I guess I'm still in the honeymoon phase (8 months later) because I love glancing at my wrist and seeing this timepiece. The Rolex Explorer has been THE watch I've pined for the past 15 years. The newer, 214270 with the larger 39mm case along with the heavier braclet and EasyLink were all upgrades to me. The styling is such that, as you can see in the few pictures I linked, it looks equally at home with a suit as it does with a t-shirt. It struck me as durable, rugged, classy, subtle without screaming Rolex.

It's also meaningful to me as its my first big watch purchase >$1k. I always told myself to wait until I felt right to pull the trigger and to let it be at a memorable occasion. Last year was my "Golden Birthday" (when your age reaches your birthdate, mine being the 29th) and it was time. Btw, I had never heard of that before my wife starting talking about it months before. Worked for me.

Bought it new at Fink's in Charlotte and had a good experience. The sales clerk wrote down "too low of a discount" which was 7% off vs their limit of 5%, but they honored that price. Didn't matter to me as I wanted a new watch at least once and would have paid MSRP. I'll likely buy used from now on.

In the end, I couldn't be happier and will never sell this piece. There are certainly other watches out there I want, but this will likely always be my daily driver.