In a sea of pandas or fully white or fully black dials, I would highly recommend this variant. The brown gradient is truly stunning and sure to stand out amongst other watches.
There's also a certain charm to those older explorers. It's hard to articulate, but they feel less corporate/boardroom, and more adventure and exploration.
I think you could look at getting a late 2000s explorer pre owned. Might be friendlier on the wallet. Especially if you're planning on beating it up.
Just make sure it's been serviced and the gaskets have been replaced.
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