Rolex Explorer I (Mk1)

[Ricky Rolex]

Well after admiring this model from afar for a very long time & reading some amazing reviews, I went out and purchased the Explorer a few days ago.

The excitement of opening that green Rolex box never seems to deteriorate only get more intense!

I could of paid around £500 more for the Mk2 but had a good think and decided against it for a couple of reasons. Firstly I love the fact the 369 are in 18k white gold. What's not to love?! There is more than enough lume on the hour markers and hands to very easily be able to tell the time in darkness.

I personally think by removing the white gold markers the watch became slightly less classy and a little bit more sporty. Yes it is clearer to see the numerals on the mk2 but the visual appearance on the mk1 was never an issue for me tbh.

Secondly I believe in the future the mk1 due to its relatively short life span & white gold 369 feature this watch will be more sought after than its newer brother, again only a personal opinion. The shorter hands are barely noticeable at all.

About the watch.

I love the simplicity & subtlety of this watch. It oozes class.

I kept asking myself & actually telling myself it's missing something or is it missing something?? Then I realised that's the beauty of it, it isn't missing a thing it's just right.

I've had a GMT Pepsi, Submariner & a Datejust so it was a big thing for me to get a watch without a date feature. At the moment I'm not missing it but every time I see a picture of that cyclops I must admit I miss that. I don't think it would work on this watch though, let me make that clear.

It wears really nicely on the wrist. The oyster bracelet is very smooth yet robust & comfortable. It runs absolutely perfectly to time and is running at around -2 per day.

All the other watches I've owned I fell in love with for different reasons. This one not yet but time will tell.

Struggling to upload the pic I took. Sorry I'm not very techy at all.

It really is a class piece of workmanship and anyone who owns one is a lucky person and anyone who is thinking of getting one I'd say go get it!