Lessons in Wristory: The Transglobe Expedition Rolex

From the human perspective, the world has changed tremendously over the last couple hundred years. Exploring the Earth was almost a function of survival before the Industrial Revolution. Since then, we’ve become more and more accustomed to life indoors. While some of us are totally okay with that, others are not. Not at all. Some folks out there have continued to thrive in the outdoors, pushing human limits – all while the comforts of air conditioning, heated floors, microwaves, and pillow-top mattresses sit waiting at home.

There have been countless expeditions, treks, and adventures done solo or in groups, and we hope to cover many of them. Today, however, we’re talking about the Transglobe Expedition — the first successful circumnavigation of the Earth around the poles. And while the trip was badass from an adventure standpoint, watch geeks will get all excited about the one-off Rolex created for the team.

The Expedition

What started off as a dream adventure in 1972, became a reality just 7 years later. Circumpolar navigation of the Earth was the goal – in other words, following a vertical path around both poles. If this sounds like it would take a long time and a crazy amount of endurance, your instincts would be correct. The Transglobe Expedition took three years and covered 100,000 miles over land, air and sea. Yep, you read that correctly, 100,000.

Transglobe Expedition in the Sahara — Photo courtesy of Transglobe Expedition Trust

The tricky part with navigating the Earth vertically is the drastic changes in climate. You literally face the harshest of hot and cold, as opposed to navigating horizontally, where you could theoretically stay within a smaller range of climates. Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Charles Burton spearheaded the expedition, accompanied by Oliver Shepard for about half of the trip before he had to return to England. Between the ship, plane, and miscellaneous support, the total crew included several dozen – a crew this big is necessary for an undertaking so great.

Apart from being the first crew to complete a circumpolar navigation, the next most notable is probably their navigation of the Northwest Passage. They were the first crew to make it through the Northwest Passage in an open vessel – an endeavor that took 36 days and covered 3,000 miles.

Transglobe Expedition Ship Crew — Photo courtesy of Transglobe Expedition Trust

The Watch

As you can imagine, an expedition like this requires the best equipment. Enter, Rolex. Oliver Shepard was provided a ref 1655 Explorer II, commonly (and mistakenly) known as the “Steve McQueen”. While the 1655 was a logical choice, Shepard requested the dial and handset be swapped with that of a GMT Master. The reason was likely to increase legibility – the 1655 has a busy dial and thinner, baton hands – while still maintaining the fixed bezel. The result of the request produced an ultra-rare, one-off production of an Explorer/GMT Master that carried the ref 1655 on the case.

Oliver Shepard Explorer/GMT Master

It’s quite possible three examples were made for the rest of the land team, but only Shepard’s can be confirmed. His Explorer/GMT Master sold at an Antiquorum auction nine years ago for 43,700 CHF ($33,000). With the recent increases in hammer prices of rare Rolexes, it’s not much of a stretch to guess this piece would go for a lot more if it were to go back up for sale.

Looking at the hybrid tool watch brings up an interesting speculation. The result doesn’t look too far off from the follow-on Explorer II ref 16550. It’s essentially the same watch with a slightly different bezel. I think it’s a possibility this hybrid sparked an idea in someone’s head over at Rolex and was the inspiration for the design change. After all, the 1655 was not exactly Rolex’s cash cow at the time. Either way, the one-off Explorer/GMT Master is a prime example of a purpose-built tool watch that actually walked-the-walk.

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