How to set your Rolex Explorer II

The Rolex Explorer II was first released in 1971, and unlike its related sibling the, Explorer, the Explorer II was designed for people who were exploring underground rather than above ground. This created some interesting hurdles for Rolex to overcome so it was practical to be used underground.

To enable this watch to be read easily underground Rolex made the watch larger in size, giving it a 39mm case and then paired this with a larger and thicker white hour hands to contrast against the black dial, as well as a striking orange 24 hour hand that pointed to the steel bezel. The bezel was numbered with even numbers from 2-24. The orange hand and the steel bezel enabled the user to know what time of day or night it was, which is not always obvious when being underground (on earlier models it was not possible to set the hand independently to the hour hands, whereas this is possible on the later models, meaning this hand could be used separately).

To set the time on the Explorer II (216570/226570) firstly unscrew the crown by winding it down, then pull the crown out to the second notch and wind the hands in either direction until second time (orange hand) zone time is correct. Then push the crown into the first notch then wind the crown in either direction to set the local time and date. When setting this the hour hand will move in a jumpy/clicking fashion between the hour markers.