Explorer Erling Kagge spotted wearing a Rolex

The watch on Erling Kagge's wrist is not a collector's display piece. It is a working instrument that has been hauled across Antarctic ice sheets, strapped to a wrist at the top of the world, and exposed to conditions most timepieces would never survive. The Rolex Explorer II ref. 16570 in its white 'Polar' dial configuration is the specific piece Kagge wore during his historic Three Poles expeditions — North Pole, South Pole, and the summit of Mount Everest — making it one of the most provenance-rich watches in the world of exploration horology.

The Explorer II ref. 16570 was produced from 1989 to 2011, representing the second-generation Explorer II and the first to adopt the clean, highly legible white dial that earned the 'Polar' nickname among collectors. Powered by the Rolex caliber 3185 — a self-winding movement with a 48-hour power reserve and a GMT hand allowing a second time zone to be read against the fixed 24-hour bezel — the watch was engineered with polar and cave environments specifically in mind. The 40mm Oyster case in 904L stainless steel, rated to 100 meters of water resistance, houses a movement that handles magnetic fields and temperature extremes better than most of its contemporaries.

Among collectors, the white-dial 16570 occupies a particular sweet spot. It is the more desirable of the two dial variants — the black-dial version being more common — and examples with correct 'T Swiss T' tritium dials from the early production run attract serious attention. The model sits at an accessible entry point into vintage Rolex sports references, which has kept demand consistent even as other references have seen more dramatic price swings.

Kagge's relationship with Rolex ran deeper than sponsorship. He was one of the brand's genuine ambassadors — an explorer who actually used the product in the field rather than simply photographing it poolside. That context gives his personal ref. 16570 a biographical weight that no showroom example can match.

On the grey market, clean examples of the Rolex Explorer II ref. 16570 Polar trade in the $7,000–$11,000 range depending on condition, box, and papers. Kagge's own piece, with its documented expedition history, exists in an entirely different category — a museum artifact that happens to still run perfectly.