hour markers on F-series 114270 Explorer

[Nicky G]

OK, am I tripping out, or are not all of the hour markers identical to one another? Some appear very very slightly wider than the others. Online pictures of the Explorer seem to indicate that some models seem to show this interesting attribute, while others do not.

In fact I think I can say that every hour marker's "partner" 180 degrees across from it, for instance 1 o' clock and 7 o' clock, seem the same as one another, but 10 o' clock is a wee bit wider than 11 o' clock...

OK, I've clearly been staring at this thing TOO MUCH for the past week.

Ah, to be a WIS... It really is a curse, you know.

[The GMT Kid]

I'm not an expert on the Explorer, but many Rolex dials have a wider marker at 10. You may not be imagining things.

Edit - sorry, I was thinking of the 9 marker, so you may be crazy after all.

[diablojota]

Post some pics to help us look at it.

[Nicky G]

apologize for the glare, reflection, and overall crap picture... And this doesn't capture what I am seeing, but you can sort of see it in the difference between 10 and 11... I think...

[The GMT Kid]

11 is definitely smaller. The 1 marker is slightly larger than the 11 marker, but smaller than the others. Weird...

Any experts out there.

[Nicky G]

Now here's the real trip...

When examining by eye, as I move the watch around to different angles, the relative sizes of, say, hour markers that are right next to one another (such as 10 and 11) seem to shift.

I am starting to think this is actually an optical illusion relating to light reflections on the white gold borders of the hour markers, and how this causes the eye to see the marker as larger or smaller than its neighbor, which is not having light hit the boundary the same way.

I feel like I could achieve some Zen master understanding of the universe if I can figure this out definitively...

Btw, this was bought at an AD.

[The GMT Kid]

The reflection of the lens in your photograph is below the center of the dial. Try taking another picture with the reflection centered. That should eliminate distortion and make the relative sizes clearer.

[diablojota]

It's a fake!!!

It looks like the 10 and 2 are the same size though. I don't think you've got anything to worry about. But if you really don't like it, take it to the AD you purchased it from and see what they say.

[diablojota]

I bet that it does have something to do with the reflection of the crystal, the reflection from the shiny dial, and the white gold of the markers. I've had a few moments under the right lighting that I get the mirrored effect of the white gold markers reflecting on my sub and it leads to a weird look.

[cody p]

i think the indices are hand applied - it may be possible that slightly smaller indices were applied by accident - maybe the smaller ones belong on an air-king. conjecture.

[Omega_Precision]

It definitely looks smaller.

[Rambam]

I`ve been reading your posts lately Nicky and please don`t get me wrong here, but you crack me up!
Seems you`re a bit obsessed with your Explorer and rightly so, but you need to loosen up and enjoy it too!
Im just as anal as you when it comes to new arrivals, hell I`ve been staring at my new Breitling just about nonstop since I got it two days ago, photographing it at all possible angels and studying the pictures closely seeing all the scratches and scuffs that has appeared from nowhere
But I know that in a few more days I will become comfortably numb, and start enjoying it!
Yes, as you said, Being a wis can be a curse....

[stanislav]

my Explorer seems to have the same markers
but the hour hand seems to be 2-3 min ahead of the minute hand at the hour
can it be fixed

[arkwhaler]

I've thought the same thing at times, but on mine I'm quite sure it's illusion. Perhaps the application of lume could be slightly different and contributing to the effect. If it really bugs you I'll give you 2k for it.

[rkb]

No, he is quite correct in thinking the markers are different, they are. But, there is simple symmetry. The 10 and the 4 are the same, the same holds true for the 11 and 5, 1 and 7, and the 2 and 8.

My guess, and it's only a guess is this is a way to help detect counterfeit watches. The Explorer was at one time so popular in Asia that they were nearly impossible to come by (think white dial Daytona). I bet Rolex created the dials like this to help spot the impostors.

[Nicky G]

rkb, I bet you are right. And the 180º symmetry you speak of is definitely what I noticed.

And this in no way has prevented me from enjoying the watch, it was just something unique and I couldn't tell if I was imagining it or not! I often question whether I'm crazy or not...

In Japanese aesthetics there is a concept called wabi-sabi, which absolutely embraces slight imperfections in something crafted that is still beautiful, and in fact is made more beautiful by these slight imperfections. Not only do I appreciate the concept, but find it allows me to very much continue to appreciate material items despite, or even because of, their lack of perfect symmetry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

[rkb]

Nicky G-

Funny, I got my Explorer about a month ago and even though I have spent hours gazing at it, I did not see the difference until your post. And now that you have brought my attention to it, it really sticks out. I'm actually thankful, I like finding out these little secrets, very cool.

[Raam]

thks Nicky G,

i began to look at my Explorer indoor and outdoors to see cleary.

and when rkb mentioned abt the sysmetical thingy make me more curios..

maybe i got take a macro shot and post a pic..

could this only for the Z series bcos mine is...