While it is often looped into the broader field watch category, the Rolex Explorer II was actually marketed for spelunking, or cave exploration, when it was released in 1971. The 24-hour complication was borrowed from the GMT Master to help distinguish night from day when isolated from the sky, not for travel.
Despite how few people enjoy poking around inside caves, the Explorer II became iconic as a more general travel and adventure watch with everyday appeal. Countless dupes and homages have followed, but an ongoing collaboration between California’s Nodus and Kansas’s Raven Watches just dropped the best option priced under $1,000.
Nodus specializes in adventure-ready timepieces, and when that expertise was combined with Raven Watches’ keen eye for retro design in 2024, the TrailTrekker was born. Introduced in a blacked-out Cerakote-finished case and bracelet with a matte charcoal bezel and dial, it had a stealthy, tactical appearance.
The new Basecamp iteration has a brighter, more retro-inspired appearance that lands closer to the Explorer II. The case, bracelet and fixed bezel mimic the Crown’s spelunker with sandblasted stainless steel and a black lacquered 24-hour track.
Dialed in
The dial, however, is where the collaborators beat their own trail.
The TrailTrekker Basecamp features a beautiful, infinitely wearable royal blue dial with a matte finish. Eggshell white Old Radium X1 Super-LumiNova on the hands, hour markers and even the date disc create a complementary, highly legible contrast.
