Television presenter Declan Donnelly spotted wearing a Rolex

Declan Donnelly — better known simply as Dec from the iconic presenting partnership Ant & Dec — was recently photographed wearing a Rolex Explorer II in stainless steel with a black dial, reference 216570. The sighting offers a window into the watch preferences of a presenter whose career has spanned everything from Saturday Night Takeaway to I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, suggesting a taste for reliable, no-nonsense quality over ostentatious luxury.

The Rolex Explorer II ref. 216570 was introduced in 2011 as a substantial evolution of the line. Running at 42mm in Oystersteel, it represented a notable size increase over its predecessor, the 40mm ref. 16570. Beneath the screw-down Oyster crown sits the Calibre 3187, a movement built around a Parachrom hairspring in a Nivarox-free alloy, granting impressive resistance to magnetic interference and temperature variation. The outsized 24-hour hand — a feature dating back to the original 1971 Explorer II designed for polar researchers who needed to distinguish day from night in perpetual light or darkness — remains one of the watch's most distinctive and functional details.

Among collectors, the ref. 216570 occupies a dependable middle ground. The black dial variant — known by the designation BKSO, referencing the black dial with steel hands and Oyster bracelet — is the more restrained of the two dial options, the alternative being the striking white "polar" dial. Purists often favour the black for its readability and continuity with exploration tool-watch tradition. The 216570 was discontinued in 2021 when Rolex introduced the current-generation ref. 226570, and that discontinuation has quietly boosted collector interest in clean examples of the outgoing reference.

Donnelly's choice aligns with a broader pattern among British television personalities who tend toward Rolex sport references — prestigious enough to signal success without veering into the territory of conspicuous excess that might alienate mainstream audiences. The Explorer II, with its adventurous backstory and workmanlike aesthetic, sits comfortably in that sweet spot.

At retail, the ref. 216570 was listed in the UK at approximately £6,700 during its production run — modest by Rolex sport-watch standards. On the grey market, clean examples with full set documentation now trade at a modest premium above original retail, reflecting steady demand from buyers who missed the reference during its production life and prefer the 42mm case proportions over the slightly altered geometry of the current generation.