Rolex Explorer - 2023 - 224270

Twenty-ninth of May, 1953. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest wearing Oyster Perpetual watches. They descended alive. Rolex launched the Explorer later that year—a watch tested at 29,029 feet, built for people who go places without roads.

The 224270 arrived in March 2023 at Watches & Wonders, ending two years of debate about the Explorer's proper size. When Rolex shrunk the collection to 36mm in 2021, collectors split cleanly: half celebrated the return to 1953 proportions, half complained about trend-resistant sizing. The discontinued 39mm reference 214270 immediately jumped £2,000 on the secondary market. Rolex's response was the Explorer 40—not a replacement for the 36mm models, but a companion reference filling the gap between compact and contemporary.

Forty millimetres in Oystersteel. Monobloc middle case machined from a solid block of 904L stainless steel—the same corrosion-resistant alloy used in aerospace and chemical industries. Polished smooth bezel. Brushed case sides and bracelet with polished bevels catching light at angles. Twinlock winding crown with double gaskets. Screw-down caseback. One hundred metres water resistance. The watch weighs nothing remarkable and wears smaller than its diameter suggests—short lugs, 11.6mm thickness, 21mm lug width creating balanced proportions.

The dial is lacquered black. Three Arabic numerals at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock—the Explorer's signature since 1953. Applied baton hour markers elsewhere. Inverted triangle at 12 o'clock. All indices and Mercedes-style hands are solid 18K white gold filled with Chromalight luminous material emitting blue glow in darkness. No date. No complications. No distractions. Just hours, minutes, seconds against black.

Inside sits Calibre 3230—Rolex's time-only workhorse introduced in 2020. Seventy-hour power reserve, double what older 3130-series movements offered. Chronergy escapement with optimised geometry increasing efficiency by fifteen per cent. Paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring—ten times more resistant to shocks than traditional hairsprings, unaffected by magnetic fields, unaffected by temperature variations. High-performance Paraflex shock absorbers. Bidirectional automatic winding via Perpetual rotor. Superlative Chronometer certified—accuracy within minus two, plus two seconds daily after casing. The movement is invisible beneath a solid caseback, but it's engineered to Rolex's post-2015 standards where reliability matters more than decoration.

The Oyster bracelet uses three-piece solid links—satin-brushed surfaces, polished bevels. Oysterlock folding clasp prevents accidental opening. Easylink rapid extension system allows 5mm adjustment without tools—useful when wrists swell in heat or shrink in cold. The bracelet tapers slightly towards the clasp, creating visual flow from case to wrist.

Very good condition from 2023 means the watch shows light wear consistent with use—hairline scratches on polished surfaces, maybe slight dulling on brushed areas. Oystersteel scratches easily but polishes easily. Full set means box, papers, warranty card dated 2023, hang tags. Current Rolex boxes are presentation cases with green exterior, cream interior, magnetic closure.

The Explorer 40 sits between the 36mm references (124270 in steel, 124273 in Rolesor) and the 42mm Explorer II. It's the largest time-only Explorer Rolex has ever made—bigger than the 39mm it unofficially replaces, returning to a size last seen on the original 6350 from 1953 which also measured 40mm. No date complication. No GMT hand. No rotating bezel. Just a watch that tells time in conditions ranging from Everest base camp to boardroom presentations.

Tool watch that works everywhere. Seventy years of continuous production refined into forty millimetres of stainless steel. Full set from 2023 still under five-year warranty.