Fresh Basel

Vintage Victories
As with the Geneva shows, Baselworld is proving that this is the year for bringing back the classics.
The Explorer II is one of Rolex’s most iconic models, not only because of its design, but also because of its link to the conquest of Mount Everest. It was on May 29, 1953 that Sir
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first men to ever reach the summit of Mt Everest, the highest point on earth with a height of 29,035 feet above sea level. Norgay was wearing the Rolex Explorer Model 6098 – or the Explorer I – throughout the climb, and amazingly, the watch withstood the harsh conditions and was still running when they reached the top. The much-publicised climb resulted in a big following for the series, and later, a creation of a follow-up model, the Explorer II, first introduced in 1971.
This year, celebrating the 40th anniversary of its creation, a larger 42mm re-edition of the watch with the orange hand is presented, fitted with the Rolex 3187 calibre incorporating a Paraflex shock absorbers and anti-magnetic Parachrom hairspring. The new Explorer II, with its characteristic 24-hour orange arrow hand comes in the traditional white lacquered dial and a black version with phantom effect (black base on black dial).
Aviation specialist Bremont is releasing a watch that is inspired by the clocks found in
the 1944 Mustang WWII P-51K-10 fighter planes. The brothers English were going after a real vintage vibe with this watch. In fact, the Bremont P-51 is built using original parts from the famous aircraft! Aluminium from the Mustang’s fuselage have been integrated into the dial and movement, limiting the number of pieces in the series to 251.
Equipped with the Swiss BE-54A automatic chronometer calibre, the Bremont P-51 has a date indicator and also shows UTC time. The 43mm hardened steel Trip-Tick case features a new rotating Roto-Click inner bezel that houses four ball bearings inside the case for better increment measurement.
The caseback is open, revealing the movement, and a colourful rotor that has been shaped to resemble the original on the nose of the P-51K-10 aircraft.