1997 Rolex Explorer II (Ref. 16570) Polar "Tritinova" Dial

It seems as though every reference and iteration of the Rolex Explorer II has details that set them drastically apart from one another, making it the Rolex reference that has seen the most drastic evolution through its tenure. From the first and original "orange hand" matte dial ref. 1655, to the modern 42mm produced today, and everything in between.

The Rolex Explorer II ref. 16570  was introduced in 1989, directly succeeding the transitional ref. 16550 with some subtle cosmetic and internal upgrades. The Rolex Explorer II ref. 16570 employs the updated and robust cal. 3185 jumping hour movement, the black paint on the hands and marker surrounds is now standard on the white or “polar” dial variants, and the bezel font has been slightly modified from the previous reference. 

This example retains its original and actually very rare "Tritinova" dial. During the late '90s, Rolex was transitioning its luminous material from tritium lume to the non-radioactive luminova lume. During this transitional period, a few of the remaining "T SWISS - T < 25" signed dial blanks were filled with luminova luminous material from the Rolex factory. This makes for an ultra transitional dial variant that gives you the presence of a more vintage style watch, with the modern functionality of luminova lume.