Rolex Explorer II: 16550 vs 16570 Cream Dials/Plots

[greatgoo]

Hey everyone!

Looking for a little guidance on my hunt for a creamy Explorer II.

I have seen many 16550s with cream-colored dials and plots. From what I have read, this is totally normal as there was a paint defect in this reference until they moved to the 16570 and also changed the surrounds to black instead of white gold. It seems like searching for a 16550 cream dial is the safest bet (also comes with a higher price tag for various reasons). However, I'm still curious about the cream-colored 16570s. Most I have seen have cream in just the plots. Are those legit? Are there certain serial #s that might have used different lume that caused that patina in the plots?

Thanks for any insight!!!!
Ryan

[TimeLord2]

From my understanding they are referred to as Chicchi di Mais. The black surrounds on the later model 16570s are also white gold but painted black. Also, the hands on these watches do seem to have markedly different patina compared to the lume plots and that is considered normal. Experts needed here, I'm not one, just my $.02. Here's a pic of my dad's watch 16570 from 1991.

[greatgoo]

Interesting. And the 16550 is double/triple the price of a 16570.. I might consider just hunting a 16570 with cream plots.

[greatgoo]

I read that the hands on early 90s 16570 don't age/patina like the plots because they were produced at different factories. Very interesting.

[Toronto Soup King]

The corn niblets ones are different to the special ones IMO - the special ones here are WGS dials where the dial turns creamy. Those are rare and pricey and we all shoulda bought one when they were new along with the Apple stock we foolishly didn't get back then either.
You can find a lot of the bright-yellow-markers dials with bright white dial colour, I traded one recently for the 1601/8 I'm wearing right now.

[TuRo]

The first couple of years of 570s tend to brown most on the HR markers....as they used the same dial process as the outgoing 550. I agree 570 like TL's above is very nice - btw 550 has very slightly larger and squarer numbers on bezel though as another modest differentiation point along with silver hands and wgsurrounds.

Compare this to one above to see what I mean - numbers are bigger, squarer, deeper/wider and 1's have a long tick at top

Rolex Explorer II
£15,219
https://chrono24.app/rolex/rolex-exp...GB&SETCURR=GBP

[baumare]

Originally Posted by TuRo

The first couple of years of 570s tend to brown most on the HR markers....as they used the same dial process as the outgoing 550. I agree 570 like TL's above is very nice - btw 550 has very slightly larger and squarer numbers on bezel though as another modest differentiation point along with silver hands and wgsurrounds.

Compare this to one above to see what I mean - numbers are bigger, squarer, deeper/wider and 1's have a long tick at top

Rolex Explorer II
£15,219
https://chrono24.app/rolex/rolex-exp...GB&SETCURR=GBP

The one on CH24 is also a Rail dial, are all 550 Rail?

Here’s my 657 serial E9 Chicchi, with the difference patina from the hands and the lumes
E999713A-F353-410D-8E2E-5A3CE600C37D.jpeg

[TuRo]

Originally Posted by baumare

The one on CH24 is also a Rail dial, are all 550 Rail?

Here’s my 657 serial E9 Chicchi, with the difference patina from the hands and the lumes
Attachment 1344049

No - 550s come in a few dial configs.

Curiously, the term rail dial is used on Sea Dwellers and the like, but very few people pick it up on other models - e.g. the 1655 MK3 Stern is a Rail Dial.....but nobody calls it that !