1967 Rolex Explorer ref. 1016 matte mk1 dial “frog foot”

The 20th century marks the century of constant competition for achievements, the main questions of the time were: who will be the first man on the moon, who will go to the deepest seas, who will climb the highest mountains? Expeditions were led worldwide to be the first to accomplish these challenges.

Rolex, faithful to its principles and always in search of performance, has known how to associate itself with great historical events. This is how the Rolex Explorer came close to the expedition of Mount Everest in 1952 and 1953. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, making the Explorer & the Smith Everest the first watches to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

The history of the Explorer began in the early 1950s and has remained unbroken in the Rolex catalog ever since. Of all the Explorer variants, the frogfoot is one of the most popular among collectors.

The balance created by all the elements of the dial as well as the peculiarity of the Rolex crown which is shaped like a frog’s footprint, hence the nickname makes it unique!

Called MK1, it belongs to the first series of matte dial produced just after the end of the production of 1016 in gilt. Faithful to the explorer line, it features the iconic 3-6-9 that shares a homogeneous cream patina with the hands.

The key points of this watch are the overall condition of the dial, the case and the bracelet.

The watch is fitted with a stunning condition rivet-link Oyster bracelet reference 7206 and reference 58 endlinks.