Rolex Explorer II 16570 'Black' 40MM 1993

Noon or Midnight in Steel: The 1993 Rolex Explorer II 16570 Black Dial

Four years into a production run that lasted until 2011, this 1993 Explorer II 16570 pairs a black dial with a red, arrow-tipped 24-hour hand whose job is to tell a caver whether it is noon or midnight. It is a 40 mm steel watch built around one practical question, and this example answers it with a dial from the reference's tritium years.

A Brand Built for the Edges of the Map

Rolex's habit of designing for hostile conditions goes back to its foundations. Hans Wilsdorf set up Wilsdorf & Davis in London in 1905 and registered the Rolex name in 1908. The Oyster case of 1926 sealed the watch against water and dust, and the Perpetual rotor of 1931 removed the need for daily winding. Together they gave Rolex a robust, self-winding platform, and by the early 1950s the company was sending its watches with the expeditions that would test them hardest.

From Everest to the Caves

On 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, members of the British expedition led by John Hunt, became the first people to reach the summit of Everest, and the expedition carried Oyster Perpetual chronometers. Rolex dates the launch of the Explorer to that same year, describing it as one of its first tool watches, with numerals at 3, 6 and 9 for legibility; some references place the first Explorer in 1954.

The Explorer II followed in 1971. Rolex frames it as a watch for speleologists, volcanologists and anyone working in extreme environments, and its defining feature is the 24-hour hand that separates day from night when the surroundings give no clue. Underground, or through a polar summer, that is not a convenience. It is how you keep track of time at all.

The 1655 and the 16550

The first Explorer II, the reference 1655, ran from 1971 to 1984 in a 39 mm case with the calibre 1575 GMT and a large orange-tipped 24-hour hand that earned it the Italian nickname Freccione. In 1985 the 16550 brought a 40 mm case, a choice of black or white dial, and the calibre 3085, with an independently adjustable hour hand borrowed from the GMT-Master II. With that change the Explorer II became a genuine dual time zone watch, and the 16550 laid out everything its successor would refine.

Reference 16570: Twenty-Two Years in the Catalogue

The 16570 replaced the 16550 in 1989 and remained in production until 2011, when the 42 mm 216570 took over. Across that run it kept the same essentials: a 40 mm steel Oyster case, a fixed steel bezel graduated to 24 hours, a three-link Oyster bracelet and a choice of black or white dial. In 2007 the movement was updated to the calibre 3186 and the inner bezel ring gained its engraved ROLEX ROLEX signature, which places a 1993 example firmly in the long first chapter of the reference.

Calibre 3185 and the Independent Hour Hand

The calibre 3185 is built on the architecture of the 3135, beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, carries 31 jewels and offers a power reserve of around 50 hours. Rolex shared it with the GMT-Master II 16710. Its key function is the independent hour hand: with the crown pulled to its second position, the local hour jumps forwards or backwards in one-hour steps while the minutes, seconds and 24-hour hand keep running, so the 24-hour hand stays on home time. Travellers use it to change time zones without stopping the watch. Cavers use the same hand to keep day and night straight.

The Black Dial in 1993

The original 1655 came only with a black dial, so the black 16570 continues the oldest line in the Explorer II family. In 1993 it was still a tritium dial: Rolex moved to Luminova in 1998 and to Super-LumiNova in 2000, changing the text at 6 o'clock with each step. Against the black ground, the engraved 24-hour bezel and the red arrow of the 24-hour hand read at a glance, which is the entire point of the watch. The Mercedes hour hand and the cyclops over the date at 3 o'clock tie it to the wider Rolex family, while that red hand gives it an identity of its own.

Final Thoughts

A 1993 Explorer II 16570 black dial sits early in a 22-year production run, with tritium lume and the calibre 3185, and with a design line that runs back through the 16550 and the 1655 to the 1953 Explorer and, before that, to the Oyster and the Perpetual rotor. It was built for people who lose track of the sun. Above ground, it does the same job for anyone with a second time zone to keep.

• The case remains in excellent condition - previously polished 
• Bracelet in excellent condition

• Dial & hands good condition
• Very Attractive patina 
• Oxidisation & wear visible