Today, watches like the Submariner, GMT Master, Explorer and Turnograph are known as sports models. However, when they were introduced over some 50 years ago, they were created for specific professions and famously known as the TOOLWATCH.
The origin of the Explorer dates back to the early 1950s, when Rolex began to test the durability of its bubbleback models as a utility watch. Starting from Ref: 6098 and 6150 which were given to mountaineers and expedition members including members of the British Himalayas expedition who conquered Mount Everest in 1953 and subsequently the name EXLORER was adopted. The watch saw numerous changes over the years, and many models namely 6610, 5500, 5504 and 1016 were introduced. The vintage Rolex Explorer 1 is a simple watch with the famous 369 markers but it has its unique appeal for its simple look without date.
