39mm Explorer 1 hands - I am confused...

[MrX]

Hey all,

Noob here!


I have been looking at some pictures of the 39mm Explorer 1 as it is the model that is calling to me most strongly (well, that I might be able to afford in the near future, as the all-black DDII and the WG Blue Sub are a little out of reach... ) but I am slightly confused about the hands.


No, not whether they are too short but whether they are flat or slightly curved??


I thought only the older Rolex models, like the vintage Submariners, had flat hands, and that Rolex had swapped to slightly curved hands in modern times?


The Rolex promotion shots of the model seem to indicate it has slightly curved hands:







(Taken from this thread: http://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=120088 )


but some 'real life' pictures seem to suggest they are flat!



(Taken from this thread: http://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=224654 )





(Taken from this thread: http://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=206897 )






(Taken from this thread: http://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=201300 )


and then in other pictures they look like they are flat with a very shallow curve!



(Taken from this thread: http://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=143545 )


Can I be awkward and ask someone with a 39mm Explorer 1 to check and see which is correct? I think I would prefer the curved hands but if it only comes with flat then I would have to live with it!

Thank you very much in advance for any help you can give

[Hansch99]

The new ones are curved. Sometimes they still catch enough light from various angles to make them look flat, though.

[~JJ]

Learn something new everyday... I have the 39mm and thought they were flat too. I'll take another look when I get home tonight

[Mr. RoC]

Hard to tell with the minute hand, too thin, but the hour hand is definitely convex.

[Tools]

The hands on modern Rolex aren't actually curved.. They are flat, but have a radius ground across the top...

[MrX]

Wow, great macro shots, thank you!


It's the little details that make these things, working at that sort of scale can't be an easy process!

[AF_Rob]

To me, aside from the curve flat discussion, they seem a little short to me in the new model.

[Art 1]

Originally Posted by FluffyHaze

Hate when people say the hands are too short!! I think they are perfect!!

Agree.

[MrX]

Thank you again for the replies, all

Originally Posted by AF_Rob

To me, aside from the curve flat discussion, they seem a little short to me in the new model.

Have the hands on the 39mm Explorer been measured against the hands on the original 36mm Explorer yet? Are they actually the same hands or is it just an optical illusion?!

[Johny]

great pics larry.

[ecsub44]

Originally Posted by MrX

Thank you again for the replies, all




Have the hands on the 39mm Explorer been measured against the hands on the original 36mm Explorer yet? Are they actually the same hands or is it just an optical illusion?!

I'm curious as to why you are so interested in these details of the hands.

Don't get me wrong...I love the minutae of Rolex topics. But I was just wondering...

[Manofsteelpt]

Originally Posted by Tools

Outside of my iPhone camera, I know nothing about taking pix... But I'm really curious how someone takes a picture of the seconds hand ticking? Totally cool shot, but it always baffles me when I see this!!!

[rocco1109]

Originally Posted by MrX

(Taken from this thread: http://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=201300 )

[jamsop]

[QUOTE=Tools;3617074]The hands on modern Rolex aren't actually curved.. They are flat, but have a radius ground across the top...




Hi Larry, I noticed that your EXP2 has the same problem as mine. Have you noticed that the painted black and red hands are not fully covered in paint on the sides of the hands?

I'm a little annoyed that I didn't pick this up only until over a year of wearing and now it's not under warranty!

[ecsub44]

[QUOTE=jamsop;3670445]

Originally Posted by Tools

The hands on modern Rolex aren't actually curved.. They are flat, but have a radius ground across the top...




Hi Larry, I noticed that your EXP2 has the same problem as mine. Have you noticed that the painted black and red hands are not fully covered in paint on the sides of the hands?

I'm a little annoyed that I didn't pick this up only until over a year of wearing and now it's not under warranty!

How is that a "problem"?

It surely not covered under warranty...so don't feel like you "missed that boat".

[cht]

^^^^warranty or not, that is just poor quality and craftsmanship.
I know we're off topic, but really quite embarrassing for a watch costing several thousands of dollars.
No one noticed that in the whole process or cared?
I'd feel ripped off for sure, with Rolex laughing all the way to the bank.
:(

[ecsub44]

Originally Posted by cht

^^^^warranty or not, that is just poor quality and craftsmanship.
I know we're off topic, but really quite embarrassing for a watch costing several thousands of dollars.
No one noticed that in the whole process or cared?
I'd feel ripped off for sure, with Rolex laughing all the way to the bank.
:(

I don't see this as a quality issue at all. Look at how the lume used to be applied to the hands.

Would you expect the back of the dial to be painted? Or the inside of the winding crown? Or the backside of the bezel?

You have to draw a line somewhere. And, without a 30x loupe you'd NEVER know that the hands looked like this. Doesn't affect a single thing about the watch, IMHO.

[Grey.Coupe]

How is the Bose logo reversed, as in a mirror reflection, and the watch face as seen in the photo above...? My eyes are trying to reverse one other the other, so they match. Or is that one of the new Bose "Other Dimension" speakers?

Or are the magnets in these speakers so strong that they flip the outbound photons as the light passes to the camera, reversing the logo, but having no effect on the anti-magnetic Rolex watch?

[BogartB]

this is very interesting info. thanks! and nice pics!

[MrX]

Originally Posted by ecsub44

I'm curious as to why you are so interested in these details of the hands.

Don't get me wrong...I love the minutae of Rolex topics. But I was just wondering...

The 39mm is, for me, the perfect Rolex - understated (due to the brushed finish and matte dial) yet still has that essential Rolex 'presence' when you see it on someone's wrist

I think it is the small details like the polished bezel, and the hands and dial elements that catch the light 'just so', that make it stand out in a crowd!

I am just intrigued by the ongoing discussion about the hands, such a fundamental part of the overall look of the watch. I have seen quite a few posts on different forums where contributors speculate that the hands were carried over directly from the original 36mm version unchanged, but it would seem strange that Rolex would invest all that time and money in developing the new 39mm model and not introduce new hands that were specifically designed for it They surely can't need to save money on development costs!

If they have carried them over for purely aesthetic reasons then that is a decision that would seem to be entirely down to the taste of the development team at Rolex - a decision that, from what I can tell, has split forum contributors between 'love them' and 'way too short'

Originally Posted by Manofsteelpt

Outside of my iPhone camera, I know nothing about taking pix... But I'm really curious how someone takes a picture of the seconds hand ticking? Totally cool shot, but it always baffles me when I see this!!!

You can achieve this shot with a 1 second exposure (you will need a tripod!)and light levels low enough to stop over-exposure of the brightest areas of the photograph while it captures the seconds hand at each of the 8 positions it will be in during the 1 second exposure.

Personally I would love to see a similar shot of a 36000vph El Primero (and even a Seiko Springdrive or Bulova Precisionist!)

Originally Posted by rocco1109

Don't speakers have magnets in them?

They do, but I would guess that the magnets are positioned far enough away from the sides of the speaker unit for anything that might be affected by magnetism to be fairly safe? Probably better not to regularly do it, though!

Originally Posted by Grey.Coupe

How is the Bose logo reversed, as in a mirror reflection, and the watch face as seen in the photo above...? My eyes are trying to reverse one other the other, so they match. Or is that one of the new Bose "Other Dimension" speakers?

Or are the magnets in these speakers so strong that they flip the outbound photons as the light passes to the camera, reversing the logo, but having no effect on the anti-magnetic Rolex watch?

I think the Bose logo will read correctly if you rotate the photo 180 degrees? To my eyes it looks like the speaker has been turned upside down to get the logo in the picture.