The Rolex Explorer II reference 1655 debuted in 1971 as a companion to the original Explorer rather than a replacement. It has a steel Oyster case listed at 39.5 mm by dealer Hairspring, a fixed steel bezel engraved with a 24-hour scale, a black dial with date at 3 o’clock, and a large orange arrow-tipped 24-hour hand. The dial reads “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified”. Power comes from the automatic Rolex calibre 1575, the same movement used in the GMT-Master reference 1675 of the period. The 24-hour hand lets the wearer tell day from night, which mattered to cavers working underground and to Arctic explorers living through constant light or darkness. That purpose-built tool function is why the 1655 matters historically.

The Italian nickname “Freccione”, roughly “big arrow”, comes from that oversized orange hand, which on many examples has faded to yellow. Collectors divide the reference into five “Marks” based on dial and bezel changes: the Mark 1 has a straight seconds hand, quickly replaced by a “lollipop” seconds hand, and the Mark 2 carries a “Frog Foot” coronet with splayed points. Mountaineers and explorers including Reinhold Messner and Jean François Pernette wore it in the field, followed later by climbers such as Ed Viesturs. The watch is often called the “Steve McQueen”, but there is no evidence that McQueen ever owned or wore one. In the mid-1980s it was replaced by the reference 16550, which added an independently jumping hour hand.

When it was new, the 1655 sold slowly and was not a commercial success for Rolex. Its unusual, distinctive design later earned it a cult following, and Wind Vintage notes that collectors ask for it more than most other references. Hairspring points out that other brands, including Tudor, have since borrowed the idea of a prominent 24-hour hand. Collectors pay close attention to the Mark of the dial and bezel, to the colour of the 24-hour hand and to whether the case has been polished. The reference 1655 is no longer produced; Rolex continues the Explorer II line in its current catalogue.