorer is divisive here but, as ever, taste is subjective. I'm sure globally there are enough individuals who can afford this watch and find the look fits their style just right. To put it another way, when I think of some of the crowd that hangs out in the VIP section of the F1 Grands Prix - e.g. what are they wearing!? - they might just be wearing the two-tone Explorer. Spurning this market because it's not what Edmund Hillary (sorry, I mean Tenzing Norgay) would have worn is missing the point.