Description: Rolex Explorer 40 Ref 224270 Pre-owned Rolex Explorer 40 ref 224270 (2026). Those familiar with the Explorer know that Rolex has been experimenting with case sizes over the past several years. The series debuted in the 1950s, shortly after Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary became the first men to summit Mount Everest. The watch was inspired by that incredible feat and was always meant to serve as a ready-for-anything mountaineer’s tool.