HOW WE SPEND OUR DAYS IS, OF COURSE, HOW WE SPEND OUR LIVES,
wrote Anne Dillard. I have been wearing a Rolex Explorer on my wrist for
the past year. It is the kind of watch you forget is there after a while. That’s
why I haven’t taken it off since I got it. It becomes part of the furniture of
your life.
My days are quite unremarkable and, admittedly, my life is too. The
Explorer, however, has a bi-modal persona that suits me rather well. It
disappears when I do not need to know the time. When I do need to read
the time, the Explorer presents it with uncompromising sangfroid. That is
perfect for how I live my life. This personality was certainly deliberately
crafted, but not with my life in mind.
It started by Rolex answering the call of the unknown. From the 1930s,
Rolex began equipping numerous mountaineering expeditions with Oyster
watches. The feedback from these intrepid expeditions was used to create
the Professional category of watches that served as tools for time telling
and nothing more.
Rolex watches have taken part in some of humanity’s greatest
adventures since, with one notable example being the 1953
conquest of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and
Tenzing Norgay. Rolex used information gained from this
expedition and combined feedback from other climbers to
launch the first Explorer watch in the same year.
Later, the model’s performance was enhanced with a
reinforced case and more legible dial. Over the years the
watch has more or less retained its distinct looks,
but has been endowed with much of the
technical progress Rolex has made to date.
To quietly evolve, yet seemingly stay
the same is no mean feat.
LATEST EXPLORER
Ten years on since its last major redesign, the Rolex Explorer enters this new
decade looking fresh as ever. The recipe makes one wonder sometimes why
there are other watches in the first place.
It all starts with a corrosion-and-water-resistant stamped stainless steel
case. The 39mm size suits modern tastes and isn’t unbecoming for a three-
hand tool watch. The lugs are long and slim, meandering around the case
to seat the watch flat and low on the wrist. The bezel is also flat and low,
mimicking the stance it allows the watch to achieve when worn. This is no
disco volante. This is stealth.
The bracelet is sturdy but soft at the same time, never intrusive or
meddlesome, as the clasp with its double-locking feature secures a comfort-
able fit. Once it’s on, it’s not going anywhere. And it will hardly ever be there
because as it hunkers down, its mirror-polished case band and lug profile
reflects the surface of your arm while the polished bezel reflects the world
around you, your entire existence and place in the universe appearing
infinitely cast into its metallic soul. You see yourself in your watch. You also
see a fine level of workmanship unusual for this type of watch.
Originally a tool, the finish of the case and bracelet is of very high
quality but it is the muted grace with which it has been applied that really
impresses. It is not ceremonious. The brushing on the case and especially
the bracelet is linear, consistently sharp, and luxuriously soft – of generously
high standard and very silky to touch.
HIGH STANDARDS
Rolex has always made great watches, but the fit and finish today
makes them better than they have ever been. The standards remain high
throughout the construction of the watch. The Twin Lock screw-down crown
and its handling is so expertly weighted that operating it might as well be
Rolex
Twinlock
Winding
Crown
First Explorer 1953
SPRING 2020 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 107