The Complete History of the Rolex Explorer II

The Complete History of the Rolex Explorer II

The history of the Rolex Explorer is absolutely fascinating. This story is a work in progress and far from being complete. As time goes by, I will continue to update this story until it is complete. Since Rolex just introduced a brand new Rolex Explorer II 'Orange Hand' model at Watches & Wonders 2021 in Switzerland, along with two new Rolex Explorer models as seen below.

I have been working on this story for a while but when Rolex updated the Explorer II (as seen below) recently as seen below it inspired me to work on this story.

All-New 2021 Rolex Explorer II 'Orange Hand' with Black Dial

It is said God took a rib from Adam and made Eve. The same is true with the development of the Rolex Explorer II—Rolex took the DNA from one of their most icon Oyster Perpetual models and took it to the next-level.

1980 Rolex Explorer Brochure

...Rolex Super Coolness...

Reinhold Messner

Conquering Mount Everest and K2

1979 Rolex Explorer Mark II

Thus, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at a man who famously rocked an original Rolex 'Orange Hand' back in the day.  Today we are going to look at the men who best represent the spirit of the original orange hand Rolex Explorer II, and his name is Reinhold Messner.

Reinhold Messner is a legend in the Rolex world of adventure. In this photo he is seen climbing a mountain in Italy back in 1979, sporting his orange hand 36mm Rolex Explorer Mark II [Reference 1655].

The Telegraph in the UK published a fascinating story in 2018 named "20 reasons why Reinhold Messner is the world's greatest living man", which is fascinating. 

Messner was also the first climber to conquer Mount Everest without oxygen. If you think about it, that is a truly amazing feat because there is less than 1/3 of the amount of oxygen on top of Mount Everest than you are breathing right now. 

Extreme Mountain climbing may seem like it is glamorous, but the truth is that it is anything but. It is an extremely dangerous sport and it is common for climbers to loose fingers and toes to frostbite. In this photo we see Reinhold Messner with the tips of his feet missing from frostbite. 

Reinhold Messner & Peter Habeler

Conquering Mount Everest in 1978

First Climb Without Oxygen

In this next photo from 1978 we see Reinhold Messner with his climbing partner Peter Habeler. This was the first Mount Everest expedition that climbed to the summit without oxygen. This climb was documented in the movie Everest Unmasked.

In the photo above Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler are wearing their Rolex OysterQuartz Datejust watches [Reference 17000]. Peter Habeler is pictured below wearing his Rolex OysterQuartz Datejust.

Reinhold Messner is pictured below wearing his Rolex OysterQuartz

Below is a recent photo of Peter Habeler and Reinhold Messner

1978 Rolex Oysterquartz Ad

Sir Edmund Hillary and Reinhold Messner

Two Rolex Mountain-Climbing Legends Together

Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Reinhold Messner from Italy are two of the greatest mountain-climbers that have ever lived. Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to conquer Mt. Everest in 1953 and he was wearing his Rolex Oyster wristwatch.

Reinhold Messner was the first man to summit Everest without oxygen. He achieved this amazing feat in 1978, and when he came down the mountain, Sir Edmund Hillary was waiting to congratulate him and this photo was taken. Reinhold Messner was wearing his Rolex Oysterquartz when in 1978 when he first conquered Everest.

You have got to click on this image to see all the detail and read the story:

Update: Kristian Holm from Denmark, who is a reader of Jake's Rolex World, pointed out the following in this next photo:

"It appears Sir Edmund Hillary is wearing a Rolex Oysterquartz 17013. I think it is a bit funny that both Hillary and Reinhold Messner, two of the world's best climbers, trust the Oyterquartz."

I agree, Kristian, and thank you for pointing that out. Indeed, Sir Edmund Hillary did wear a Rolex Oysterquartz for many years in his later life. Today Rolex no longer makes quartz watches, meaning watches that run on a battery. Maybe there is something to the quartz watches after all!?! 

Pictured below is another Rolex ad featuring Reinhold Messner. 

MESSNER The Documentary

In 2012 a full-length documentary came out on Reinhold Messner that was simply titled "MESSNER". You can see the movie poster below.

In the 2016 we see Reinhold Messner wearing a 42mm Rolex Explorer II with the polar-white dial with retro orange hand.

In this next photo we see a photo from 2017 of Peter Habeler rocking his vintage Submariner Reference 1680.


I'm not 100% certain, but in the photo below from 1978 we see Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler when they conquered Everest and I think Peter is wearing the same Submariner as seen above. This photo was discovered by Jose from Perezcope.com.

Jean-François PERNETTE

1998 Rolex Laureate Winner

Rolex Awards for Enterprise

4 Decades Of Exploration
Relying On His Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II

One of my favorite things to do on Jake's Rolex World is bring to life many characters who have appeared in vintage Rolex ads, by delving deeper into their history to learn what has made them tick. Today, I am excited to do just that, by taking a closer look at the amazing career achievements of Jean-François Pernette. 

Jean-François Pernette is one of the worlds leading cave explorers, and he is pictured below in Pierre Saint Martin, four decades ago, in 1981, while on a cave exploration expedition, and he is wearing his trademark Rolex Explorer II "Orange Hand."

Jean-François Pernette pictured above in 1981 wearing his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II

Jean-François Pernette is considered to be one of the worlds leading speleologists. He was born in 1954 in France, and he is pictured below, exploring in Papua New-Guinea in 1980, and notice he is wearing his trademark Orange-Hand Rolex Explorer II. Jean-François Pernette went on to become the 1998 Rolex Laureate Winner of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise. 

1979 French Rolex Explorer II

The Original Orange Hand

Reference 1655

The 1979 Vintage Rolex Jean-François Pernette magazine ad was published in France.

Journey To The End Of The World

The following Rolex Awards For Enterprise Documentary video is about Jean-François Pernette and it is Titled, Journey To The End Of The World.

An Amazing Career

The next two photos below, show Jean-François Pernette in Papua New-Guinea in 1980, communicating with natives, who have had limited contact with the outside world.

In the next two photos we see Jean-François Pernette exploring a cave in Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin, which is part of a mountain pass on the border of Spain and France, located in the western Pyrenees mountain range.

The above photo was taken in 1981, and the photo below were taken in 1982 in  Pierre Saint-Martin. Notice Jean-François Pernette is wearing his trademark Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II in most of these photos taken over the last 4 decades. The Orange hand serves two purposes. First to keep the cave-dweller aware of wether it is AM or PM, and secondly, to able to keep track of time in a second timezone.

In the photo below, we we see Jean-François Pernette sporting a Rolex Datejust.

Rolex Awards Geneva 1998

This next photo was taken in 1998, upon the occasion of Jean-François Pernette winning the 1998 Rolex Award For Enterprise, and we see him being awarded with a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.

In the next photo below, we see Jean-François Pernette hiking in the mountains of Nepal in 2012. Notice he is still sporting his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II, which has served him well since 1979 without any challenges, throughout all his expeditions, the latest of which were Patagonia in 2010 and Nepal in 2012.

Jean-François Pernette pictured above in 2012 wearing his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II

This last photo of Jean-François Pernette was taken this year (2013) while cave exploring in France. Jean-François Pernette has lived an extraordinary life, filled with amazing achievement, all while keeping time with his loyal companion and timekeeper, which is an original, vintage Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II. You can learn much more about the Jean-François Pernette by visiting his Rolex Awards For Enterprise microsite.

Hideki Matsuyama: First Japanese to Win The Masters

HIDEKI MATSUYAMA

FIRST JAPANESE MAN TO WIN THE MASTERS

Hideki Matsuyama is the pride of the Land of the Rising Sun as he is the first Japanese man to win a major golf tournament. 

Hideki's journey that led to victory last Sunday started a decade ago with his first appearance at the Masters in 2011 after an earthquake struck his home in Sendai, Japan. He recalled walking off the 18th hole when veteran pro golfer Steve Stricker complimented his game. 

 "That's a memory I'll cherish," he said. "Because of that round, it gave me the confidence that I could play here. I could play professional golf as a career."

Since that day he has celebrated numerous victories on the PGA Tour and Japan Golf Tour. By tying for second at the 2017 U.S. Open, he moved to No. 2 in the world rankings, the highest place achieved by a male Japanese golfer, making history with a Rolex on his wrist.

Hideki, 29, is seen wearing his trusty Rolex Submariner two-tone with blue bezel. He is sitting next to the 2020 winner of the Masters, Dustin Johnson (Hublot on his wrist). I can't tell if Hideki has upgraded to the new Submariner reference 126613, shown below, which is 41mm, but I have a feeling he is wearing the Submariner that has accompanied him throughout his career victories.

We often take for granted that it's a Rolex-wearing player who wins the Masters, the likes of Woods and Spieth winning in recent years or "The Big Three": Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. 

But Dustin Johnson won the Masters wearing a Hublot in 2020, as did Patrick Reed in 2018. And an Omega-wielding Sergio Garcia won in 2017, while Audemars Piguet was on Danny Willett's wrist in 2016. But thanks to Hideki, Rolex is back on top—and worn with a green jacket.

Before Hideki's win, Tiger Woods was the most recent winner of the Masters wearing a Rolex. He won in 2019.

When Tiger Woods won in 2019, it was his 81st Career PGA Tour Win (2nd Most of All-time). Woods had broken the record for most year between Masters' wins at 14 years in-between!

Tiger wore his Rolex DEEPSEA SEA-DWELLER D-Blue after he won the Masters Tournament in 2019, as we see on his wrist in the videos above. 

The D-Blue SEA-DWELLER features an unusual horizontal gradient to faces from blue above to black below, and it also has the DEEPSEA dial designation in a large green font. It is kind of profound if you think about it that the only two brands that didn't abandon Tiger after the challenges he went through years ago were Rolex and Nike.

WatchAdvisor: Hands-on with the Two-tone Explorer

WatchAdvisor: 

THE NEW

 

TWO-TONE EXPLORER

First Hands-on 4K Video

 

By DANNY CRIVELLO

Austrian watch enthusiast Alexander Linz, who co-founded the Youtube channel WatchAdvisor, drove from his home in Vienna and made the more than 1000-km journey around and across the mountains to Switzerland.  

He is the first in the world to bring a hands-on video straight from Rolex headquarters of the new two-tone Explorer, and he brings it in 4K quality. He told me he will soon be posting more Rolex content on his channel from the afternoon he spent at headquarters.  

I was impressed by the video—and the watch (check out my article here). The two-tone seems more subtle in the metal than I expected, at least under that lighting. See for yourself.

Watches and Wonders: New Datejust 36mm Palm Motif Dial

 By DANNY CRIVELLO

If you ask me what among Rolex's new releases will emerge to be the hot piece of 2021, the way the turquoise-dialed Oyster Perpetual drove the market crazy last year, I'd say the 36mm Datejust with the palm motif dial. 

While most of the press watch world wonders every year how Rolex will update its sports line—especially what is discontinued—I enjoy watching the brand display expertise in other areas of watchmaking, such as dial-making or gem setting. (In my opinion, Rolex's mastery in gem setting is unparalleled.)

 

Rolex is finding ways to use reflection—or "play of light," as one Rolex rep told me—to make a watch look naturally more lustrous. The latest Explorer's case has been redesigned, for example, to make better use of reflection in order to highlight the case profile.

While some demure the lack of anti-reflective coating on crystals in Rolex watches, I like how light bounces off the crystal and makes the dial gleam. I can sometimes spot a Rolex watch wearer in a store or restaurant by the small flashes of glint from the watch's face. 

The laser-etched palm motif dial on the 36mm Datejust released this year is the latest example of Rolex playing with light to enhance a watch's appeal.

The 36mm size has always been a key size at Rolex. I joke that 36mm Datejust is Latin for "timeless." Rolex watch expert and collector Eric Ku calls it the golden size—and a reason why Rolex has never stopped making the 36mm Day-Date. "Any [size] that they do subsequent to that is to capture another piece of demographics," he said. Besides, a 36mm Datejust can still be pulled off by most men and women.

A Rolex rep told me that the green of the palm motif dial is darker in real life than in the digital presentation, making the watch more masculine. A Youtuber with close to 20,000 subscribers, who comments almost daily about all things Rolex, said the palm motif dial appeals to his tree-hugger side. 

In my opinion, this year's releases showcase Rolex's expertise in dial making in two extremes: a dial that is inspired from deep within Earth's ground—a palm tree; and a dial from outer space, the new Daytona's meteorite dial. The very trendy green color, combined with the timeless and universal 36mm size of a classic Datejust, the reflection from its dial pattern, all are making this watch the sleeper hit watch of 2021.

Watches and Wonders: New Explorer 36mm

A MINIMALIST'S

WATCH GETS

SMALLER

Explorer Returns to 36mm Size

By DANNY CRIVELLO

To me the biggest surprise of this year's Rolex announcement is the Explorer's return to 36mm. A reduction in size of three millimeters in such an iconic model is not something I would have expected from Rolex, especially not less than a year after it had made both the Submariner and Oyster Perpetual larger.

What made the announcement even more stunning to me is that you rarely see Rolex create a design change to only walk it back a few years later. But this is Rolex saying fashion trends can change fast, and we are not shackled by past decisions.

What we learned also from the Rolex announcement this week—or were reminded rather—is that Rolex is the Michael Jordan of two-tone. After all, it invented two-tone, a signature feature of the brand since 1933, and it's often said that Rolex's number-one selling watch in the world is a two-tone Ladies Datejust.

 

What is different today is that more and more sports watches are getting the bi-metal treatment—to Rolex purists' chagrin—watches that have long been a staple of their Professional collection. While we take for granted the brand's full-gold Submariner, GMT or Daytona, I could almost feel a collective gasp from the watch community at Baselworld 2019, as if feeling betrayed, when the brand unveiled the two-tone Sea-Dweller. Et tu, Rolexus?

Jose Pereztroika, who has done amazing horological forensic research both for these pages and his blog, Perezcope, pointed out to me after the 45-minute Webex conference with Rolex that we actually have historical precedence: A two-tone Explorer can be traced back to the brand's two-tone Bubbleback.

All watches have their origin story and Rolex’s can be traced back to the so-called Bubbleback. It wasn’t Rolex's first timepiece, but it was quite probably their first breakthrough best-seller, a cornerstone of sorts in the quest to associate the Rolex brand with terms such as reliability, toughness, precision. The Oyster Perpetual is an evolution to the Bubbleback. And of course, the Explorer is an homage to the Oyster Perpetual worn during the numerous Himalayan expeditions and the conquest of Mount Everest.

But for me, the return to the 36mm size, the same size as the original Explorer of 1953, is checking two boxes for Rolex: 

1) Adding a vintage flair to a modern watch, a strategy other brands have long adopted. (Keen eyes will notice the move of the "EXPLORER" text from 6 to 12 o'clock, like in vintage Explorers.)

2) Creating a watch that can be worn both by men and women. (A Rolex rep told me that when it comes to fashion in watches "there is no gender anymore" though she could envision women being drawn to the two-tone Explorer while some men might favor the Explorer II.)

Finally, the last thing that struck me during the Explorer's announcement is that Rolex continues to make improvement because, well, it is Rolex even though no one asked for them. No one had complained about the Chromalight, yet Rolex decided to improve it with this generation of the Explorer and going forward with new models. The new Chromalight makes the blue intensity last longer at night, while during the day the markers and hands will show a brighter white hue. 

A two-tone Explorer at 36mm is so unique in the Rolex line-up that for me it is a watch I will be looking for when it hits the stores as early as April in the U.S. 

New Daytona with Meteorite Dial

UBER RARE

MEETS

UBER FAST

New Daytona With Meteorite Dial

 By DANNY CRIVELLO

"It's really a pity you have just the digital presentation this year," a Rolex rep in Geneva told me via Webex on the first day of Watches and Wonders. "When you have a chance to see the watch in real, the dial is amazing." 

My love as a pilot for the Cosmograph Daytona has been quite chronicled on Jake's Rolex World, including here, here, here, and here. 

When you take a watch that is the ultimate watch for those with a passion for driving and speed and put in a dial that is made entirely from an asteroid that exploded millions of years ago, how can the pulse of a pilot not quicken? Is there a faster watch out there?

This latest release demonstrates once again Rolex's expertise in developing and manufacturing dials. This is not the first time Rolex offers a meteorite dial on the Cosmograph Daytona. The picture of the 2008 Rolex Daytona 116509, below, comes courtesy of Amsterdam Vintage Watches. However, it is the first time the meteoric dial is offered with a ceramic-bezeled Daytona.

The meteorite metal is not just a layer on the dial, the entire dial is made out of meteorite. It will be available for precious metal versions of the Daytona (18 ct yellow, white and Everose gold).

So let's recap, shall we? The most reputable watch brand in the world just took the rarest sports reference and, after casing it in a precious metal, added a dial that—oh, I don't know—took millions of years to create a unique crystallization pattern that is impossible to re-create on Earth. 

If you want something très rare and très fast, mon ami, but also extremely good looking, then this Daytona will be your pick of Watches and Wonders 2021!