Rolex Explorer II Owner Review : Dazzling, light and symbolic

In 1971, the Rolex Explorer II ref 1655 appeared: a professional watch designed for caving, with a 24-hour hand allowing explorers spending several days in the dark to differentiate between AM and PM. In 1984, Rolex replaced its model with the reference 16550, the 3085 movement that equipped it allowing independent adjustment of the 24-hour hand. The speleologists' watch now made it possible to track a second time zone and became a traveler's watch. I see a connection with Plato's Allegory of the Cave: with its GMT complication, the Explorer II is an invitation to come out of your cave and discover a dazzling world; as dazzling as the new light dial with which it is adorned. I decided to acquire the following reference, the 16570 called "Polar" in its latest iteration with the engraved flange and the 3186 movement. I was seduced by the alliance between its design very close to the historic 16550 and the overall comfort of a modern watch. Professional but unconventional Rolex, light and discreet but sporty and radical; its paradoxes make it a special piece, perfectly superfluous and therefore absolutely necessary in my collection.