It seems to me that our version is more oddball. Hands were heavily criticized as I believe that they were unchanged from the prior 36 as they migrated to the 39. Echi? I really like the new 40mm, I imagine that Rolex will run with it for a lengthy period...
(1) matte vs gloss dial, (2) location of the "explorer" text, (3) presence of the Rolex crown at 6 o' clock on the new one, (4) more PR on the new one, (5) AR coating on the new one (I think!) etc. They may have made some modifications to the bracelet/cla...
The matte vs gloss dial being the most important. The text on both versions look good to my eyes. The tiny Rolex crown is pretty minor. Hopefully the PR and AR coatings don't scratch off the crystal. And the bracelet improvements might be nice, but the 39...
✅Modern size ✅Matte black dial ✅Full lume ✅"Explorer" text at the bottom No other modern explorer has all 4 above. Sure, more PR and AR under crystal would have been nice, but not a deal breaker without them ... ...
The old Submariner used to have tapered lugs and was very svelte. The new one just comes out too muscular and bulky. I hope the new Explorer doesn't have that problem.