Since my other topc was locked (the mod not even pm me the reason for locking), I will repost everything here.
Preface
Here what I am supposed to reveal to everyone on the other thread. Sorry for folks who guess other watch especially Daytona. I love the watch chronograph movement and how does it feel to click on the pusher. But I just not into how does it looks like. It may look good for some but for me I would rather have a L5100 chronograph. Can anyone shed some light on why Daytona is damn polular No offence for Daytona owner ya.
I actually planned to get a submariner but when I actually tried on the watch, it doesn’t look good on my wrist, same goes to Exp 2 and Sea dweller and millgauss. I am not into Daytona as per reasoning above and Deep-Sea for being super huge on my wrist lol
So this is what I got in the pic above. This particular Exp (the older version prior to new release last year) one is owned by the person in the pic wearing Daytona. I am the second owner the Exp one as he sold off his Exp to cover the cost of his Daytona purchase which was his grail that he was looking for for many years. The watch literally transferred from his wrist directly to my wrist on the spot. It’s just matter of being right place and right time. I would have missed the whole thing if I did not show up that particular day. I was happy I was managed to offload some of my unwanted watch since it’s hard to do so on sales forum here and other forum.
I had learned the hard lesson for setting proper direction in collecting watch. I would be better off saving the $ and buy the “one” outright with cash and not settle down with any substitute.Why I choose Explorer?The reason for choosing Exp I is that the watch really fits me well. Look at the wrist shot above and you will understand why. I would wish I would have wear Exp II or SD but it does not look good on my wrist. The newer Rolex release doesn’t help much after all.
Another reason for choosing it is because it’s just
so super low profile. As person who are into watches, I would had have spotted a Submariner/Sub date/Sea Dweller/GMT/Exp II far far away. I have only seen Exp I once in the wild and I only noticed it when I am just beside that person. The watch was super simple too. It is just a 3 handed watch and bezel-less and did not have chrono (My other watches had either or both of this feature). The watch was light coming from heavy chunky diver/chrono watches. Not used to the weight and bezel-less in the beginning, later on I was able to get used to it and start to appreciate the simplicity and elegance of the watch.
Rolex marketing does help a lot in associating the watch with expedition to Mount Everest even though it was known at that time Explorer series was not around yet. Hence the “explorer” watch by their marketing team. Considering last time quartz watch have not existed yet so getting a Rolex at that time was close to wearing a quartz watch or most of people where accuracy matters
The review itselfThe Unboxing part
The watch case is around 36mm which is just perfect size for my wrist. Much smaller than other watches I had. Even the SBCM023 watch is chunkier than this as it is a diver watch. The watch was quite thin in my opinion. I am sure there are thinner watch around but in my collection this is the thinnest watch I ever had after nomos.
The watch is a V series watch and its known that this series for Exp is the last run for it before they discontinued it. It had the ROLEXROLEXROLEX engrave on the side of the dial. Most people don’t like it but I like it very much cause it make it look unik and ppl will straight away think it’s a genuine ones
The dial is just a super simple 3 handed watch.
Simple yet legible dial. The lume is not as good as Seiko but it is more than adequate for night use. I wished the “3” “6” “9” glow in the dark too. They are also the famous “Mercedes” hands used in this watch and Submariner
The watch was polished on the bezel and also the side of the case. I was reserved about the watch being polished in certain area due to the tendency to attract scratches. I wished I could had polish the whole watch case into brushed finish.
The watch crown was with the usual rolex “crown” symbol and had a dash below denoting it is the type of crown it uses (it uses twinlock). For submariner/DSSD/Daytona/GMT master it uses crown with 3 dot below the crown denoting it is a triplock. Operating the crown was smooth and easy to hold onto as no side guard obstructing it. Since it’s a simple time only watch, i only need to pull out the crown once to adjust the time.
BraceletThis is the part I loved about the bracelet. It has the brushed finishing on the bracelet which in my opinion give it a more tool like appearance. The claps is made of stamped steel which attracted a lot of criticism from enthusiast that a watch at this price level should had better bracelet and clasps which was corrected in newer rolex watch. Had to admit that the bracelet was quite comfy on my smaller wrist. I had no experience on the newer bracelet/claps so I cant comment about it. Note, I had to remove a permanent link on the bracelet in order for me to wear this it.
MovementThe watch movement is calibre 3130 which is the date-less version of 3135 movement. This
Movement is well regarded by many as very
reliable and very easy to service. Go search the net for more information about this great movement. Some of watchmaker also told me it is one of the easiest movements to service. In my opinion, it was very good apart that one part of the winding system need to be lubricated properly. Other than that nothing wrong with it.
What I think about it/Conclusion?Most of it I had writing in the initial part of the review. All I can just say it is a simple and timeless watch. Nuff said. I could had just buy it outright with the cash at the beginning instead of trading in some watches for this Exp I. But somehow the event that led to this made it memorable and
I had learned a lesson on watch collecting the hard way =(As for the watch, I may not like rolex as for other it was luxury icon but for me I really
admire the effort they put into making a good watch and I respect the marketing folks there for making what it was today.
What’s next??
I had got what I want for the time being. So I am stopping for time being. Haha… While still surfing the web/online shop for it.
**Pardon me with all those anime stuff… lol XD
Enjoy