Feature: Has Rolex Made The Explorer Uncool?
Two-tone as a musical genre was a blend of punk and Jamaican ska that emerged in the UK in the late 1970s and was pioneered by a host of multiracial bands that included The Specials and Madness. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.
Unfortunately, when it comes to watch metals, two-tone suffers from a lingering image problem that goes back decades to when a Rolex Datejust on a steel and gold bracelet was the quintessential wrist candy of pinstripe-suited yuppies.
From Matthew McConnaughey’s coke-snorting stockbroker in The Wolf of Wall Street—partly set in the 1980s—to Christian Bale’s style-obsessed killer, Patrick Bateman, in American Psycho , the most famous two-tone Datejust wearers haven’t exactly been paragons of humanity!
And in real-life, the Datejust has even been called a ‘grandad’ watch! Old-fashioned, staid, a little bit ‘preppy’ in a chinos and brass-buttoned blazer kind of way.
For years Rolex, conscious of its wide-ranging customer base, has given other big-hitting models the two-tone treatment. The Rolex Daytona, Submariner and GMT Master all come in two-tone versions. But until recently the Explorer had been spared the honour.
Quite right, too, given how this is perhaps the least ostentatious model in its line-up—a reassuringly well-built, no-frills, all-steel tool-watch made to withstand a battering from the elements.
And then Rolex went and did the unthinkable…
Built For Adventure
As any watch history boffin knows, the Explorer has its roots in the Everest expedition of 1957 when Rolex watches were supplied to Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay and their team on their successful ascent of the world’s highest mountain.
We didn't think we'd ever use 'Two-tone' and 'Rolex Explorer' in the same sentence.
It’s something Rolex has excelled at—sending its watches to the most treacherous places on the planet and using the opportunity to test them, get feedback on their performance and make improvements.
So it kind of makes you wonder what prompted last year’s release of the new two-tone Explorer (reference 124273). It’s hard to imagine some grizzled adventurer returning from the fringes of Siberia and asking Rolex, “The watch was great but would you mind adding some easy-to-scratch 18k yellow gold to the bracelet?”
It’s tantamount to putting a strip of sequins on a Kevlar vest.
The 80s Revival
Perhaps we’re being a bit hasty here. After all, eighties clothes and music have been creeping back into fashion, so why not luxury watches?
The quintessential two-tone Rolex has always been the Datejust, but now the Explorer's muscling in on the look
Maybe two-tone is the next big thing and we’ll soon start seeing it everywhere on people aged from 18 to 80. The signs are promising (or ominous, depending on your viewpoint). Sightings of recent two-tone Rolex Datejust owners include Zac Efron, Clint Eastwood and the world’s greatest footballer, Lionel Messi. It's only a matter of time before a few celebrity two-tone Explorer wearers come out of the woodwork.
Could Rolex perhaps be more in tune with the whims of fashion than it’s given credit for?
Smaller Size
What’s also noteworthy about the new two-tone Explorer is the size. With its 36mm case it returns to the original Explorer models of the 50s and 60s (see below) which ranged between 34mm and 36mm, rather than the recent 39mm version.
It seems slightly contradictory that Rolex would choose to refer back to those early models in this way, yet give it a very 80s spin by adding the gold. Likewise they’ve used anti-reflective coating on the sapphire crystal while changing the black dial from a more stealthy matt to glossy.
A gold-free, all-steel 1960s Explorer, Reference 5500. Image courtesy of Bonhams
The smaller size, though, puts it more in line with the mid-size Oyster Perpetuals which measure in at 34-36mm. It also helps keeps the price down. A two-tone Datejust at 41mm costs a couple of thousand pounds more than the OP's at retail. That said, the two-tone Explorer is obviously more expensive than the all-steel Explorer owing to the addition of the precious metal.
Desert Or The Dinner Party?
Ultimately, how you feel about the two-tone Explorer probably depends on whether you think that (A) a tool watch should always a remain a tool watch in looks and in spirit, or (B) utilitarian luxury watches are superfluous in the modern world anyway and more likely to be worn at a dinner party than in the desert, so if someone wants to adorn them with extra gold and gemstones, why not?
Alas Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay are no longer around to give us their take on things, but we're pretty certain they would have tossed the two-tone into a bottomless Himalayan crevice and gone for the all-steel version.
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