Watch History: The Rolex Explorer
Rolex is arguably one of the biggest and most recognized of all the luxury bands on the planet on an international scale. The stories behind the brand are as fascinating as they are numerous with Rolex’s involvement in exploration, scientific advancement and the arts. From setting new land speed records, to exploring the deepest marine trenches on earth, Rolex has always engaged with projects in both a philanthropic way and also to test the limits of their timepieces.
Like many classic designs over the past decades, the Rolex Oyster has gently evolved but primarily is true to its roots. Within the Rolex lineup of sports watches there is a watch that has been a constant since 1953, sixty five years(!), that is showing no signs of going quiet any time soon – the Rolex Explorer.
In 1963 Rolex unveiled what would become one of the longest running sports watch references, the Explorer reference 1016. Production ceased in 1989 and in essence not a lot changed on the watch, except some minor details…which is what it’s all about! Again, the 1016 was heralded by the latest movement improvement by Rolex, the caliber 1560. A chronometer rated movement, it became the staple in Rolex Oyster watches of the era. A decade later there was minor improvement to the caliber with the introduction of the 1570 which had a hacking (or stop-seconds) feature added. The 1016s were also rated to a slightly deeper depth rating at 100m.
The term gilt can be misused and so to be clear, when discussing vintage Rolex dials the gilt refers to the glossy black dials with the text in a gold (gilt) colour. The text is not actually printed on the gloss, but is actually relief print and the gilt text is the brass base plate of the dial showing through; a production method known as galvanic process. The dial then had a lacquer applied to protect it. There are some very rare 6610 that had an additional line of text that was printed onto the top of the dial in either red or silver; a depth rating (50m = 165 ft). This was a way for Rolex to demonstrate the capabilities of the watch for all sports and methods of exploration. Another rare version of the 6610 had a painted white seconds hand; it’s always about the minute details with Rolex!
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