Television presenter Richard Hammond spotted wearing a Rolex

Richard Hammond, the veteran automotive presenter and co-creator of The Grand Tour, was spotted wearing a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer II in stainless steel, reference 226570, during production of his Amazon Prime show. The sighting places the watch squarely in the kind of active, location-driven environment Rolex designed it to inhabit — a fitting backdrop for one of the manufacturer's most purposeful sport references.

Introduced at Watches & Wonders 2021 as the successor to the long-running Ref. 216570, the Explorer II Ref. 226570 represented the most substantive update the line had received in decades. Rolex enlarged the Oyster case to 42mm in diameter — a modest but meaningful step up — and upgraded the movement to the in-house Calibre 3285, a significant leap forward that delivers a 70-hour power reserve, a Chronergy escapement, and a Parachrom hairspring for enhanced magnetic resistance. The white dial variant, sometimes called the 'Polar' dial within collector circles, features large applied hour markers and the model's signature orange 24-hour hand, originally conceived to distinguish day from night during polar expeditions.

The Explorer II has a collector pedigree that runs deeper than its relatively accessible price point suggests. Introduced in 1971 to serve cavers and polar explorers who needed a reliable GMT and fixed 24-hour bezel, the line has always sat in a curious position within the Rolex catalogue — less flashy than the Daytona, more utilitarian than the Submariner, yet genuinely capable in the field. The Ref. 226570, with its clean execution and movement upgrade, has earned broad respect among serious Rolex collectors as a no-compromise daily wearer.

Hammond's choice of the Explorer II aligns well with his established public identity. Across decades on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, he has cultivated a rugged, hands-on image that lends natural credibility to a watch built for extreme environments. It is not a surprising choice, but it is a coherent one.

At retail, the Rolex Explorer II Ref. 226570 is priced at approximately $9,550 USD. On the secondary market, demand has moderated from its post-2021 peak, with grey market prices currently tracking close to or slightly above retail — making it one of the more attainable references in the current Rolex sport watch landscape.