The Explorer 214270 is the 39mm generation of the Rolex Explorer, a time-only tool watch in the Oyster Perpetual line. It carries the model’s core layout: a black dial with luminous stick markers and Arabic 3, 6, and 9 numerals, no date, and a steel Oyster case and bracelet.
Rolex introduced the reference at Baselworld 2010, replacing the 36mm reference 114270. The move enlarged the Explorer case to 39mm for the first time in the model’s history, positioning it between the traditional 36mm Explorer and the later 40mm generation.
Within the range the 214270 sits as the entry point to Rolex’s professional tool models. It was a regular-production reference, not a limited edition, and stayed in the catalogue from 2010 until 2021, when it was replaced by the 36mm reference 124270.
The reference ran in two dial and handset builds. A 2013 example is the earlier build, known to the trade as the Mark I, with a shorter handset and solid white gold 3, 6, and 9 numerals that carry no luminous fill.
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The dial is black with applied 18k white gold furniture: baton hour markers around the outer track, Arabic numerals at 3, 6, and 9, and an inverted triangle at 12. On this 2013 Mark I build, the 3, 6, and 9 numerals are solid white gold with no luminous fill, while the surrounding stick markers and the hands carry Chromalight, which emits a blue glow in low light.
The handset is the shorter Mark I set, in which the minute hand stops short of the outer minute track. Hours and minutes are read on broad luminous baton hands, and the central seconds hand is a thin baton with a small luminous dot near the tip.
Printed dial text reads ROLEX and OYSTER PERPETUAL below the coronet at 12, EXPLORER above the centre, and SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED with SWISS MADE at the base. The inner bezel ring (rehaut) is high-polished and engraved with repeating ROLEX text and an engraved serial. There is no date and no cyclops.
The case is a 39mm Oystersteel monobloc middle case. The top surfaces and lug tops are brushed, and the case sides are high-polished. Measured examples sit at about 11.2mm thick with a lug-to-lug of about 47mm; Rolex does not publish these two figures. Lug width is 20mm.
The bezel is a smooth, high-polished steel bezel with a beveled edge, fixed and purely decorative, with no timing or GMT scale. A flat sapphire crystal protects the dial, without a cyclops and without an anti-reflective coating.
The winding crown at 3 o’clock is a screw-down Twinlock crown, signed with the coronet and fitted with a notched grip for handling. The caseback is solid steel and screwed down. Water resistance is 100 metres.
The reference is fitted with the steel Oyster bracelet, reference 77200, a three-piece flat-link bracelet with solid links and solid end links. It is 20mm at the lugs and tapers toward the clasp, with a brushed finish across the links.
The clasp is the folding Oysterlock safety clasp, which guards against accidental opening. It integrates the Easylink comfort extension, a fold-out link that adds roughly 5mm of length without tools.
The Oyster bracelet on this reference is built with twelve removable links for sizing.
The watch runs the Rolex Calibre 3132, an in-house automatic movement. It is a time-only caliber, closely related to the 3135 with the date function removed, and it drives hours, minutes, and a central sweep seconds hand with hacking seconds.
The 3132 has 31 jewels, beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), and holds a power reserve of approximately 48 hours. It uses a blue Parachrom hairspring with a Breguet overcoil, held by a full balance bridge, a free-sprung balance regulated by gold Microstella screws, and Paraflex shock absorbers. Winding is bidirectional through the Perpetual rotor.
The movement is certified as a chronometer by the COSC. To operate it, unscrew the crown and wind clockwise, then pull the crown to its outer position to set the time. There is no date to set.
The result is an all-steel tool watch with white gold dial furniture and a sapphire crystal.
A full set for a 2013 example of this reference includes the following:
Older version
Newer version
Transitional overlap occurred as retailers exhausted old inventory, so a boundary-year watch may legitimately carry mixed-era packaging. A 2013 example generally sits in the Generation 1 box. A generic or wrong-era box on a full-set listing lowers its completeness for resale.
A 2013 sale carried a two-year international guarantee. The extension to a five-year guarantee applied to purchases from July 2015 onward and was not retroactive, so it does not apply to this example. The year 2013 sits on the boundary between the paper warranty certificate era and the plastic warranty card era, so a genuine 2013 example may legitimately carry either the completed paper certificate, printed with the purchase and model details, or the early plastic warranty card with electronically stored activation.
Older version
Newer version
The year 2013 sits on the Generation 1 to Generation 2 boundary, so a genuine 2013 full set may carry either the paper certificate or the early plastic card. The original two-year guarantee on any 2013 example has long expired as of today. On a pre-owned full set, the stamped, dated, dealer-completed certificate or card is the primary authenticity document; a blank or photocopied one is a red flag.
The reference was succeeded by the 36mm reference 124270 in 2021.
At 39mm the Explorer 214270 wears closer to a 40mm watch, because the dial opening is broad and the polished bezel is thin, pushing more surface toward the eye than the diameter alone suggests. The roughly 47mm lug-to-lug keeps the case contained, and the curved lugs sit down on the wrist rather than overhanging.
At around 11.2mm thick it is a flat watch that slips under a shirt cuff. The 20mm Oyster bracelet is fully brushed and tapers to the clasp, and the Easylink extension covers small daily changes in fit. On the Mark I build, the shorter handset is the immediate visual signature.
It suits wrists in roughly the 6.5 to 8 inch range and works as a single do-everything watch, dressed down as a daily steel sports watch and neat enough under a jacket sleeve.
Across every 214270 the constants hold: a 39mm Oystersteel case, a smooth high-polished steel bezel, a black dial with applied white gold hour markers and 3, 6, and 9 Arabic numerals, no date, the Oyster bracelet reference 77200 with an Oysterlock clasp and Easylink, and the Calibre 3132. What changes across the run is the dial and handset.
Dials and hands
Neighbouring references
These are separate references. Their specifications do not carry across to the 214270.
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