Rolex Explorer 16550
The unusual and striking styling of the Explorer II 1655 may be popular now, but after its release in 1971, it didn’t sell particularly well. The fat, orange twenty-four hour hand, the thick, numbered bezel and the staggered, luminous five-minute markers on the dial were so radically different to the Explorer I that the buying public just didn’t get on with it, and such the Explorer II that we see more frequently today replaced it.
As with the first Explorer, the 1655 had a target audience of pioneering discovers who needed a strong, reliable and simple watch, but this time the exploration would be below ground rather than above. The seemingly niche market of cave explorers requested the means of measuring the time with a twenty-four hour clock to keep track of the morning and evening whilst underground, and Rolex obliged. The orange hand tracked around the fixed outer bezel, performing a full twenty-four day in one revolution.
Despite production spanning fourteen years until 1985, the 1655 sold around half as much as the period Submariner 1680. The unusual design and somewhat awkward-to-read dial meant that the demand was just not as high, and because of that, the numbers are now limited in the vintage market. The follow on 16550, whose dial redesign conformed more closely to the rest of the Rolex range, took over where the 1655 left off, and the design was put to bed. It wasn’t until Baselworld 2011 that any hint of the original orange hand would be seen again.
The 1655 makes an interesting collector’s piece because it represents a bold, if unsuccessful attempt to energise Rolex design in the 1970’s. Alongside the Milgauss, the 1655 does not share its hands with any other Rolex, nor is its dial design mirrored elsewhere either. It is a true Rolex milestone.
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- Manufacturer: Rolex
- Range: Explorer
- Model: 16550
- Age: approximately 33 years old
- Gender: Gents
- Case: Steel
- Bracelet: Steel (Oyster)
- Size (MM): 40
- Dial: Black Baton