'One Watch, Five Days, Five Ways'. The Rolex "Everest Explorer" 6298...

Today we welcome back our ‘One Watch, Five Days, Five ways’ feature! This edition features a watch that played a very important role in the development of Rolex sports watches – the reference 6298. Known by collectors (alongwith its slightly older sibling the 6098) as the Everest Explorer or Pre-Explorer, these watches were the prototype watches used by explorers in the early 1950s that led to the development of the Explorer line. Known as ‘Big Bubblebacks’ or ‘Ovettones’, these large case watches have a real presence on the wrist and are truly versatile.

I was lucky enough to acquire a great, all original version a few days ago and though I would share it with you on some of our amazing leather straps. So here is my Rolex 6298 Everest Explorer – Five Days, Five Ways…

Lusso Marrone

The Lusso Marrone is an elegant strap, that gives the 6298 a classy edge with the sophisticated grey edge-stitch and beautiful Elegante buckle. The leather has a warm softness and a subtle grain. This strap really gave the watch a dress watch vibe that worked perfectly with a dress shirt and jacket.

Blade Medium Brown

The Blade straps are new concept on B&S and feature a distressed edge that is reminiscent of the blade of a sword or dagger. The brown leather is complimented with a ton-sur-ton brown side stitch. This strap has a patina that worked amazingly in combination the funky vibe of the dial on the 6298.

Moorland Green

We’ve experienced a real cold snap here in the UK and we had a few cm’s of snow last weekend, so it was time to break out the tweed Barbour and Hunter wellingtons to do battle against the elements. The Moorland Green strap works perfectly in this context, as it was inspired the cold shooting days that this time of year is perfect for. If I was going to wear the Ovettone on a day’s shooting there is absolutely no question that this would be my choice! As it was, it also worked well for my walk to the deli to pick up some lunch!

Cosaro

I have said before that the Cosaro is one of my favourite straps which works on any watch in any circumstances. And I wasn’t disappointed on the Ovettone – the patina of the dial was wonderfully complemented by the mid-brown hue with that always chic cream side stitch.

Distressed Denim single-pass

The Distressed Denim single-pass strap is one of the coolest Signature Series straps that we have produced. I wear it a lot on my blue vintage Tudor Submariners, but I loved it on the Everest as it made the blued-steel seconds hand really ‘pop’ and bought out the tool watch vibe. If I were to wear the watch on an expedition, this would be my strap of choice!

So you can see, this is a seriously cool watch and extremely easy to wear in different contexts, but always oozing that classic Oyster look. I spent a long time looing for this beauty and it was an exciting journey researching these watches and ultimately finding this one…but I’ll tell you more about that next week!

Ross Povey