Explorer II, 16570 - dial difference

[Jannal]

I've owned the Explorer II, 16570 (3185 movement) a couple of times (2nd time).
I recently purchased another one but with a 3186 movement, Rolex engraved on the rehaut.
When I compared pics of previously owned Explorers I noticed that the black outline on the circular markers (3186) are slightly thinner, less bold.
Is this normal?

[CDNWatchNut]

Yes, I recall this being discussed some time ago here. I recall the consensus being that the older Exp II's have bolder black surrounds on the dial than newer ones. Anecdotally, I had an F serial Polar (which I sold as I didn't like the non lug case) and an A serial which I still have. The dial on the A had more pop in terms of the bolder outlines.

[sportsmaven20]

Can the Exp II experts chime in on this one?

I'm in a position to purchase a BNIB 16570 Polar, but want the 3186 movement, but I like the dial with bolder hour surround markers.

Does anyone know if the 3186 movement is in any of the 16570's with the bolder surrounds on the dial?

Thanks!

[joe100]

Originally Posted by sportsmaven20

Can the Exp II experts chime in on this one?

I'm in a position to purchase a BNIB 16570 Polar, but want the 3186 movement, but I like the dial with bolder hour surround markers.

Does anyone know if the 3186 movement is in any of the 16570's with the bolder surrounds on the dial?

Thanks!

Yeah, the thin dial surrounds came about in the last couple of years of production. The 3186 came about in this time frame too so overlap happened.

[Cru Jones]

Originally Posted by joe100

Yeah, the thin dial surrounds came about in the last couple of years of production. The 3186 came about in this time frame too so overlap happened.

Yes, but the thin surrounds came late in the game, with many 3186 having the thicker surrounds.

Puffy has a thread on this topic from a while back.

[glimmer]

You can check out this thread:

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=193949

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Cru Jones

Yes, but the thin surrounds came late in the game, with many 3186 having the thicker surrounds.

Puffy has a thread on this topic from a while back.

Rolex makes hundreds of dials at any time for any production watch,and with those dials stored they often have slight font changes.Now when they are on production run whatever dial they have will go into the watch no matter what the movement is.

[Dankleness]

whats the difference between the movements? sorry for a n00b question but i am kind of thinking about one for my next, 2nd, rolex.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Dankleness

whats the difference between the movements? sorry for a n00b question but i am kind of thinking about one for my next, 2nd, rolex.

The 3186 is in the real world a modded 3185 main difference its had a slightly different base plate.Plus slightly different dentent gears, movement is slightly thicker,parachrom hairspring.And with the 3186 one turn of the winding crown will jump second time zone hand around 8 hours on the 3185 around 5 hours.But if both movements are regulated correctly you should find no difference in accuracy.

[sportsmaven20]

Originally Posted by glimmer

You can check out this thread:

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=193949

Thanks for posting the previous thread link Clarence...it was very helpful!

[joe100]

The 3185 vs 3186 is all hype in my opinion. Why pay extra for something that isn't drastically different?