Reading the Explorer II: References, Generations, and the One to Chase

<p>16570. Five digits that ran for twenty-two years, the longest single Explorer II reference and the one most people mean when they say they want the model. Learn to read the number and you can date almost any example on sight, sort a fair ask from a hopeful one, and skip the pieces that trade on confusion.</p> <p>The leading digits fix the family. A five-digit reference in the 165xx range places you in the vintage-to-neo-vintage run, while a six-digit reference beginning 216 or 226 marks the modern 42mm cases. The trailing figures track case and material, and on this model that means steel throughout, since the Explorer II never left Oystersteel for precious metal.</p> <ul> <li>1655 (1971 to the mid-1980s): 39mm, caliber 1575, a fixed orange 24-hour hand and no independent adjustment. The vintage darling, priced accordingly.</li> <li>16550 (1985 to 1988): 40mm, caliber 3085, the first with an independently set 24-hour hand and a date Cyclops. Short run, and some white dials aged to cream.</li> <li>16570 (1989 to 2011): 40mm, calibers 3185 then 3186 from 2007, black or white "Polar" dial. The long-haul reference.</li> <li>216570 (2011 to 2021): 42mm, caliber 3187, the orange hand back on the dial and a larger case.</li> <li>226570 (2021 onward): 42mm, caliber 3285 with a longer power reserve.</li> </ul> <p>Two things catch buyers. Cream 16550 dials command a premium, so repainted fakes chase that money, and a genuine cream dial wants strong provenance with lume that matches its age. The 16570 also spans the 3185-to-3186 caliber change around 2007, and the later movement corrected a known 24-hour hand alignment quirk, so some sellers blur which one sits inside a given year. Ask for the caliber, not just the date.</p> <p>For daily wear that holds value without vintage fragility, a late 16570 with the 3186 movement, papers, and an unpolished 40mm case reads as the sweet spot. Old enough to have character, new enough to service without drama.</p>