Okay, so I’ve been getting really into watches lately, and I decided I needed a Rolex Explorer II 16570 in my life. But before I pulled the trigger, I wanted to make absolutely sure it would fit my wrist. Nothing worse than a watch that’s too big or too small, right?

First, I hit up the internet. I mean, where else do you start these days? I searched for “Rolex Explorer II 16570 dimensions” and found a bunch of forum posts and articles. Lots of conflicting info, though, which was super frustrating.
So, I decided to get down to the details and measure a real one. Lucky me a friend of mind owned a nice 16570, and he was ok for me to measure it.
My Measuring Session
- Case Diameter: I whipped out my trusty digital calipers (gotta love those things!) and measured straight across the case, excluding the crown. It came out to right around 40mm. Perfect! Just what most sources said.
- Lug-to-Lug: This is the important one for how it’ll actually wear. I measured from the tip of one lug to the tip of the other. I got about 47mm. Not too shabby, should fit my wrist nicely.
- Thickness: I flipped the watch over and measured from the caseback to the top of the crystal. It was around 12mm, give or take. Pretty slim for a tool watch, which I liked.
- Lug Width: This is for the strap. I measured the space between the lugs, where the bracelet attaches. 20mm, as expected. Standard size, so lots of strap options.
After doing all the measuring, I felt way more confident. I compared the numbers to some of my other watches that I know fit well, and it all seemed good.
Finally, I took a leap and I got the Explorer II! I put it to my wrist. It fits like a dream! All that measuring and research totally paid off. Now have my 16570, so happy with it!