explorer or air king

[Steve f]

hi new to the forum and trying to find out about my watch which is a explorer 5500...or is it?

i wanted to know for sure so i took it to rolex for a estimate, they gave it back to me some months later with a letter saying something along the lines of they couldn't estimate on it as the dial wasn't genuine.

i took it to my local rolex guy who apparently knows his stuff he said "that was complete crap" as there's nobody at rolex anymore that could possibly tell, he also said the dial may have been refinished and that was maybe why they thought it wasn't genuine.

i've on and off done research on this watch over the years i've had it and i don't think theres any way to tell if it came out of rolex originally as a 5500 explorer or 5500 air king am i right?

i'm not really interested in the monetary value of the watch being an explorer or air king but i just want the watch to be right.

if i keep it as it is i'll always know that something isn't quite right, so should i have it redialed with a genuine air king dial and know that thats what it is or try to get a explorer dial but then always have the wonder that it still might not be 100% right.

or just leave it in the cupboard for another couple of years.

any thoughts much appreciated