FS: Rolex Explorer II, 216570, 2019, all docs, boxes and letter from Rolex’s UK boss

[plainsdrifter]

The owner has been a Rolex Explorer II wearer since 1976. This one was bought new from Mappin & Webb in Cambridge, UK, in 2019. It comes with lineage having replaced a venerable predecessor (model 1655) which often went to bad-lands and sandy-parts until the second-hand came off after 33 years (that’s approximately 1,040,688,000 revolutions) following one of many heavy knocks, at which point a major overhaul back in Geneva got things going again in 2009.

So it’s a sad parting from Explorer IIs, this one, as the other, a traveller’s talisman. But there’s no one here to pass the baton to and something lighter is now required.

The watch here has had a much more sedate life. Wear is commensurate with four years of normal everyday use, and some sea-kayaking after which it gets a brushed rinse with a solution of warm water plus a nip of detergent. Excellent condition. Incredibly, the glass is flawless. Nice and mellow all round, unpolished (no loss of albeit a fraction of a micron of good steel rubbed off for mere bright-new-look-bling). Movement keeps accurate time; the only change/adjustment made was when entering another time-zone – not that often since purchase.

Comes with presentation box, case, and all papers, the whole nine yards. A year remains on the guarantee which expires 16 April 2024. Also, a signed letter from Richard de Leyser, the excellent Rolex UK boss, acknowledging some ideas and comments on both watches. (One of those ideas has been incorporated in the latest Explorer II 226570 but no clue if it originated in one of the suggestions or was in line with similar feedback. Probably the latter.)

Other items of interest are Watches of Switzerland receipt, Rolex Explorer II booklet, a history of the Rolex Explorer II, newspaper article, and the owner’s records and pics of both watches on a CD.

Pictures follow. More pictures available.

NOTE: Spare link for bracelet included.

DISPATCH: Point of dispatch near Sudbury, Suffolk, UK. Within reason, personal delivery/collection/meeting half-way are options. Other than that it’s post/courier. FREE of charge, UK only.

PRICE: £8900