Rolex Explorer II 42mm Polar White Dial, Ref. 216570 -0001 with B&P

Rolex Explorer II 42mm Polar White Dial, Ref. 216570 -0001 with B&P

Condition: Very good, pre-owned condition and running very strong with 2025 Rolex service.

Contents: Double-boxed, booklet, 2017 warranty card, 2025 Rolex service card with warranty coverage to December 2027 and travel pouch.

The Polar Explorer II: Rolex’s Most Honest Tool Watch, in Its Final Calibre 3187 Form
Introduced at Baselworld 2011, the 216570 brought the Explorer II up to a 42mm Oystersteel case and revived the orange 24-hour hand from the original 1971 Ref. 1655. The white “Polar” dial has black-outlined Chromalight hour markers and hands, and it reads with the clarity the reference was built for: telling day from night in places where daylight gives no clues. A fixed, brushed steel bezel with a 24-hour scale works with the independently adjustable orange hand to track a second time zone. Power comes from the in-house Calibre 3187, a COSC-certified automatic fitted with a Parachrom Blue hairspring and Paraflex shock absorbers. The case has a screw-down Twinlock crown and is water resistant to 100 meters, and it sits on an Oyster bracelet with an Oysterlock folding safety clasp and Easylink comfort extension. Production ran from 2011 to 2021, when the 226570 replaced it with the Calibre 3285, so this is now a closed reference: a fixed supply of watches with the 3187 movement and the original 42mm Polar layout. Complete examples with box and papers are the strongest way to own it, because documentation is what supports value in the secondary market as the reference ages.

For a collector who wants a true expedition-lineage Rolex with a visible link to the 1655 and a movement generation that is no longer made, this full-set Polar is a well-documented way in.