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Lot Essay
The celebrated Explorer reference 1016 was introduced to the market in 1959, with the first series featuring a non-hacking calibre 1560. One of Rolex's most popular sports watches, it is easily recognizable by its black dial, the luminous triangle at 12, as well as the Arabic 3, 6, 9 and baton numerals, all luminous too.
The present lot is distinguished by the unusual minute track, with outer chapter ring, which is only found in early examples of 1016, and the most noteworthy feature however is its so-called "exclamation" dial, characterized by an additional luminous dot positioned underneath the 6 o'clock hour marker. These dials were in production for an extremely short period only.
Exclamation dials were used by Rolex as a means to indicate that the radium used on the dial to make it luminous was within the norm approved by the Atomic Energy Commission in the U.S. The radioactive radium used on luminous watch dials in the first part of the 20th century was replaced in the middle of the century by less harmful tritium.
The present lot is distinguished by the unusual minute track, with outer chapter ring, which is only found in early examples of 1016, and the most noteworthy feature however is its so-called "exclamation" dial, characterized by an additional luminous dot positioned underneath the 6 o'clock hour marker. These dials were in production for an extremely short period only.
Exclamation dials were used by Rolex as a means to indicate that the radium used on the dial to make it luminous was within the norm approved by the Atomic Energy Commission in the U.S. The radioactive radium used on luminous watch dials in the first part of the 20th century was replaced in the middle of the century by less harmful tritium.