The Explorer has a way of sneaking up on you. It’s not all that flashy, has no real complexity to speak of, features slightly strange looking numerals at 3, 6, and 9, and clocks in at a diminutive 36mm in diameter. Yet, it’s a watch that gets under the skin over time and exposure. At least that was the case for the trio of Explorer owners at Worn & Wound. In this collector’s roundtable, Kat Shoulder, Zach Weiss, and Blake Buettner sit down to discuss three different references of the Explorer that have managed to find a spot in each of their collections.
Three references that represent two different generations of the Explorer, and two generations that manage to tell two very different stories about where Rolex is, and where they’ve been. Yet, somehow, these watches share an obvious core DNA that binds them. In this video, we find the modern references 124270 (steel), 124273 (steel & gold), and the 114270 (steel) from the early ‘00s. Each has their own unique appeal, and each says something specific about us as collectors.