Must of been fate - my new 2021 36mm Explorer

Well, what were the odds?

When the new 2021 124270 in 36mm was released in April I decided that I wanted to upgrade from my old 114270. I sent a text to my salesperson at the Rolex boutique in Miami where there was a history of just one DateJust 31 purchase. She estimated I would see the watch in mid 2022 given all the typical reasons, plus covid closure delays. I had no problem with this given my happiness wearing my 114270 which I had bought in 2019.

Fast forward to this weekend- I happened to fly myself on a round trip up to NYC for a few days. On my way back home to St Pete FL I stayed in Miami to help my brother move into his new apartment. Sure enough on Friday I get a text saying the watch was in! You can imagine my shock and that I just happened to be in Miami. Caught up in all the chaos of moving my brother I decided that I would talk to her later on, which led her to believe I no longer had any interest in the watch (I know, huge mistake). She offered the watch to the next person, who could only go in Sunday to purchase but the sales rep didn't work Sunday! Additionally, this other person could only come in at 4pm Monday to purchase...so when I contacted her on Monday morning ready to purchase and she explained how lucky I was that she still had it! In the end she only offered it to me because a person ahead of me decided they didn't want the watch when it came in, and she also said that if I had no purchase history I wouldn't of even been contacted. So Monday at noon the watch was mine.

This is the first time I've ever been the original owner of a watch (the DJ was for someone else), and I really can't believe of all watches it's a stainless sports watch from Rolex. It means a lot to say the least.

Looks like Ill even make a profit selling my 114270, which is really nuts.

Wearing the new 36mm 124270 is shockingly similar to my old 114270. It's genuinely almost unnoticeable that I'm wearing a new watch until I actually look at it, or look at it in the dark. The bracelet taper is nice, as is the 5mm micro adjust. All the indexes are slightly bigger, so at a glance telling the time is just that much easier. Given that the clasp is longer but slimmer, (as you can see in the pictures below) it sits on my wrist more evenly and thus its more comfortable. The weight difference between them also goes unnoticed.

Congratulations on your new watch 👍
I also moved my 114270 in favour of the new one.
Love the AR coating, no more blinding myself when looking at the watch. Also the bracelet quick adjustmet is perfect for me. It is actually the first watch that i wear on the bracelet without having problems with discomfort.
Lume could be better in respect of chargeing, but its definitely better that the previous 36mm models.
And i was a bit disappointed when wanted try out a leather strap for a change. It has some deep sharp groove, which neither looks good nor is healthy if the strap is rubbing. So i guess it will stay on a bracelet.

My one says hi 😀



The shitty notch

Congrats on the watch. It certainly looks more refined than the old version. Also due to the punchier dial, it does look visually
larger and more substantial than the previous version. But please dont call it fate or overemphasize an event which basically is that you
were "allowed" to spend over 6k on a 3 hander watch... I often hear these things "getting the call from my ad was one of the happiest moments of my life..." which are simply ridiculous. Wake up people, these are mass produced watches you get to spend your hard earned money on. And yes I own Rolex steel models bought at retain aswell including an exp ^^

Thanks and congrats @Eve ! I think in addition to the notch which chews up leather straps, the lug holes are drilled close toward the case which leaves no room for the strap to be free and it hits the case. I had the same issue on my 114270. It was difficult even to run certain NATO's on the 114270 if they were too think because there just wasn't much room from the spring bar to case. I guess the new 36 is worse..

@Oyaoik As far as 'fate' goes I really hear you and you put it very well. It was my attempt at being humorous given how ludicrous Rolex has been for many years now

The problem with the new is that even if you fit curved springbars, so that the strap clears, you will see the huge hole under the bezel..

I see what you mean, it's bizarre now that you mention it. I wonder if they engineered it this way to keep it this compact? If you look at the end links they sit really far underneath the bezel

It seems they wanted to hide the connection gap between they case and bracelet under the bezel. So that it feels almost like an integrated part of the watch.