The 14270 isn't shy about the fact that it's a luxury tool watch with a distinctive modern flair. But whereas the 1016's numerals were painted on, the 14270 sees the introduction of higher-end applied markers and numerals. The classic 36mm size that has defined the Explorer since its early days remains, as do the 3-6-9 numerals. Here we are with the first 14270, the watch that took up the Explorer mantle upon the retirement of the 1016. stamps, as part of the Mellon estate auction. Sotheby's also sold a few other Rolex watches with Tiffany & Co. It was just a little over seven years ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago based on the prices. All but one of these eight Tiffany-stamped vintage Explorers sold for under $20,000. When the party was canceled, some say because she was unhappy with the final project the guests were working on, it is said the watches went into a drawer, only to emerge when items from the Mellon estate were sold publicly at Sotheby's on November 21, 2014, after she passed.
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stamp on the dial, with six of them bearing personal engravings on the caseback with her initials "R.L.M." (for her full name, Rachel Lambert Mellon) and two without engravings. Each of her eight guests was to be gifted a Rolex Explorer 1016 with a Tiffany & Co. The watch we have here was purchased, along with seven others, by the American horticulturist, philanthropist, and art collector Bunny Mellon, for a dinner party she intended to hold. But note that in common parlance, "mark" is also used to refer to gilt dials, as mentioned in the video.Įric brought a real treat to this edition of Reference Points in the form of a particularly special matte dial Mark 4. As we are covering both gilt and matte dials, we'll refer to the gilts with the designation "type" and mattes with the designation "mark" to differentiate 1016 variations. We'll begin our exploration of the 1016 where it picks up from its gilt-dialed forebears and continue our examination of this long-lived reference into the ensuing matte dials. Pre-1957, most, if not all, gilt Rolex dials had more of a flat and less glossy black appearance. It is then lacquered over to create a glossy sheen surface, which we begin to see with the glossy dials that've survived to this point, from 1957 and later. With gilt dials, the text and markers are masked out before a layer of black paint is adhered to the dial. The fact it is not a chronometer and that not all of this reference say the word "Explorer" on the dial has meant that some collectors do not consider the reference 6150 a true Explorer.Īll of the black dials we've seen up until this point have been gilt-gloss, produced using an expensive galvanic coating process resulting in stark, crisp text set against a black surface. That's because this watch is not a chronometer, further separating it from the rest of the Explorers.
One thing you will notice is that there is no OCC text on the dial. While it features the 3-6-9 layout that would go on to be called the Explorer dial, only some feature a line of text above six o'clock reading "Explorer." The rest, and indeed the majority, say "Precision." The example we see here is one of the former, and it also features a long hour hand. Produced from 1952 / 1953, the Reference 6150 has the same 36mm size we see through all of the rest of the 20th century and much of the 21st, up to and including today's current Explorer models. Traits that will typify the Explorer through the years are already here. The Reference 6150 is the immediate predecessor to the reference 6350, the watch that many collectors argue is the first Explorer.
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