98th Auction

2018/11/10

Lot 343

Rolex "Oyster Perpetual Date Explorer II Superlative Chronometer officially certified", Movement No. D131451, Case No. 3362705, Ref. 1655, Cal. 1570, 38 mm, circa 1972
An automatic wristwatch with date and 24h bezel - so called "Steve McQueen" or "Orange Hand"
Case: steel, screw back ref. 1655 II/72, 24h service bezel, screwed "Twinlock" winding crown, steel "Oyster" bracelet ref. 78360 with with 13 (!) bracelet elements, endlinks stamped 580 and date stamp J10. Dial: black, central orange luminous 24-hour hand, luminous baton hands (straight hand).
The Rolex Explorer II, reference 1655 was launched in 1971. In contrast to the Explorer I, ref. 1016, reference 1655 is fitted with an additional orange-coloured hand and a 24 hour indication on the bezel.
English-speaking collectors call this reference "Steve McQueen", although there is not a single photograph of Steve McQueen wearing an Explorer II; he owned several Submariner models and usually wore the Submariner ref. 5512. Italian collectors, however, call the Explorer II "Freccione". The name comes from the Italian "la freccia", which means "arrow". Freccione stands for a larger version and means the central arrow-shaped orange-coloured 24h hand.

estimated
19.00024.000 €
Price realized
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