Welcome to Watches You Should Know, a biweekly column highlighting important or little-known watches with interesting backstories and unexpected influence. This week: the Rolex Explorer. The Explorer ...

Swiss luxury watchmaker Rolex has debuted a new iteration of one of its most famous timepieces: the Explorer II, which was first introduced in 1971 as a special object designed for explorers traveling ...

If the Rolex Submariner was the original sports watch, then the Explorer II was the original extreme sports watch. Introduced in 1971 as a timepiece for cave and polar exploration, this was a watch ...

Did we expect more? Progress at Rolex comes in either giant leaps or in barely perceptible steps – and usually the latter. And so it is this year. Today’s news from the giant of Swiss watchmaking, ...

Usually when we talk about vintage watches, we're referring to watches from before the mid-1980s, when such technologies as quick-set date mechanisms, fade-resistant paints, and sapphire crystals came ...

A wave of affordable GMT watches from brands like Jack Mason, Shinola, and Timex is targeting the style and functionality of the Rolex Explorer II at a fraction of the cost. These models combine Rolex ...