The Rolex Explorer was launched following the successful event of conquering Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay in 1953. While it was known that both expeditioners had a Rolex Oyster Perpetual on their wrists, it was not until the release of the ref. 6510 that featured its iconic luminous 3-6-9 dial configuration. With that said, it was only until the release of the ref. 6350 with a honeycomb dial that featured Explorer on the dial as well as featuring “Officially Certified Chronometer”. In 1963, Rolex released arguably the most iconic Explorer reference via the ref. 1016.

In production from 1963 until 1989 making it the longest Explorer model in production, early examples of the reference featured a black lacquered dial with gilt texts. While these glossy examples of the reference can be broken up into two main categories with the earliest featuring a chapter ring and later examples featuring a dial without. The present example Rolex Explorer ref. 1016 belongs to the rare and one of the earliest variants featuring a chapter ring and an exclamation dial signifying its luminous material to be in radium. Furthermore, it is powered by the original cal. 1560 with later examples bearing the cal. 1570. Stamped II.63 inside the caseback with a nine hundred thousand serial, the present example from circa 1963 boasts an attractive unrestored dial with matching radium luminous material that still has a good Geiger reading.