I am by no means a Rolex fanboy, I do respect both the engineering and marketing departments of Rolex though, they are well organised and managed. So when I look at the Rolex Explorer, do I see any decent alternatives? For me, the Longines Conquest is the natural alternative. Some would argue the Omega Railmaster, maybe the Hamilton Khaki Field, possibly even the Tissot PRS516 with the Powermatic 80, but I only see one real alternative – the Conquest. 

The Longines Conquest is the clear alternative to the Explorer for me. What is ironic is both the Explorer and Conquest were released about a year apart in the early 1950s. Over the years, the Conquest has changed significantly, the Explorer has not, there have been a few upgrades, although the Explorer from the 1950s is pretty much the Explorer of the 2020s.

The Conquest now looks very similar to the Explorer, the Arabic numerals are similar in size and shape. Located at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions on the dial, the black Explorer dial is symmetrical. The Mercedes hour hand and baton minute hand have been around for decades, people love it but I am not a fan.

The Conquest dial is also black, the hands are larger in diameter but do allow a decent lume to be applied, the Arabic numerals are at the 12 and 6 o’clock positions. The remaining hour markers are index markers, the date window is a little small so I can’t see the date under most circumstances with my declining eyesight.

The 41 mm case is borrowed from the HydroConquest, this is awsome as the Conquest now has 300 metres water resistance. The crown guards are pretty sharp with the crown resembling the winged hourglass. The smooth angled bezel works, the scratch potential of a smooth bezel is high, but for a tool watch – this is fine. 

So apart from James Bond author Ian Fleming wearing an Explorer, how did Rolex become such an icon? The Explorer wasn’t the timepiece on the wrists of Hillary and Norgay for their Mt Everest assault but does honour their legacy. This is how Rolex promotes the Explorer, this is an adventure based timepiece with sweeping views of rugged snow capped mountain ranges.