Explorer 1 - 124270 - a strapmonster ?

[jipstone]

Just picked mine yesterday. I was very pleased to get the call from AD, as when I asked them to put me on the list, I was told I should be ready to wait up to a year…
Well, that year turned in a month, and there it is.

I had a 14270, which I sold back in April to make room in my collection for the new one. This 124270 really ticks all boxes which weren’t ticked by the old one: lumed numbers, AR coating, good bracelet.

As a lume fanatic (I have a light sleep), that one was important for me. With non luminescent numbers, 14270 always appeared to me in the dark as if something were broken. The new one’s lume is hands down the best I have seen so far: not the brightest but really long lasting. I read somewhere that it might be due to the blue color which is better perceived by the eye than superluminova’s green, but in the end, who cares?

As dimensions and weight have been discussed at length, I will not comment these.
Still there is one aspect which might interest those among you who, like me, like to change straps and put on leather, natos, whatever (sorry for the purists who think this is heresy ;-). One drawdown for the 14270 (in my opinion) was that the springbars were to close to the case to put anything else than the bracelet. I feel that there is now more space, and a leather strap which is not too thick is now ok. I say I feel, because as I sold my 14270, I’m no more able to measure the difference. Still, I was not able to put the vintage leather strap (see pic below) with the old one.

Please pardon my mistakes if there are any, as english is not my native language.

Take care

Some pics:
IMG_2205.jpg
IMG_2209.jpg
IMG_2208.jpg


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[JakeK]

I agree. I've seen some explorers on rubber and nato straps and they look really good.

[matthew P]

You have 19mm straps ready to go or did you squeeze in a 20mm strap….. looks surprisingly good either way


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[jipstone]

Originally Posted by matthew P

You have 19mm straps ready to go or did you squeeze in a 20mm strap….. looks surprisingly good either way


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I had a 19mm ready. I did squeeze soft 20mm natos in 19mm lugs, but I guess it might be more difficult with leather. I will give it a try with a 20mm strap.


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[AJMarcus]

Looks cool. Might like really awesome on a tapered leather strap. Congrats and enjoy. .

[mike morris]

strapmonster =MOONWATCH .

[gnuyork]

Good to know. Thanks for posting. I think a gray NATO would look fantastic on the new Explorer.

[BDII]

I’d love to see some more pictures on leather for this one. Not many out there!

[TimeAZ]

The 114270 was a strap monster, owing to the 20mm lug width.

Dimensions on the new release (124270) are too restrictive so no, I do not view it as a strap monster, unless you have a full stockpile of 19mm NATOs, rubber and leather bands.

Regardless I think it looks best on its native bracelet and should just remain on the factory bracelet, as with all Rolex watches.

[OrangeSport]

Looks good.

[AJMarcus]

Originally Posted by mike morris

strapmonster =MOONWATCH .

No better strap monster indeed

[psv]

Big congrats. I still have my Y-serial 114270. Not going anywhere.

[CarlOver]

Looks good. Explorer line seems to look just right with leather. Maybe suede too.

[CPZorro]

Would love to see more pictures of others’ explorers on leather. It was funny, I was just thinking of swapping my explorer 214270 bracelet for a nice vintage leather strap this morning.

[fskywalker]

Looks good!


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[DLRIDES]

My all time favorite Explorer on a strap, posted by a member. Why Rolex doesn’t offer this combination is perplexing.






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[Brny11]

Originally Posted by DLRIDES

My all time favorite Explorer on a strap, posted by a member. Why Rolex doesn’t offer this combination is perplexing.






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Couldn’t agree more. This is incredible. People say Everest, etc. Nope. Oyster flex with end links hits different.

[GGGMT]

Originally Posted by DLRIDES

My all time favorite Explorer on a strap, posted by a member. Why Rolex doesn’t offer this combination is perplexing.






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X1 strap is sick.


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[CPZorro]

I was thinking about doing this with my BLNR. Ordered end links from Smarty. I wonder if they’ll work on my explorer after seeing those pictures.

[AndersB]

Although I love the fact that they brought it down to 36 mm again and it's got some nice details on the bracelet, it's a pity they didn't use the the more rounded 3-6-9 style that they use on the bronze Black-Bay dial. That would have brought it so much closer to the 1016 dial.

[stevecv]

It is a strap monster, however I don't think I'll ever take mine off the oyster.

[WatchNutcase]

Strap monster I'm not so sure, I think maybe even the Datejust 36mm with fluted bezel and silver dial would be able to take on an even larger variety of leather and suede.

[matthew P]

My 214270 never lasted more than a day on leather….. I could see why the fitted rubber would add some increased functionality but I won’t even be bothering to try the 124 on anything but it’s stock bracelet…. For my wrist I feel like the smaller explorer needs the added visual mass that there bracket provides.

I’d add pictures but tapatalk is throttling my ability to upload images


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[matthew P]

More photo

[CPZorro]

Originally Posted by matthew P

More photo

Those straps look great. Nice pictures! Thanks for your perspective too.

[dnpina]

My humble 214270 likes to stay on the stainless bracelet.

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[173rdabn]

Strap or bracelet, it's a great watch.

[Kyle3130]

Originally Posted by 173rdabn

Strap or bracelet, it's a great watch.

Agreed

[Daniel23456]

Originally Posted by matthew P

My 214270 never lasted more than a day on leather….. I could see why the fitted rubber would add some increased functionality but I won’t even be bothering to try the 124 on anything but it’s stock bracelet…. For my wrist I feel like the smaller explorer needs the added visual mass that there bracket provides.

I’d add pictures but tapatalk is throttling my ability to upload images


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Did you get the 124270 at the end? I remember seeing you contemplating whether you should stick to the 214 or go with the new 124.

[matthew P]

Originally Posted by Daniel23456

Did you get the 124270 at the end? I remember seeing you contemplating whether you should stick to the 214 or go with the new 124.

I did….. just picked up the new 36mm explorer a couple of weeks ago.
I’m completely sold on the smaller size.
Love the gloss dial, increase power reserve and AR coating. It’s a dressier watch but still has a sporty feel. The dial size is the major difference….. this one just feels better on my wrist and more of what I was looking for when I fell in love with the classic 36mm vintage explorer. The 39mm MKII always looked better to me on wrist than the original explorer…… some how the new 19mm lug width allows the smaller explorer to wear bigger to me , even if it takes away the 20mm strap monster ability if the mk II .


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