The Explorer II is a GMT watch built for people who actually need to track a second time zone in places where day and night look the same — caves, polar research stations, underground mining. It's a tool watch first, and the design follows the function: fixed 24-hour bezel, bright orange GMT hand, maxed-out lume.
Older Explorer II reps used modified ETA movements with decorative plates. The date jumped the wrong way. The power reserve was short. The movement architecture didn't match the gen through the caseback. VSF Watch's new release uses a cloned 3285 integrated movement and updates the case and dial to match the current 226570 generation. Here's what changed.
1. Movement: integrated 3285 clone
The old approach was a decorated Asian ETA. Wrong gear train layout, fake plates covering the movement bridges, and incorrect balance assembly position. The GMT hand was slaved to the hour hand rather than being independently adjustable.
The cloned 3285 is built from the ground up to match the gen architecture. The gear train, balance bridge, and jewel placements mirror the gen Rolex caliber. The local hour hand jumps independently in one-hour increments for time zone changes, same as gen. The GMT hand stays on home time. The minutes keep running.
Power reserve is 72 hours. The old ETA-based versions ran about 40 hours. Taking the watch off Friday evening and having it still running Monday morning changes how you use it.
2. Case, bezel, and 904L steel
The 226570 is a 42mm case in 904L steel. VSF Watch brushing on the lugs and bracelet links is fine and uniform — the texture matches gen OEM finishing under normal inspection. The bezel is a fixed 24-hour ring with black-filled engraved graduations. The orange 24-hour hand reads against the bezel to show whether it's AM or PM in the tracked time zone. That's the core function of the Explorer II, and if the bezel engraving or hand color is off, the watch doesn't work as intended.
VSF got the bezel depth and the orange tone right. The numerals are deeply milled and black-filled without bleeding at the edges.
3. Dial: coronet at 6 and Swiss printing
The 226570 generation updated the dial with a small coronet between "SWISS" and "MADE" at 6 o'clock. VSF included this. It's one of the quickest ways to tell a 226570 rep from a rep based on the older 216570.
The "EXPLORER II" text is printed in orange, and the ink is raised rather than flat — Swiss pad printing. No bleeding under macro inspection. The dial text on both the Polar White and Classic Black versions is clean.
4. Crystal and lume
The sapphire crystal has the correct 2.5x date magnification cyclops with AR coating. The lume is a blue Chromalight-style compound on the hands and hour markers. The orange 24-hour hand is also lumed, which is correct for this generation. In low light, the lume is bright and holds for hours. It's not gen Chromalight — it's a Swiss Super-LumiNova compound — but the color and output are close.
5. Two dial options
VSF Watch released both the Polar White and the Classic Black:
The Polar White dial has black surrounds on the hour markers and hands (the "phantom" look). High contrast, more casual, the one most people associate with the Explorer II.
The Black dial has white gold-plated surrounds on the indices. Stealthier, more versatile from outdoor to office.
Both have the correct 226570 dial updates: coronet at 6, updated font proportions, and correct marker shapes.
| Feature | VSF Watch Explorer II 226570 | Standard market versions |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | Integrated 3285 clone, 72h, jumping hour hand | Decorated ETA, ~40h, no independent GMT jump |
| Case material | 904L steel | 316L or lower-grade 904L |
| Bezel | Deep-milled 24-hour, black-filled graduations | Shallow engraving, paint-filled |
| Dial | Coronet at 6, raised Swiss printing | Missing coronet or old 216570 layout |
| Lume | Blue Chromalight-style, orange hand-lumed | Green or weak blue, orange hand not lumed |
| Crystal | Sapphire, 2.5x cyclops, AR coating | Lower-grade sapphire, poor AR |
Bottom line: The 3285 movement is the reason to buy this version. The jumping hour hand and 72-hour power reserve are functional upgrades that change how the watch operates day to day. The old decorated ETA couldn't do either correctly.
If you're buying from QC photos, check three things: the coronet between "SWISS" and "MADE" at 6 o'clock (present on 226570, absent on older 216570 reps), the bezel engraving depth (deep and black-filled is VSF, shallow and painted is standard), and the 24-hour hand color (bright orange is correct, faded or reddish is wrong).
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