Rolex Unveils Its New-Generation Explorer II
Rolex Just Reminded Us Why It s the King of Luxury Watches
Rolex
Yes, gem-filled bezels and ultra-thin architecture might be a sure-fire way to get people talking about new watch releases, but for Rolex luxury sports watches need to do more than dazzle you. And the brand is proving an age-old proverb with its new-generation Explorer II: Why change a winning formula?
It s all eyes on Geneva as Watches And Wonders 2021 week kicks off today, where watchmakers will introduce us to some highly desirable new luxury watches. And while ostentatious has become the name of the game for some, Rolex remains committed to traditional watchmaking and finishing as they always have been. Case in point, the new Explorer II ref. 216570.
Did we expect more? Progress at Rolex comes in either giant leaps or in barely perceptible steps – and usually the latter. And so it is this year. Today’s news from the giant of Swiss watchmaking, delivered at the Watches And Wonders online fair, is another case of slow and steady wins the race: the new Explorer and Explorer II models barely move the needle, but there’s no question they make sense and no question they’ll prove hugely popular.
A bit of background. The Explorer is one of Rolex’s more established models. It was introduced in 1953 and designed with input from the expedition that took Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the top of Mount Everest. Its function and aesthetic were all about utility, as were those of the Explorer II, which was designed for speleologists and polar explorers and followed in 1971. These were hardy, legible, reassuring watches.
In 2019, Ulysse Nardin released a watch that turned heads – and not just because it was eye-catching. The Hourstriker Phantom was a chiming watch with an extraordinary volume – 85 dB if measured from 10cm away – created in partnership with the audio tech company Devialet (itself set up by a descendant of Ulysse Nardin). When this watch struck the hour, it was about as loud as standing 30m from a diesel train rattling past at 45mph. If you can imagine that.
For Watches And Wonders 2021, Ulysse Nardin has tapped once again into Devialet s know-how for a new chiming piece. The Blast Hourstriker picks up where the Hourstriker Phantom left off. Like the original, it is designed for volume. In a traditional chiming watch, when the hammer hits the gong, the sound wave is partly absorbed into the workings of the timepiece. In Ulysse Nardin’s Hourstriker pieces, however, the gong is connected by “torsion levers” to a 0.3mm thick titanium membrane which, like a speaker, moves air
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