The 16570 was introduced in 1989 and was replaced in 2011. Given the long duration of the reference there are actually feature differences depending what year the watch is though the basic look is fairly consistent. Depending on when it was built the 16570 can have tritium, Lumniova, or Super-Luminova for its lume, the case can have drilled lugs or be no-holes, bracelets can have hollow or solid endlinks and clasps can be pressure or locking, and the movement can be the 3185 or the 3186. It’s a lot to sort through if you care about the specifics!

This Explorer II is an F-series and its serial number indicates it was built in 2004 or 2005 (its first sale was 2005 per the documentation I obtained when I purchased it used). So, other than the change to the 3186 movement this watch has all the final versions of the 16570 (it has solid end-links with a locking bracelet, it is lumed with Super-Luminova, and is a no-holes case for the lugs).

Diameter: 39.9mm

Lug-to-lug: 47.4mm

Thickness: 12mm

Lug width is: 20mm

The watch has 100 meters of water resistance.

There are white dial and black dial versions of the 16570 and this is obviously the white dial, aka the polar. There is a lumed marker at each hour position except the 3 o’clock with the date window and a magnifying cyclops affixed to the crystal. The crystal is sapphire. The markers are edged in black making them stand out starkly against the polar dial. The same is true for the hands, which feature the famed Rolex Mercedes format but with a red arrow hand functioning as the GMT hand. Those points are the various 24-hour positions around the watch’s fixed stainless-steel bezel. Towards the 12 o’clock position the dial has the Rolex coronet, says Rolex, then Oyster Perpetual Date, then Explorer II. Above the 6 o’clock the watch says Superlative Chronometer followed by Officially Certified. Below the 6 o’clock marker the watch says Swiss Made.

The watch case itself is stainless steel. Its sides are polished but the lugs and bezel are brushed. The watch has the Oyster bracelet which is a three-link stainless steel format. The sides of the bracelet are polished but the tops of the links are satin finished. The bracelet wears comfortably but it does give off a surprisingly cheap vibe, particularly the stamped steel clasp with the “fake” link look.

The crown has the Rolex coronet on it, is protected by guards and has four positions. In position zero the crown is screwed in and maximum water resistance is obtained. When unscrewed the crown pops out into position one where the watch can be wound. In position two the hour hand can be independently jumped; this will advance the date but not move the GMT hand. In position two the time can be set, GMT hand moved, and date advanced. There is no quick-set date on the watch.

This watch features a closed caseback. As noted earlier this movement is the Rolex caliber 3185. This movement was introduced in 1989. It is an automatic movement with a bi-directional rotor, beats at 4 Hertz, has 31 jewels, and offers a power reserve of approximately 50 hours.

On my timegrapher I get an average gain of 3.17 seconds/day across six positions, with a positional variance of 0 seconds/day to +7 seconds/day. This was after a relatively recent servicing (the watch ran significantly faster before I did that after owning the watch over a decade).

My overall thoughts:

The positives:

• It’s quite accurate

• Super legible dial

• Comfortable to wear

The negatives:

• Bracelet looks cheap

• No quick-date set

• Price

I’ve had this watch longer and worn this watch more than the rest of my collection. For over a decade this was the only watch I relied on. This is a testament to how good it is. The accuracy is great, the watch is easy to read, its 40mm size wears well for my wrist, and the bracelet offers a good fit for me and is comfortable.

That said, more modern Rolex bracelets are so much better it is hard to explain. They feel better, though this feels better than most other bracelets I’ve had. They also don’t look cheap. While somewhat quaint the fake links stamped on the clasp I find to be a very odd decision for Rolex to have made. Thankfully they’ve moved away from that.

The biggest negative is the date function. There’s no quick-set. If this is the only watch you wear that’s no problem but if you rotate and don’t keep this wound it can be quite tedious. Yes, the jump hour makes it faster than what you’d experience on something like a Vostok but it’s still pretty slow when you’re sitting there trying to adjust over a week’s worth of days.

As great as I think this watch is, today’s price just kills it as a reasonable option when there are so many more affordable GMT watches. You have to really love the 16570 to be willing to pay market prices today; I'd opt for something else personally (or try to secure the newest reference at retail).