As it has been in the past few years, ROLEX will release a trailer for the new watch before releasing its 2021 new watch next week, revealing a little bit about what the new watch will look like. And from the latest short video, it is very likely to be Explorer II, so let’s analyze it for everyone now!
First of all, the Explorer II, which was launched in 1971, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and it is natural to launch an anniversary watch. From the trailer, everyone saw clips of going deep underground and climbing to the top of the mountain. I am not sure whether it is Mount Everest in the video, because the Explorer series has a close relationship with Mount Everest. As early as 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay both wore Explorer prototype watches to climb Mount Everest at an altitude of 8,848 meters. It is easy to use Mount Everest as a metaphor for the new watch as Explorer.
Or would you guess whether the new watch will be Explorer? From the video, we can see that the new watch also has Rolex’s signature “BENZ” hour hand. You should know that Explorer Ref.214270 has not been updated since 2016, and it has not been equipped with a new movement. But if you look closely at the short film, you will find that the new watch has a Rolex signature date magnifier, so the Explorer with only hours, minutes, seconds and “3-6-9” time scale can be eliminated. The protagonist of the new watch this time is always the Explorer II with date and GMT hands!
So the protagonist of the new watch in 2021 is only one Explorer II? Not necessarily! Or Rolex will prepare a bigger surprise for everyone! It is the long-lost red and black two-color bezel GMT-Master II, which is the “Coke Bezel”! Why is there such a bold guess? Because Tudor, as a brother brand, also released a new watch preview yesterday, showing a picture of black and red smoke combined into one on the official website. The new watch may be the “Coke Bezel” Black Bay GMT! Remember that in 2018, Tudor launched the red and blue “Pepsi bezel”, and big brother Rolex also brought the “Pepsi bezel” GMT-Master II to join in the fun. So if Tudor plays the “Coke bezel” this year, Rolex also has the opportunity to launch the red and black “Coke bezel” that has not yet been replaced with a ceramic bezel! Are you looking forward to it?
Of course, if the 50th anniversary version of Rolex Explorer II is really launched in 2021, there will be major changes. Based on past experience, the new Rolex Explorer II will be replaced with a new movement, and the size of the watch may also be changed!
If you pay attention to the Submariner launched in 2020, you will know that the new series has changed from 40mm to 41mm case size. The outside world speculates that Rolex seems to intend to update its multiple sports watch series to 41mm case size, so many comments estimate that if the new Rolex Explorer II is really launched in 2021, it is very likely to be transformed into a 41mm size, announcing the arrival of a new Explorer II era.
Whether it is Submariner, GMT-Master II or Daytona, the new series all use new movements with 70 hours of power reserve, and I believe the new Rolex Explorer II will be the same. And since Rolex Explorer II actually also has the GMT function, whether it uses the 3285 movement like GMT-Master II (Ref.126710BLNR), or whether it has a slightly modified new movement due to the different watch sizes, it is all predictable.
The current generation of Rolex Explorer II (Ref.216570) has a fixed stainless steel outer bezel with a 24-hour display, but this is a setting from 10 years ago. Converting to a ceramic bezel seems to be the general trend, but in order to still have a certain difference from GMT-Master II, it may maintain a fixed outer bezel and continue to use a single-color setting.
The current Rolex Explorer II is priced at HK$64,700. If there is really a new Rolex Explorer II in 2021, due to the new movement, according to the previous Submariner pricing strategy, the price of Rolex Explorer II can be expected to increase. Whether it will remain within $70,000 or break the 70,000 mark is unknown!
Of course, in addition to Rolex Explorer II becoming a hot choice for Rolex’s new watch in 2021, Rolex Explorer is also expected to become a hot choice! Rolex Explorer (Ref. 214270) was launched in 2010, and Ref. 214270 Mark II was launched in 2016. After fine-tuning, the hands became slightly larger, and the number “369” finally brought back the luminous coating. And today, 11 years after the initial launch of Ref. 214270, the possibility of simultaneous updates with Rolex Explorer II is also very high!
Dutch 
English 
Russian 
Italian 
German 
Danish 
French 
Swedish