...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...
Rolex Explorer
39MM Reference 214270
Rolex brought the Explorer model to life in 1953 as an homage to the achievements of Tenzing Norway and Sir Edmund Hillary's conquest of Mount Everest with Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches on their wrists. On the 90th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster, At BaselWorld, Rolex quietly updated their classic 39MM Rolex Explorer by adding new hands that are longer and wider than the previous generation, in order to give it better proportions overall. This was long overdue as the 39MM version introduced in 2010 met much criticism for having hands that were too short and skinny.
2016 Rolex Explorer pictured above with longer and wider hands
Rolex also significantly updated the dial lume pattern by adding lume to the 3, 6, and 9 indices, as seen below. They also feature the Rolex Chromolite lume in blue which has a strong lume glow pattern. This was a brilliant design improvement by Rolex.
2016 Rolex Explorer pictured above with longer and wider hands
The Rolex Explorer pictured below is the outgoing model, and if you look closely you will notice the 3, 6, and 9 markers are raised, polished indices that lack lume, also you will notice the hands are short and too skinny for the watch.
When Rolex introduced the Day-Date II, Datejust II and 39MM Explorer, they made some scaling mistakes, where they overlooked the scaling of some elements. In this case, the hands. 100% of these scaling issues have now be rectified!!! It really is amazing how changing one detail, like updating the hands can make such a HUGE difference!!! The Rolex Explorer now looks SO MUCH more balanced and masculine now...
2010 Rolex Explorer pictured above with shorter and narrower hands
Before and After
The illustration below shows the difference between the outgoing and incoming 39MM Rolex Explorer Lume Patterns in the dark. When you see the lume patterns side by side like this, you really understand just how big a difference there is between the two. Not only are the 3, 6, and 9 invisible on the old version, but you also notice how anemic the hand lume was.
