When was the Rolex 16570 made?

From 1989 to 2011, by most sources. Teddy Baldassarre says production ran through 2010.

Is the Rolex 16570 still in production?

No. Rolex replaced it in 2011 with the 216570, which grew to 42 mm. The current Explorer II is the 226570 of 2021.

Is the white «Polar» dial a different reference?

No. White and black dials are both ref. 16570 and were made through the whole run. Dealers price the white one higher, and Chrono24's asking prices mostly agree: white asked more in five of seven archived copies, by 6 to 14 per cent in 2025, and black slightly more in two copies from 2024.

Is the 16570 a GMT watch?

Yes, in practice. Its hour hand can be set on its own in one-hour steps, so the 24-hour hand can show a second time zone against the fixed bezel.

What is the difference between the 3185 and the 3186?

The 3186 added a blue Parachrom hairspring and largely removed a slight wobble of the 24-hour hand when setting it. The switch came between 2005 and 2007, depending on the source.

How do I tell a 16570 from a 16550?

On a white dial, white gold surrounds mean a 16550; black surrounds usually mean a 16570, though some late 16550s had them too. The 16550 has calibre 3085, the 16570 the 3185 or 3186.

What did a Rolex 16570 cost new?

In a US-dollar retail table that began as a Rolex dealer's handout: USD 2,750 in September 1992, USD 4,450 in February 2005 and USD 6,325 in September 2010. It is not a Rolex document.

Does the 16570 hold its value?

It depends on the window. On Chrono24's first page the median asking price rose about 2.9 per cent in the year to October 2025, but fell 7.2 per cent over 21 months from January 2024. Bob's Watches reports a median sale price of about USD 9,600 from July 2025 to July 2026. Asking prices are not sale prices.

What does 16570T mean?

It is the name Luxury Bazaar gives the later 16570s without lug holes, made from about 2003. None of the other sources we read uses it, so treat it as a dealer's label.

Rolex · Ref. 16570 · catalogued from 28 sources

Explorer II

The 16570 has a 24-hour hand so that someone deep in a cave can tell midday from midnight. Most of its owners have a window for that.

The Rolex Explorer II ref. 16570 is the steel Explorer II that Rolex made from 1989 to 2011^1,2,3,5,6: a 40 mm Oyster case, water-resistant to 100 metres, with a fixed steel bezel engraved with a 24-hour scale, a sapphire crystal with a Cyclops lens over the date, and a white («Polar») or black dial^1,2,3,5. Its calibre 3185, later 3186, lets the hour hand be set on its own, so the 24-hour hand can show a second time zone^1,3,8. It was replaced in 2011 by the 42 mm 216570^1,2,11. Rolex no longer makes it, so there is no current list price. The last figure for it in a US-dollar retail price table that began as a Rolex dealer's handout, not a Rolex document, is USD 6,325 in September 2010¹². Pre-owned, Bob's Watches reports a median sale price of about USD 9,600 for its own sales from July 2025 to July 2026¹³.

The steel Explorer II for 22 years: 1989 to 2011, 40 mm, 100 metres, a fixed 24-hour bezel, calibre 3185 and then 3186, with a white «Polar» or a black dial^1,2,3,6.

It changed quietly during the run: tritium gave way to Luminova and Super-LumiNova, hollow end links to solid ones, the lug holes went around 2003 and the rehaut was engraved from the mid-2000s^1,2,3,4. A 16570 should match its own decade.

On Chrono24's first page, the median asking price rose about 2.9 per cent in the year to October 2025 when retailer-signed and provenance watches are left out, and 2.5 per cent counting every listing. Over 21 months from January 2024 it fell 7.2 per cent on both counts^14,15,16. Asking prices are not sale prices.

The particulars

Reference: 16570, Explorer II^1,2
Case: Oyster, 40 mm, about 12 mm thick, about 47 mm lug to lug, screw-down plain case back, crown guards^1,3,4
Material: 904L stainless steel^1,5
Bezel: Fixed, steel, engraved with a 24-hour scale^2,3,6
Crystal: Sapphire, with a Cyclops lens over the date^2,3,5
Crown: Twinlock, screw-down^2,3
Water resistance: 100 metres (330 feet)^1,2,3,5
Dial: White («Polar») with black-outlined markers and hands, or black; date at three o'clock; red 24-hour hand with an arrow tip (one specification list says orange)^1,2,3,7
Movement: Calibre 3185, later 3186, in-house, self-winding, chronometer, with an independently set hour hand^1,3,8
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), 31 jewels^3,4,8
Power reserve: About 48 to 50 hours^1,3,4
Luminous material: Tritium until between about 1995 and 1999, depending on the source, then Luminova and Super-LumiNova^1,2,3,4,9,10
Bracelet: Brushed steel Oyster; hollow end links until about 2000, solid end links after^1,3
Produced: 1989 to 2011^1,2,3,5,6

Is it genuine?

Rolex's own advice. Asked how to spot a fake, Rolex's FAQ gives no tips. Its answer is to buy from a jeweller in Rolex's own retail network²⁴. The checks below are the minimum, and none of them proves a watch is genuine: the best counterfeits pass one or two of them²⁷.

The numbers between the lugs. Remove the bracelet. The serial number is engraved between the lugs at six o'clock and the reference number at twelve^26,28. Genuine engravings are deep and crisp; fakes are often acid-etched, with a sandy look^26,27,28.

The rehaut. On earlier 16570s the ring between dial and crystal is plain. Later ones have ROLEX engraved around it; sources date the change between 2005 and 2007^1,2,5, and Rolex moved the serial number to the rehaut from the mid-2000s²⁷. An engraved rehaut on a watch with tritium lume and lug holes would be an odd combination, worth asking about.

The crown in the crystal. Rolex has laser-etched a tiny crown into the crystal at six o'clock on most models since about 2002^26,27. A 1990s 16570 left the factory without one, so its absence is no warning sign; a replacement crystal fitted at a later service may have it.

The dial signature. The text below six o'clock dates the dial: «SWISS - T<25» for tritium, then «SWISS» for a short period between about 1998 and 2001, then «SWISS MADE»^1,4. A dial clearly from one decade in a case from another usually means a replaced part; refinished dials and mismatched parts are common on older Explorer IIs⁶.

The Polar surrounds. On a white 16570 the hour markers and hands are outlined in black^1,3,7. White gold surrounds point to a 16550 (see the FAQ), so metal surrounds on a 16570 deserve a question.

The bezel and the 24-hour hand. The bezel is fixed steel with an engraved 24-hour scale, so it should not turn^2,3. Do not judge the 24-hour hand by its colour: most sources call it red, but Bob's Watches' specification list says orange and WatchGuys says either^2,3,6. Judge its shape: a thin arrow on the 16570, a broad orange hand on the 216570^2,3,4,9.

The Cyclops lens. It should magnify the date about 2.5 times, so the numeral nearly fills the window, and sit centred over it. A small or distorted date under the lens is a classic counterfeit flaw^26,27,28.

The case back. Plain, solid and screwed down, without engravings or a display window^3,26,27. Rolex dropped the hologram sticker it used before 2007 because counterfeiters copied it, so a sticker proves nothing either way^26,27.

Bracelet and clasp. The bracelet should match the watch's era (see «How to date a 16570»): hollow end links before about 2000, and a clasp with a safety catch from about 1997 by Luxury Bazaar's dating, 1998–99 by Teddy Baldassarre's^1,4. Loose, rattling links or a rough clasp are warning signs^27,28.

The Explorer II is the Rolex with a job description written for caves. Rolex presented it in 1971 for polar explorers and speleologists, people who cannot tell night from day by looking up^21,22. Ref. 16570 is its third generation and by far the longest-running, from 1989 to 2011^1,2,3.

It is also the last Explorer II at 40 mm, before the line grew to 42^1,2.

How the Explorer II got here

The first Explorer II, ref. 1655, arrived in 1971^21,23 with a fixed bezel engraved with 24 hours and a large 24-hour hand, orange on the first watches and red on later ones^3,23. It was not a second-time-zone watch: the 24-hour hand was tied to the hour hand, so it worked as a day-and-night indicator^1,3,23.

In 1985 ref. 16550 changed that. Its calibre 3085 let the 24-hour hand be set independently, and it brought the first white dial^3,6,7,23. Some of those white dials were painted with a paint that aged to cream, and the 16550's markers had white gold surrounds^1,7,9.

The 16570 followed in 1989^1,2,3,5. From the outside it changed little³. Inside, calibre 3185 replaced the 3085, and on the white dial the markers and hands were now outlined in black^1,3,4,7.

Twenty-two years of small changes

Rolex did not mark model years, so the changes crept in. The lume went first. Early dials used tritium, marked «SWISS - T<25» below six o'clock; Luminova replaced it in the second half of the 1990s, and Super-LumiNova followed^1,2,4,9. For a short period the dial said only «SWISS», then «SWISS MADE»^1,4.

The bracelet changed in two steps. Luxury Bazaar lists the 78360 without a safety catch, the 78790 with one from 1997 and the 78790A with solid end links from 2000¹; Monochrome confirms the move to solid end links, and Teddy Baldassarre dates the flip-lock clasp to 1998–99^3,4.

The lug holes, drilled through the lugs for the spring bars, disappeared around 2003 to 2004^1,4,6. Luxury Bazaar calls the hole-free watches 16570T¹. Then the rehaut was engraved with ROLEX, dated by sources from 2005 to 2007^1,2,5, and calibre 3186 replaced the 3185, somewhere between 2005 and 2007^1,2,3,9.

Inside: calibre 3185 and 3186

Calibre 3185 is built on calibre 3135, with an added 24-hour hand⁸. It has 31 jewels, runs at 28,800 vibrations an hour and holds about 48 to 50 hours of power reserve, depending on the source^1,3,4,8. The local hour hand can be set in one-hour steps, so the red hand can serve as a day-and-night indicator or show a second time zone^3,8.

The 3186 kept the design and added a Parachrom hairspring, which the sources credit with better resistance to shocks and magnetism^1,4,9. On the 3185, the 24-hour hand wobbles slightly when you set it; on the 3186 the wobble is largely gone^1,4,9. Luxury Bazaar's rule of thumb: a plain rehaut means a 3185, an engraved one almost always a 3186, though some early engraved watches still have the 3185¹.

Polar or black

Both dials are ref. 16570, and both were made through the whole run^1,3. Collectors call the white one «Polar»; the black one never got a nickname¹.

Dealers agree that the Polar costs more. Bob's Watches puts the pre-owned starting point at about USD 9,500 for white and USD 8,500 for black, and WatchGuys says the white dial carries a slight premium^2,6. Chrono24's asking prices mostly agree. Across seven archived copies from January 2024 to October 2025, listings titled Polar or white asked the higher median five times: by under 1 per cent in July 2024, and by 6 to 14 per cent in all four copies from 2025. Black asked slightly more twice, by 2.1 per cent in January 2024 and 1.3 per cent in October 2024^{14,15,16,17,18,19,20}. Many listings name no dial colour, so each median rests on only 9 to 23 listings.

A few white dials are collected on their own, such as early «porcelain» dials and dials that aged to cream, but the names rest mainly on one dealer's guide, and sellers stretch them^1,7.

What came after

In 2011, the Explorer II's fortieth year, the 216570 replaced the 16570^1,2,3. Rolex says the watch was restyled that year with a case grown to 42 mm¹¹. It had larger markers and hands, a broader orange 24-hour hand as a tribute to the first 1655s, calibre 3187 and Chromalight lume^2,3,7.

In 2021 the 226570 kept 42 mm and moved to calibre 3285, with about 70 hours of power reserve^6,7,11.

What it cost, and what it costs

Rolex publishes no historic price list for the 16570, and rolex.com no longer shows it. The best record we found is a US-dollar retail price table that began as a handout a Rolex dealer gave the site's author in 2005 and was later extended by its publisher, Minus4Plus6¹². Its Explorer II line shows USD 2,750 in September 1992 and USD 6,325 in September 2010, the last figure before the 216570, a rise of 130 per cent in eighteen years¹². It is not a Rolex document, and the line names the 1655 and 16570 together, so which generation each year belongs to is our reading of the production years.

Pre-owned, we can measure asking prices. Chrono24 blocks direct reading, so we used archived copies of its 16570 page; the latest is from October 2025, so the figures are a year old. We leave out three listings titled as retailer-signed or as having been on top of Mount Everest, asking USD 57,260 to USD 80,000 in 2024^15,17. No listing was titled as another reference or as a modified watch.

On that basis, the median asking price on the first page went from USD 7,894.5 in October 2024 to USD 8,123 in October 2025, about 2.9 per cent; counting every listing, it rose 2.5 per cent^15,16. The longer window tells a different story: from USD 8,757 in January 2024 it fell to USD 7,395 in January 2025 and recovered only part of the way, down 7.2 per cent over 21 months^14,16,18. Asking prices are not sale prices. For sale prices, Bob's Watches reports a median of about USD 9,600 for the 16570 across its own sales from July 2025 to July 2026, up about 10 per cent from the first half of that period to the second¹³. That is one dealer's sales, not the market.

Buying one pre-owned

A 16570 is at least fifteen years old, so you are buying its history as much as the watch. WatchGuys' list is sensible: matching serial and reference numbers, a dial, hands, bezel and bracelet from the right period, and case edges that have not been polished round. Check the bracelet for stretch, too; WatchGuys says a heavily stretched one can cost over USD 1,000 to replace⁶. Ask when the watch was last serviced and by whom; WatchGuys puts a Rolex service at USD 800 to 1,200 or more⁶. Rolex's site also lists Rolex Certified Pre-Owned²⁴; we found no source saying it includes the 16570.

Bob's Watches says older tritium examples generally fetch more than later Super-LumiNova ones², and Monochrome notes that the bezel's thin polished edge is fragile³.

Nobody can tell you how many 16570s exist: we found no figure from Rolex or anyone else for the reference.

The dubious part

Rolex built the Explorer II for people who spend days at a time in the dark. Most 16570s spend the week in a drawer, which is close enough.

The Explorer II, generation by generation
Reference	Years	Calibre	What changed
1655	1971–c. 1984/85^1,6,25	1575	Fixed 24-hour bezel, large 24-hour hand tied to the hour hand^1,3,23
16550	1985–1989^3,6,7	3085	Independent 24-hour hand, first white dial^3,6,23
16570	1989–2011^1,2,3,5	3185, then 3186	Black-outlined markers on the white dial, 904L steel^1,3,5
216570	2011–2021^3,5,6	3187	42 mm, larger markers, orange 24-hour hand, Chromalight lume^2,3,7
226570	2021–present^5,6	3285	Reworked 42 mm case, about 70 hours of reserve^3,6,7

Years marked c. differ between sources; see «Where the sources disagree» below.

How to date a 16570 by its details
Detail	Earlier watches	Later watches
Lume and dial text	Tritium, «SWISS - T<25», until the second half of the 1990s; sources say 1995 to 1999^1,2,3,4,9	Luminova, then Super-LumiNova; «SWISS», then «SWISS MADE»^1,2,4
End links	Hollow^1,3	Solid, from about 2000^1,3
Lug holes	Drilled through^1,4,9	None, from about 2003 to 2004^1,4,6
Rehaut	Plain¹	Engraved ROLEX, from 2005 to 2007^1,2,5
Calibre	3185^1,2,3	3186, from between 2005 and 2007^1,2,9
Crown in the crystal	None^26,27	On watches from about 2002^26,27

Rolex did not mark model years, so each change is approximate and some watches mix features from both columns.

Retail price of the steel Explorer II, US dollars
Date	Price	Generation
February 1988	USD 1,750¹²	16550; the table's line names only the 1655 and 16570
February 1989	USD 2,400¹²	16550 or 16570; the 16570 arrived that year
September 1992	USD 2,750¹²	16570
September 1996	USD 3,275¹²	16570
February 2005	USD 4,450¹²	16570
October 2006	USD 5,000¹²	16570
March 2008	USD 5,750¹²	16570
September 2010	USD 6,325¹²	16570; the 216570 follows in the table from May 2011

From Minus4Plus6's US-dollar retail table, which began as a Rolex dealer's handout in 2005 (archived copy, November 2024); prices after February 2005 are the publisher's own additions, with no stated source. Not a Rolex document. The line reads «1655/16570», so the generation column is our reading of the production years.

Chrono24 median asking price for the 16570, US dollarsMedian, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watchesMedian, all first-page listings

Our median of the 59 to 61 listings on the first page of Chrono24's 16570 page in archived copies (Internet Archive); with an even number, the median is the mean of the two middle prices. One rule for all seven copies leaves out titles naming another Explorer II or GMT reference, or saying Comex, iced out, diamonds, PVD, DLC, custom, aftermarket, a retailer's signature or Everest. Only three listings matched (0, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0 and 0), asking USD 57,260 to USD 80,000; in July 2024 the single exclusion does not move the median. The filter reads titles only. Points are the dates we could observe prices, not the dates prices changed. Asking prices are not sale prices. The latest archived copy is from October 2025.

The numbers behind the chart

Series	Observed	Price
Median, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watches	23 Jan 2024	USD 8,757¹⁴
Median, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watches	14 Jul 2024	USD 7,995¹⁷
Median, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watches	8 Oct 2024	USD 7,894¹⁵
Median, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watches	16 Jan 2025	USD 7,395¹⁸
Median, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watches	17 Apr 2025	USD 7,648¹⁹
Median, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watches	9 Jul 2025	USD 7,997²⁰
Median, excluding retailer-signed and provenance watches	14 Oct 2025	USD 8,123¹⁶
Median, all first-page listings	23 Jan 2024	USD 8,757¹⁴
Median, all first-page listings	14 Jul 2024	USD 7,995¹⁷
Median, all first-page listings	8 Oct 2024	USD 7,924¹⁵
Median, all first-page listings	16 Jan 2025	USD 7,395¹⁸
Median, all first-page listings	17 Apr 2025	USD 7,648¹⁹
Median, all first-page listings	9 Jul 2025	USD 7,997²⁰
Median, all first-page listings	14 Oct 2025	USD 8,123¹⁶

Questions people ask

When was the Rolex 16570 made?: From 1989 to 2011, by most sources^1,2,3,5,6. Teddy Baldassarre says production ran through 2010⁴.
Is the Rolex 16570 still in production?: No. Rolex replaced it in 2011 with the 216570, which grew to 42 mm^1,2,11. The current Explorer II is the 226570 of 2021^6,7.
Is the white «Polar» dial a different reference?: No. White and black dials are both ref. 16570 and were made through the whole run^1,3. Dealers price the white one higher^2,6, and Chrono24's asking prices mostly agree: white asked more in five of seven archived copies, by 6 to 14 per cent in 2025, and black slightly more in two copies from 2024^{14,15,16,17,18,19,20}.
Is the 16570 a GMT watch?: Yes, in practice. Its hour hand can be set on its own in one-hour steps, so the 24-hour hand can show a second time zone against the fixed bezel^3,8,11.
What is the difference between the 3185 and the 3186?: The 3186 added a blue Parachrom hairspring and largely removed a slight wobble of the 24-hour hand when setting it^1,4,9. The switch came between 2005 and 2007, depending on the source^1,2,3.
How do I tell a 16570 from a 16550?: On a white dial, white gold surrounds mean a 16550; black surrounds usually mean a 16570, though some late 16550s had them too^1,2. The 16550 has calibre 3085, the 16570 the 3185 or 3186^3,6.
What did a Rolex 16570 cost new?: In a US-dollar retail table that began as a Rolex dealer's handout: USD 2,750 in September 1992, USD 4,450 in February 2005 and USD 6,325 in September 2010¹². It is not a Rolex document.
Does the 16570 hold its value?: It depends on the window. On Chrono24's first page the median asking price rose about 2.9 per cent in the year to October 2025, but fell 7.2 per cent over 21 months from January 2024^14,15,16. Bob's Watches reports a median sale price of about USD 9,600 from July 2025 to July 2026¹³. Asking prices are not sale prices.
What does 16570T mean?: It is the name Luxury Bazaar gives the later 16570s without lug holes, made from about 2003¹. None of the other sources we read uses it, so treat it as a dealer's label.