BB54 vs Explorer 114270
Which would you pair with a dress watch as an everyday piece? Throw in a GShock as a beater to complete a 3 watch collection.
Using the 114270 as I prefer the look, light weight bracelet and price.
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Brett
Current collection: Seiko SACM171 Tissot PRX 35 Auto Casio: W800H, F91W, A168WG
New York
Member since
Last active: 5 hrs ago
6.50” / 16.51 cm
For mee personaly I would take the Rolex I have a Tudor BB58 and a Sub and the rolex finishing is better then the one on the BB futhermore I dont like that they chnged the second hand in like a bubble shape I personaly prefered the snowflake hand thats what the watch was about to me.
The Explorer. Not even close & I'm not a Rolex fan either 😉👍🏻
Depends on the condition of the Rolex. The 114270 was discontinued in 2010. I might prefer a brand new Tudor with full warranty than a 20 year old Rolex that needs a service, has a stretched out bracelet and questionable water resistance.
For mee personaly I would take the Rolex I have a Tudor BB58 and a Sub and the rolex finishing is better then the one on the BB futhermore I dont like that they chnged the second hand in like a bubble shape I personaly prefered the snowflake hand thats what the watch was about to me.
Rolex usually has better finishing than Tudor. Though they have more polishing vs Tudor with more toolish brushed finishing.
I don’t mind the second hand honestly.
For mee personaly I would take the Rolex I have a Tudor BB58 and a Sub and the rolex finishing is better then the one on the BB futhermore I dont like that they chnged the second hand in like a bubble shape I personaly prefered the snowflake hand thats what the watch was about to me.
You know, I've never even noticed that the second hand on my Black Bay has the snowflake on it like the hour hand, lol
I agree with you, I like the snowflake on the hour hand as well as the second hand, it preserves the continuity IMO.
So I was in a similar situation. I have pure dress watch and a g shock. If I wanted a watch that was 60% dressy and 40% tool watch, I'd go explorer 36
If I wanted a watch that was as 40% dressy and 60% tool watch I'd go bb54.
So for me I'd go bb54. Mainly because of this--
To me the bb54 reminds me of a watch your dad or grandpa could have passed down or a watch you can wear into that age. Right now it's steel and rubber bracelet but if you wanted, you could put it on leather and wear it with a sport coat or sweater and look great at Christmas dinner or bouncing your grand daughter on your lap because of the vintage sizing and lug width. Plus it has a better comfort fitting bracelet with T Fit. The market has spoken and I think paying over 2-3k for a watch should come with it now. Rolex still only includes glidelock on their divers only ...
The reference explorer you're contemplating has the same lugs so you're good but I was focused on the 124270 with the 19mm lugs 🤦...
If I only wanted 2 watches and the one I already owned was:
Dress watch - I'd go for the Bb54 for a dressy and casual + sporty option
G shock - I'd go for the explorer for a dressy option
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I've been on w list for the 124270 since 2021 and was finally offered this summer. But since then I've tried the 124270/3 on a lot, fell in love with the bb54, discovered I like the pelagos weight and chunky lume blocks then realized I just liked lume numerals more than the overall package of the explorer for the price. So knowing vertex is releasing a 36mm dirty dozen watch, I'm keen to wait for that or see if Rolex releases a mini glidelock on their non diver sports watches.
TLDR - bb54 because of the versatility, bracelet, and strap options.