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Simply point the small hour hand at the sun and, if your 24 hour hand is set correctly to your time zone, it will point towards North. This only works in the North Hemisphere and only when Daylight Savings Time is not in effect. The further away from the equator you are the more accurate the reading will be but it was close even in Florida .

One of the amazing things I’ve learned about the Rolex Explorer II is that it can easily be used as a compass (of course any watch can)! Who would have thought that?

Let’s start assuming it is not Daylight Savings Time. Again, point the small hour hand at the sun. Next find the midpoint between the hour hand and the 12:00 position – the midpoint will be pointing towards the South. If Daylight Savings Time is in effect and your watch is set correctly the process is the same except you find the midpoint between the hour hand and the 1:00 position which compensates for the 1 hour time difference.

What, you say you’re lost in the woods right now and can’t wait for Daylight Savings Time to end? It still works; you just can’t use the 24 hour hand to help and this method works with any watch set to the correct time.