Rolex Explorer II 16570: “White” Hot Vintage Dual-Time for Summer Time

Vintage Rolex is hot right now. And this Rolex Explorer II 16570 white dial is “White Hot.” With the patina and profile of a vintage model but the everyday usability of a modern Rolex, this Explorer 2 is ready heat up your summer.

The 1980s were a period of tumult and transformation within the Rolex catalog. As the company embraced its emergence as a standard-bearer for luxury and prestige products, Rolex began to tailor is traditional steel “utility” watches to suit a broader range of attire and tastes.

The transitional Rolex Explorer II 16550 of 1985-1987 bequeathed a significant number of upgrades and options to the definitive Explorer II, the 16570 you see here. Rolex’s decision to offer two dials – one black, one light in color – became an enduring feature of the model line.

But whereas the Rolex Explorer II 16550 features a distinctly eggshell “cream” coloration, the 16570 bears a true white dial. In order to enable enhanced legibility against the gloss white background, Rolex swapped the silvered hands of the 16550 for the black oxidized models of the 16570. Likewise, the applied white gold indices bearing the hour markers were blackened to improve visibility.

But this Rolex Explorer II 16570 offers more than easy reading; it’s a true vintage model with drop-dead patina to match. With an “L” prefix, this Explorer II’s serial number places its production date in 1989. The world has changed dramatically since that time, and so has the tritium lume of this Rolex dial.

Gorgeous and rich ecru tones cover every square millimeter of painted surface on this dial, and the advanced development of the tritium aging is among the finest we have seen at The 1916 Company. Due to the variable nature of climate-induced aging, exposure to sunlight, and radioactive decade of tritium (a beta emitter), no two Rolex patina dials are precisely the same. And very few of them will age as dramatically or uniformly as the lumed elements on this Exploerer II 16570.

Inside the 40mm stainless steel case, this Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer II 16570 features Rolex’s automatic caliber 3185. It inherits the true dual independent time zone capability of the 16550, but compared to the caliber 3085 that transitional reference, the 3185 features a more stable full balance bridge to better resist shocks.

Traditional Rolex movement refinements such as the smooth bidirectional “Perpetual” winding, hacking seconds, and a Breguet overcoil hairspring with free-sprung escapement ensure easy operation and reliability in the face of duress. As with all Explorer II models since the first in 1971, this 16570 is a COSC-certified Swiss Chronometer.

This Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer II 16570 offers the best of both worlds to watch collectors; vintage style and everyday usability. Its modern movement, sapphire crystal, dual-time feature, and the long run of the 16570 model (1989-2011) ensure that the watch still reads and runs like a contemporary Rolex sports watch.

See this outstanding Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer II 16570 in high-resolution images at an amazing price at The 1916 Company.