The Explorer II 40. The cheapest men’s sports Rolex here.

The Explorer II was made for cavers and polar crews who could not tell noon from midnight: the fixed 24-hour bezel and the orange or red 24-hour hand say which half of the day it is, and from the 16570 generation the hour hand jumps independently, so it doubles as a traveller’s GMT. The 16570 ran twenty years, 1991 to 2011, at 40mm with a black or white dial, on the Oyster bracelet, first with the calibre 3185 and later the 3186. It is the sports Rolex that stayed under the radar, and pre-owned it is the cheapest way to a steel sports Rolex with a real complication.

Rebag gives no reference and no accessories; ask for the serial, which dates it and settles which calibre it has.

Rebag gives the case at 40mm and 12mm high, the band at 20mm, a wrist size of about 7.5 inches, the band and case as stainless steel, the dial colour as black, an automatic movement with date, GMT and a screw-down crown, no accessories, and the condition as Very Good with minor scratches and light wear. It gives no reference. The fixed 24-hour bezel, red GMT hand and Oyster bracelet are from the photograph; the 16570 match, its calibres, the jumping hour hand, the reserve and 100 metres are Rolex’s published figures for the reference it appears to be.

Rebag authenticates in-house and is not a Rolex authorised dealer, and Amazon adds its 30-day return window. Ask for the reference and the serial, which dates it, and when it was last serviced. Nothing here was measured on the watch.

This unit is sold by Rebag through Amazon Luxury Stores, authenticated by the seller with Amazon’s 30-day return window on top; it is one piece, and when it sells the listing goes away, so the second button opens the live search for Explorer IIs.

Steel sports Rolexes have resold close to what pre-owned buyers paid, sometimes more, sometimes less; that is a pattern, not a promise, and nothing here is investment advice.