Is the Rolex Explorer II a GMT? | Bob's Watches

Is the Rolex Explorer II a GMT? | Bob's Watches The Rolex GMT-Master collection isn’t the only range of Rolex watches to feature a GMT complication. For example, you may not always think of the modern Rolex Explorer II as a GMT watch, but it actually is, and here’s why…. The local time at Prime Meridian (0° Line of Longitude), which runs through Greenwich, England is the timezone used for all standard aviation. It was once called Greenwich Mean Time (aka GMT), although GMT has now been replaced with the term “Coordinated Universal Time” (UTC) or Zulu Time (since the letter “Z” - phonetically “Zulu” stands for “Zero” representing UTC offset). The original Rolex GMT-Master watch featured a fourth innovative GMT hand that pointed to a 24-hour scale on the bezel. The bezel could be rotated to enable the display of a secondary time zone, and the GMT hand would point to the correct corresponding hour. During the 1980’s Rolex redesigned the collection and created the GMT-Master II enabling the wearer to independently set the two hour hands, offering the ability to display three time zones. But what about the Rolex Explorer II models? The first Rolex Explorer II ref: 1655 was released in 1971 and featured a 24-hour scale on its stainless steel bezel and an additional 24-hour hand; however, the bezel couldn’t be rotated and the two hour hands were permanently synced. Since it couldn’t offer a second time zone feature, it was classed as a useful day/night indicator rather than a