Dial and Bezel Explorer 1655

[edhahn44]

Hi,

I found this vintage 1655 Explorer II at a dealer. To my non-expert eye, the watch looks genuine.

Dial: MK5
Bezel: MK3 (?)
Serial: 7.2xx
Clasp code: F

What confuses me a bit is the bezel (shouldn't it be an MK4?) and the engraving in the inner cap (seen pictures where is is 'deeper').

What is the view of the experts here?

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...eCDvmtIjsYUPuX

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...0uUpsQYufwuhj2

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...MwHqdvpqXVuy_-

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...Wdomi_-jNu_thA

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...ggHKRHCAJNAF3M

[swish77]

Originally Posted by edhahn44

Hi,

I found this vintage 1655 Explorer II at a dealer. To my non-expert eye, the watch looks genuine.

Dial: MK5
Bezel: MK3 (?)
Serial: 7.2xx
Clasp code: F

What confuses me a bit is the bezel (shouldn't it be an MK4?) and the engraving in the inner cap (seen pictures where is is 'deeper').

What is the view of the experts here?

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...eCDvmtIjsYUPuX

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...0uUpsQYufwuhj2

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...MwHqdvpqXVuy_-

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...Wdomi_-jNu_thA

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/...ggHKRHCAJNAF3M

Links don't work. However, note that dial and bezel can be of different "Marks." For example, you can have an MK3 dial with an MK4 bezel, or an MK2 dial with an MK3 bezel.

Also, with any of the bezels there can be slight variations in the thickness/deepness of the font. It was the 1970s, and Rolex was making thousands of these bezels. Not everything was exactly perfect and matching on every single one coming out of the factory. I've seen some MK2 bezels with quite heavy/deep font and other MK2 bezels that are a slightly lighter/thinner font. Perhaps it had something to do with the beginning and the end of the run out of the factory.