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Old 21 February 2016, 01:45 PM   #1
BNA/LION
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OFFICIAL Explorer II 16550 Cream Dial Owner's Thread

Below is some information I gathered before I bought my 1985 Explorer II 16550 "Non-Rail" Cream Dial I thought might entice others on TFR to look into one for themselves.


The highly sought after 61550 Explorer II with Cream "Rail" or "Non-Rail" Dials were produced in short period of time by Rolex between 1985 to 1988 or so... The 16550 silver marker rail dial was the standard key Explorer II too own during the early 2000. The rail dial can be found up until "R" serial and the C's in the two lines of type are lined up.

Then the non-rail silver marker 16550 was placed on the map. The non-rail sentence alignment variation is rarer because it appears to have been produced in lower numbers then the silver marker rail dial 16550. The 16550 non-rail dial variation was produced along side the rail dial in far less numbers. Besides not having the C's in the two lines of type aligned, the layout with no "hyphens" in the bottom 25 T phrase at the 6 o'clock position was different. Notice the T Swiss < 25 T on the non-rail 16550 is unique to the non-rail dial and the SWISS - T < 25 on the rail version.
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Old 21 February 2016, 02:04 PM   #2
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This Watch has just appeared on my Radar recently.Thanks for sharing your Pics and knowledge.
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Old 21 February 2016, 04:25 PM   #3
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What I'd like to know is when the 16550 was released was there 3 dial color options: black, white and cream, or was the cream a defective version of the white dial??
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Old 21 February 2016, 06:46 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Juggernaut View Post
What I'd like to know is when the 16550 was released was there 3 dial color options: black, white and cream, or was the cream a defective version of the white dial??

There was never a "cream" dial version of the 16550. It was just the white dial that turned cream, much like that of the P serial white dial Daytona.

One has to be careful in buying these. The term "rare" mentioned above was first mentioned by Orchi about the non-rail version. It was HIS speculation only. If you're in a market for one of these beautiful cream 16550. The rail-dial is the one to get. Contrary to what was said above, the non-rail dial 16550s are easily found than the rail-dial counterpart. Be careful and not play into these rarity bs, and pay the top prices for these. You can find the the cream non rail for around $8K-$9K for top specimen; the rail cream 16550s are any where #11K-$15K these days. Crap, the cream rail dials alone are going for $5k-$6 if you can find them. Non rail cream dials are going for $600.00 - $900.00 on VRF and Ebay.

Rail or not, these are beautiful collectible watches. Congrats
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Old 21 February 2016, 06:51 PM   #5
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That dial is gorgeous
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Old 21 February 2016, 10:11 PM   #6
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Love cream dial and miss mine...Some day another though for certain!
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Old 23 February 2016, 05:14 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Juggernaut View Post
What I'd like to know is when the 16550 was released was there 3 dial color options: black, white and cream, or was the cream a defective version of the white dial??

The general consensus was that they originally came only in black or white, but there r some who believed the cream was actually a third option. I believe Jed tried to offer some proofs. Search old threads here n vrf.


I blame it on the autoconnect.
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Old 24 February 2016, 02:01 AM   #8
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Love cream dial and miss mine...Some day another though for certain!
WHAT?!? Your cream dial Explorer II was one of my favorites! Man, she was gorgeous.
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Old 24 February 2016, 01:12 PM   #9
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Looks very nice!
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Old 24 February 2016, 01:29 PM   #10
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Love that cream dial look very nice
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Old 24 February 2016, 02:01 PM   #11
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Love these. Great information.
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Old 7 January 2020, 12:17 PM   #12
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OFFICIAL Explorer II 16550 Cream Dial Owner's Thread

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✦ 28238 President DD 18K/YG ✦ 16610LN SS Sub ✦ 16613 18K/SS Serti ✦ 16550 Exp II Non-Rail Cream Dial ✦ Daytona C 116500 ✦ 126710 BLRO GMT-Master II ✦ NEXT-->?
Hole In One! 10/3/19 DMCC 5th hole, par 3, 168 yards w/ 4-Iron.
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Old 8 January 2020, 12:32 AM   #13
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i've been searching for a reasonably priced one for about a year now, prices are nuts!

Enjoy this one
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Old 13 June 2020, 01:08 AM   #14
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Apologies for bumping an old thread - do we think this dial is legitimate? Or one of those 'cooked in the oven' versions?

Thanks in advance.



https://www.chrono24.com/rolex/explo...id15365193.htm
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Old 13 June 2020, 05:24 AM   #15
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That’s a slick watch.


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Old 13 June 2020, 02:48 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by FrenchBigCrown View Post
Apologies for bumping an old thread - do we think this dial is legitimate? Or one of those 'cooked in the oven' versions?



Thanks in advance.







https://www.chrono24.com/rolex/explo...id15365193.htm
Hi! I really can't say one way or the other. It has the silver hands and surrounds. I'm a little concerned about what looks like discoloration on the outer edges of the dial. I would probably pass and keep hunting for a better example.

Here is a few recent picture of mine.

Good Luck!
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Hole In One! 10/3/19 DMCC 5th hole, par 3, 168 yards w/ 4-Iron.
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Old 13 June 2020, 07:17 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BNA/LION View Post
Hi! I really can't say one way or the other. It has the silver hands and surrounds. I'm a little concerned about what looks like discoloration on the outer edges of the dial. I would probably pass and keep hunting for a better example.
Thanks for the reply.

Really nice 'non-rail' you have there.

Health to enjoy!

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Old 13 June 2020, 07:18 PM   #18
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I would probably pass and keep hunting for a better example.
Another one from Italy.



https://www.chrono24.com/rolex/explo...id11211594.htm
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Old 13 June 2020, 07:22 PM   #19
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My 9m serial 16550 cream, white glove as reference to how creamy the dial turned.
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Old 13 June 2020, 07:46 PM   #20
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My 9m serial 16550 cream, white glove as reference to how creamy the dial turned.
That's lovely!

Health to enjoy.

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Old 13 June 2020, 08:48 PM   #21
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Is this bezel correct guys? The numbers don't look 'recessed'. (1988 watch.)

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Old 13 June 2020, 09:14 PM   #22
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My 9m serial 16550 cream, white glove as reference to how creamy the dial turned.
How come this one looks like it has a 16570 bezel?
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Old 13 June 2020, 11:37 PM   #23
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How come this one looks like it has a 16570 bezel?
very sharp, the bezel was replaced with service, still have the original bezel, thinking of putting it back on.....
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Old 14 June 2020, 01:13 AM   #24
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very sharp, the bezel was replaced with service, still have the original bezel, thinking of putting it back on.....
I was going to say, that bezel is in immaculate shape for a 20+ year old one.
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Old 14 June 2020, 06:46 AM   #25
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OFFICIAL Explorer II 16550 Cream Dial Owner's Thread Reload this Page Reply to Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by FrenchBigCrown View Post
Thanks for the reply.

Really nice 'non-rail' you have there.

Health to enjoy!

Thanks! For me the colors of the hands and surrounds must match. The dial needs to be creamy and complement the color of hands/surrounds. IMHO

I really like the Non-rail dial and searched for many years to find exactly what I wanted. T Swiss < 25 T

Happy Hunting & Good Luck!
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Hole In One! 10/3/19 DMCC 5th hole, par 3, 168 yards w/ 4-Iron.
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Old 14 June 2020, 08:43 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by BNA/LION View Post
Thanks! For me the colors of the hands and surrounds must match. The dial needs to be creamy and complement the color of hands/surrounds. IMHO

I really like the Non-rail dial and searched for many years to find exactly what I wanted. T Swiss < 25 T

Happy Hunting & Good Luck!
Merci!

I agree on the hands/indices matching/complimenting the dial - some 'cream' dials I've seen have really dark markers etc. - not so nice.

I never noticed the extra 'T' - cool.
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Old 14 July 2020, 06:55 AM   #27
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Sorry to bump this. However I thought I would share that I also have creme 16550, which also has a non-Rail, non Hyphen dial.

s/N 93*****

The watch is complete with box and papers.
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Old 14 July 2020, 10:33 AM   #28
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Sorry to bump this. However I thought I would share that I also have creme 16550, which also has a non-Rail, non Hyphen dial.



s/N 93*****



The watch is complete with box and papers.
Sweet! Please post some pictures here.
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✦ 28238 President DD 18K/YG ✦ 16610LN SS Sub ✦ 16613 18K/SS Serti ✦ 16550 Exp II Non-Rail Cream Dial ✦ Daytona C 116500 ✦ 126710 BLRO GMT-Master II ✦ NEXT-->?
Hole In One! 10/3/19 DMCC 5th hole, par 3, 168 yards w/ 4-Iron.
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Old 14 July 2020, 05:44 PM   #29
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I eventually bought this - full set...
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Old 17 July 2020, 06:44 AM   #30
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Sweet! Please post some pictures here.
Sorry, I’m a newbie and do not have enough post yet.

I also have a Black Rail 16550
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