
Jonathan Darracott
Global Head
Sold for £20,062.50 inc. premium
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Head of Department
Head of sale, Knightsbridge
The Rolex Explorer II 1655 first appeared on the market in 1971 and continued the tradition of the earlier Explorer models which were first introduced in 1953. The watch was originally developed to accompany speleologists on their cave exploration expeditions and as such was designed with extreme durability in mind. It features a bright orange luminous 24-hour triangle tipped hand providing optimum legibility even in bad lighting situations. Due to its limited commercial success and short production period, the reference 1655 is today one of the more sought after Vintage Rolex models.
The current example features the highly desirably MK1 dial and early straight seconds hand. Two of the components that epitomise a perfect early Explorer II.