Rolex Explorer II ref 1655 “Steve McQueen” MK1

Introduced in 1971 the Explorer MK11 was purposely made for a select sporting group of speleologists or cave explorers to you and me ,Now I have to confess I am not sure who at Rolex thought that was a great gap in the market but needless to say the watch was not generally well received when it was launched and very much like the Rolex Daytona’s of that era they sat in dealers windows unsold for some time ,now we all wish we had a time machine to nip back and buy up everything those dealers had in stock because just like the Daytona’s of the era the Explorer II ref 1655 is highly prized by all collectors today and none more so than the elusive MK1

Just like a variant of the Daytona was named after a super cool star of the period Paul Newman somehow the Explorer II became known to collectors as the Steve McQueen although for the record no one actually has a picture of Mr McQueen actually wearing one, but let’s not split hairs.

This example from the early seventies is in superb condition and has the original Mk 1 t Swiss t dial not the later swiss t <25 variant and also the earlier non lollipop second hand.

The stainless-steel case is also in great shape with great fat lugs and the original MK2 fixed steel bezel.

The watch comes fitted to the original Rolex bracelet ref 7836 date stamped 4/72

The Explorer 11 1655 is a superb choice for the collector looking for a stunning vintage watch that’s robust enough to wear every day that offers a different look than other sports models in the Rolex product range.

Our stock number 2133

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