Much like the red line of text on the dial of the latest Sea-Dweller, the bright orange, arrow-shaped 24-hour hand on the latest incarnation of the Rolex Explorer II is a design element directly borrowed from the very first version of the watch from 1971. For a number of decades, this style of 24-hour hand was entirely absent from the Rolex watch catalog, during which time, the Explorer II shared a 24-hour hand design with Rolex’s GMT-Master II line of watches.However, in 2011 for its 40th anniversary, the Explorer II line received a complete makeover, both inside and out. Although the vast majority of the new reference 216570 Explorer II was completely different from the original version and classifies it as an undisputedly modern timepiece, the large, orange-colored, arrow-shaped, 24-hour hand is aesthetically almost identical to the one on the original version of the Explorer II from the early 1970s.A significant part of the allure of the Rolex GMT-Master II 126710BLRO is rooted in its vintage-inspired design elements, such as its red and blue, “Pepsi” bezel insert and its Jubilee-style bracelet. The very first Rolex GMT-Master watches from the mid-1950s were made from stainless steel and fitted with half-red, half-blue bezel inserts; however, ever since the introduction of Cerachrom (ceramic) bezels, half-red, half-blue “Pepsi” bezel inserts were only available on the 18k white gold version of Rolex’s GMT-Master II. The reference 126710 GMT-Master II marked the return of a stainless steel “Pepsi” GMT, as well as the return of the Jubilee bracelet to the GMT-Master line.
The ref. 16710 is outfitted with a standard 40mm Oyster case with water-resistance up to 100 meters and a protective sapphire crystal over the dial. The bezel is equipped with an aluminum insert in either all-black, red and blue, or red and black. Depending on the year of production, the watch is also available on the secondary market with cases that have either lug holes or no lug holes, and the luminous material on the dial will vary, as Rolex made the switch from Tritium to LumiNova during the production of the reference 16710 GMT-Master II.With the release of the ref. 116710 came a brand new case design that includes the upgrade to a triple-sealed Triplock screw-down crown, a new bezel mounting system that operates on 24 clicks instead of 120, a tougher “Cerachrom” bezel insert crafted from a scratchproof ceramic material, and a “Maxi” dial topped with larger hour markers and wider hands. The 40mm case also received a larger crown guard and wider lugs, earning it the nickname the “Super Case” among collections due to its thicker and more aggressive overall appearance.The ref. 16710 is equipped with the self-winding Rolex Caliber 3185 perpetual movement, which includes a Quickset function for easy adjustment of the date mechanism, hacking, an independent 24-hour hand, and a 48-hour power reserve. However, near the very end of production of the ref. 16710, Rolex switched movements, and later-era examples of the reference 16710 were equipped with the Caliber 3186 movement. The Caliber 3186 has the same specifications as the Caliber 3185 but is now equipped with Rolex’s newer paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring and a smoother operating jump-hour hand. With that in mind, all reference 116710 GMT-Master II watches run solely on the Caliber 3186.
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