Introduction and question

[superfly]

Hello everyone,

I live in Seoul, Korea. Today I bought my first Rolex, an Explorer 1 - and I've been smiling all day. I bought my watch from a dealer that only sells Rolex and Omega. The shop is in the heart of downtown and is quite reputable, but my wife wanted me to check with you guys right away about something.

We both thought that the Explorer 1 model should have luminos markers that glow in the dark, but tonight when it got dark, I went inside my bedroom, turned off the lights and no glow in the dark...should I be worried? I'm 99% sure that it's genuine and will stop by the Rolex store in the department store near my home tomorrow, but I thought I would ask you guys just to put my wifes mind at rest for tonight. We did get a certificate of authenticity and a two year guarrantee from the shop owner. He also repaired my fathers Omega Constellation and replaced the crown and crystal for me, cleaned the Omega...polished it etc. did a fine job, so I'm not too worried...but my wife is.

Thanks in advance.

[Earl]

1st off let me welcome you to TRF Superfly,if I read your post correctly you purchased a Exp.I and not the II if this is in fact true your lum on the Exp1 made of the older 25yr and is all but expired.

my 2c

[Geoff]

If it's a recent vintage Exp I the sticks, not the numbers, should glow. Try holding under a light source to charge up the lume and try again.

[mike]

Hi, welcome!

I'm not sure I understand correctly. If your watch is new or fitted with a luminova dial (says "SWISS MADE" at the bottom, there should be luminosity of some measure.
If your watch is older with a tritium dial (says "SWISS T<25) at the bottom the luminosity is all but gone. (Though you have the more desirable reference IMO).

[Lol-x]

Welcome,
I think that you have got a 114270 model (if it is brand new with the 2 year warranty).
You will find that the arabic numbers 3,6&9 will not glow in the dark.
However, the rest of the markers will glow. They are made from luminova. If you put your watch close to a strong light for say 30 seconds and then go into a dark room you will see the luminous battons glow.
I hope this helps

[Tools]

Congrats on your new Explorer.

Post us a picture of the dial so we can give you a more educated answer..

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

Welcome,
I think that you have got a 114270 model (if it is brand new with the 2 year warranty).
You will find that the arabic numbers 3,6&9 will not glow in the dark.
However, the rest of the markers will glow. They are made from luminova. If you put your watch close to a strong light for say 30 seconds and then go into a dark room you will see the luminous battons glow.
I hope this helps

Yup, that are my thoughts, too

Welcome to TRF!

[jac67]

Hello and welcome.

If your watch looks like this, then Lol-x is correct. Also, the hands will glow too.

If not, then Mike is right.


John.

[ohlins]

shine a flashlight at the dial ....and it shd look like this for a 114270....

[txrob779]

Welcome to the TRF and what a beautiful Rolex. This may very well be my next one. Is it true that the Explorer is very VERY sought after in Asia? Like the Daytona is to most of us? Someone said it is because of a Japanese rock star who sports an Explorer.

[f16570]

Welcome and enjoy your watch.

f

[superfly]

I posted some thoughts a few minutes ago, but I think that I have to wait for the moderator to approve them before they appear. I added one more photo.

But just in case I accidentally deleted the post, I'll go ahead and repeat what I wrote.

His website is www.watchrepair.co.kr, he appears to be very reputable...he even has his picture on the site.

The watch is slightly used, but in excellent condition.

I tried to do what Lol-x said with the mag light. No dice...no glow at all. I gave it a full minute under the flashlight.

The model is supposed to be the newer one....that's what he claimed. The warrantee card says - 14270 - I'm guessing the extra 1 comes from the "Explorer 1" part, but he didn't write that on his warrantee card, he wrote "14270"

Now, I'm not trying to be a prick at all...however, if he said it was the newer model and both my wife and I thought we were purchasing the newer model, then I think I should be able to get my money back and maybe spend a little extra money and get a brand new one, even if they cost 4,500 dollars. I'm just wondering if I have a leg to stand on because of the warrantee card.

Now I just re-read this thread. Yes, it does say "SWISS T<25)", so I guess that means he lied to me about it being an newer model...darn.

I'll know for sure in a few hours if it's genuine, but the glow in the dark question is really starting to bother me. I have six other watches, and four of them are divers and military, and they all glow in the dark just fine. Dang it.

Is it true that the Explorer is very VERY sought after in Asia? Like the Daytona is to most of us? Someone said it is because of a Japanese rock star who sports an Explorer.

I really don't know how to answer that question...I've only been here about a year, and I don't really know that much about watches or the Koreans/Asians - I do see one heckofalot of Rolexes on peoples wrists on the subway though...but I'm one of those people that looks at watches a lot...even though I'm no expert.

[Tools]

Fly,

What you have is a nice Explorer several years old with the old tritium dial. No amount of exposure to light will have any affect on this one; I suspect that the tritium activity has ceased to the point where you have no "glow" left.

Give us the first few numbers of your serial number and we can tlll you about when it was manufactured.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Ah, that explains it!

"T < 25" (at six o' clock) means that it is a Tritium dial.

Tritium is a mildly radioactive material that does not glow on its own but uses phosphers as a catalysator go glow. Tritium was "constant on", but you would not see it "glow up" upon influence from an external lightsource. However, it would glow ALL night long.

Tritium has a halflife of about 12,5 years. After that, most Tritium dials and hands would not glow anymore in the dark.

Tritium is also known to change its colour to a more yellowish colour by age.

Since 1998, Tritium is no more used (or rather: SOME brands still use it) by Rolex, and SL (SuperLuminova) took over.

SL is NON radioactive, and would glow up INSTANTLY when it gets light from any external source. However, SL tends to quickly lose its glow power and some SL dials (depending on how much SL is used!) would not even glow a whole night long.

But SL has the advantage of not being radioactive, AND SL is also not (yet!) known to deteriorate in terms of colour (i.e.: becoming "yellow" like the Tritium sometimes did).

Before Tritium, the much more radioactive Radium was used. It had a green colour on the dial and was discontinued simply out of health risks, mainly of the workers in the watch industry. Often the workers sad all day long applying Radium to the dials and hands with a very fine brush, and to keep the fine hairs of the brush perfectly pointed, the workers would lick the end of the brush with their tongue. Naturally, many of those workers got fatally ill by doing this.

Here is an overview over the dial markings (at six o' clock) that Rolex has been using since Radium:

Luminous materials used by Rolex! CLICK!

[akd]

I'm new to RTF as well!
My 70's Air King Date has -T SWISS T- on the dial at 6 oclock and it does not glow in the dark either so I guess the tritium has expired.

Gary

[superfly]

Guys,

I understand that the newer model number is 114270, but what is the older model number?

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by superfly

Guys,

I understand that the newer model number is 114270, but what is the older model number?

14270 was the previous model number.

[superfly]

Thanks SD...

[SPACE-DWELLER]

You might be interested in reading an extensive review of the Explorer 14270:

"THE ROLEX EXPLORER, REF. 14270". CLICK!

[Lol-x]

The 14270 was produced from 1990 to 1999.
The 114270 was and is produced from 2000 to present.
So the 14270 is definitely not a current or new model.
Good Luck

[Antonio]

Im not really sure, but since Luminova is made almost of the same, with Zinc or who know what sulphide, it may go yellow when it gets oxydized by the action of the H2O in around 50 years. Somebody please bump this thread in 50 years

[Beef]

Originally Posted by Spacedweller

You might be interested in reading an extensive review of the Explorer 14270:

"THE ROLEX EXPLORER, REF. 14270". CLICK!

Oh,no, Bo! You linked him to the Walt Odet article! If he was disappointed in the "no glow" tritium, he's really going to be crying into his beer now! By the way, neat lume dial marking article.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by Beef

Oh,no, Bo! You linked him to the Walt Odet article! If he was disappointed in the "no glow" tritium, he's really going to be crying into his beer now! By the way, neat lume dial marking article.

Yeah, I KNOW! The article isn't exactly flattering, especially "Part Two" of the review (link at the bottom of the page).

Having said that, Walt just might have reviewed a "Monday Morning Specimen".

I for my part have never heard of such bad QC in the Explorer.

[daunwaun]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

The 14270 was produced from 1990 to 1999.
The 114270 was and is produced from 2000 to present.
So the 14270 is definitely not a current or new model.
Good Luck

Great info steve thanks for sharing