These Rolex Explorer II 16570s Look Nearly Identical. One’s Worth Thousands More.

MomentumSEO — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 13:43:13 +0000

Two of these can sit side by side and look basically the same, and one of them is still worth thousands more than the other. Let me show you what’s actually going on inside.

The 16570 and That Wobble Everyone Talks About

So this is the reference 16570, and these were manufactured from around 1989 to 2011. For most of that production run, it had a 3185 movement. Now, the one thing with the 3185, when you set the second time zone and you’re moving the hour hand, the GMT hand has this wobble to it. You can literally watch the red hand bounce around while you set it.

What the 3186 Actually Fixed

Rolex developed the next generation of the movement, the 3186, and it only went into this model for the last couple years of production. That resolved the wobble completely. Change the hours on one of these and that red hand doesn’t move an inch out of place.

It’s Never Just the Movement

Here’s the thing. There are other features on a Rolex that collectors look for, and all those upgrades happen to land on the watches with the 3186, just because they’re later production. Originally these watches had holes on the case, hollow end links, and the rehaut, that inner ring around the dial, didn’t have the serial number or the word Rolex engraved into it. So when you get the upgraded movement, you’re also getting all of those later features that came with it. It’s a package deal, not just a swap under the caseback.

Why This Specific One Is Rare on Top of That

One other collectible thing worth knowing: from 1989 up until around 2007, Rolex watches came with a paper warranty certificate before they switched to the warranty card. This one has the card, which already makes it later production. And Rolex serial numbers were always letter-based until they moved to a random serial system around 2011, which this one also has. So you’ve got the upgraded movement, the later features, and a rare version of the 16570 with a warranty card on top of it all. And here’s the funny part: the warranty card is dated 2013, two years after the 16570 was already discontinued. That means this watch probably sat in a Rolex store for two years before anyone bought it. This was back when Rolexes weren’t flying off the shelf with a million-person wait list out the door.

So What’s the Price Difference?

We’re able to sell a fully decked out version, like this one, for $11,500. You can get one of the older versions as a full set for around $8,500. That’s a $3,000 gap for a black dial 16570, and I think the real question is whether you’d pay that difference to get the best version of the watch, or whether the earlier one still does everything you actually need it to do.