| Brand: | Rolex |
| Model: | Explorer |
| Reference: | 124270 |
| Gender: | Uni-sex |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Material: | stainless steel |
| Dial Color: | Black |
| Dimensions: | 36 mm |
| Watch Movement: | automatic |
| Bracelet/Strap: | steel |
| Box/Paper: | Full set box and papers |
| Condition: | New Old Stock NOS |
WRIST ICONS brings you the classic but newest 2021 Rolex Explorer in the classic 36mm size. This is the legend, this is the myth, so get yourself the one and only icon!
From the very first editions of this watch to 2010 and the introduction of the reference 214270, the Explorer will be fitted with its iconic black dial, Mercedes hands and 3-6-9 indexes, and housed in an Oyster case measuring 36mm in diameter. As of 2010, Rolex increased the size to 39mm… And we clearly thought that this would remain the norm for the years to come.
In 2021 Rolex introduced new editions of its classic Explorer watch. While the brand mostly emphasized its communication on the Rolesor edition (ref. 124273), there was also a classic stainless steel model joining the collection (ref. 124270). But the most important move wasn’t in this choice of material. It had to do with the diameter of the watch. Indeed, gone is the 39mm edition, as the 214270 is now discontinued. It will soon be replaced by the 124270 and 124273 watches, and both are 36mm in diameter. As such, Rolex comes back to the historic size of the watch.
The Rolex Explorer – which will be unofficially named Explorer 1 after 1971, when the Crown launched the Explorer II – was born in 1953, following the brand’s involvement in several expeditions since the 1930s. In 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. It is now well-known that watches were involved in this expedition, from Smith and, of course, Rolex – with an Oyster Perpetual reference 6098, worn by Norgay (back then still not a proper Explorer, as not fitted with the 3-6-9 dial).
Like all Rolex movements today, the Caliber 3230 is entirely developed and manufactured in-house by Rolex. It is also self-winding, or in Rolex language, Perpetual. The movement is based on the previous generation 3130 caliber but features numerous improvements and upgrades which makes it more reliable and durable. At the same time, it is also based on the date version of this movement, caliber 3235, which was released back in 2015. With that said, the caliber 3235 and 3230 are almost identical, with the difference being that one of them features a date function and the other does not.
Calibre 3230 is a movement entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex, launched by the brand in 2020. At the forefront of watchmaking technology, this self-winding mechanical movement led to the filing of several patents, and offers fundamental gains in terms of precision, power reserve, resistance to shocks and magnetic fields, convenience and reliability. Calibre 3230 incorporates the Chronergy escapement patented by Rolex, which com- bines high energy efficiency with great dependability.
Compared to a Swiss lever escapement which is the standard in Swiss watchmaking which relays barely more than a third of the energy it receives from the mainspring via the gear train to the oscillator, the Chronergy escapement improves the efficiency of this key component by 15 percent.
Furthermore, Rolex has increased the power reserve of the 3230 to 70 hours and attributes almost half of the increased power reserve to the escapement itself. The rest can be attributed to the barrel architecture. The 70-hour power reserve is nearly 50% more than the 48 hours offered by the previous generation caliber 3130.
For the caliber 3230, the oscillator has a large balance wheel with variable inertia regulated extremely precisely via gold Microstella nuts. Holding it in place, Rolex incorporates a height-adjustable traversing bridge that enables stable positioning, increasing resistance to shock. Furthermore, Rolex has also equipped the oscillator with Paraflex shock absorbers to improve the shock-resistance further.
The caliber 3230 also has a blue Parachrom hairspring which is made in a paramagnetic alloy, making it Insensitive to magnetic fields. It can also handle temperature variations very well, and according to Rolex, it will remain up to 10 times more precise than a traditional hairspring if subject to shocks. Rolex also uses an overcoil for better regularity regardless of position.
Generating energy to the movement is the Perpetual rotor which rotates as a result of the wrist’s movements, ensuring it never runs out of energy. Rolex released and patented the Perpetual rotor in 1931, and has made substantial improvements to it over the years.
Like all Rolex movements, the caliber 3230 is COSC certified and specified to an accuracy of -2/+2 seconds per day. And like all current Rolex movements, it beats with a frequency of 28800 BPH.
The Rolex 3230 caliber is an automatic wound movement with the following characteristics:
This piece is new old stock.
As with all of our pre-owned watches this watch comes with a full 12 month warranty with ourselves that will be invoked from the day of purchase.