Monday, July 19, 2021

Rolex Coolness: Maurice Chevalier...




Maurice Chevalier sporting his Trademark Boater Straw Hat



...Rolex Coolness...

Maurice Chevalier

France's Eternal Boulevardier 

If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World you know one of my favorite things to do is update older stories with new photos and information and today I am excited to update a story I originally published 10 years ago on September 21, 2011 on Maurice Chevalier.



Maurice Chevalier in 1931 with Claudette Colbert in The Smiling Lieutenant


Nick Gould recently discovered this photo of Maurice from 1953 wearing a Rolex Datejust, and if you look closely you can see the cyclops magnifier lens on his crystal.





1964 Yellow Gold Rolex DAY-DATE 
on a Jubilee Bracelet


This 1964 Rolex ad that features Maurice Chevalier (seen below) is one of my absolute favorite vintage Rolex ads. In particular, I LOVE Rolex's timeless marketing message, which I believe captures the essence of Rolex, and it is true today!!! In other words, Maurice Chevalier's timeless message from 1964, is as true today as it was 47 years ago:

"Like a genial hotelier, Rolex has introduced me to some of the nicest people. I ask about their Rolex and they ask about mine. It's as marvelous a conversation piece as it is a timepiece." 

Maurice Chevalier (1964)



If you look closely at the watch on Maurice's wrist seen below in higher-resolution in the 1964 Rolex Magazine advertisement above you will notice he is actually wearing a ROLEX DAY-DATE model on a Jubilee bracelet, despite the fact the ad features a Rolex Datejust.


It was fairly common with earlier Rolex Day-Date models to be offered with a Jubilee bracelet and even Oyster bracelets, whereas today Rolex ONLY offer the Day-Date on a President Bracelet.


Gigi (1958)


Below is a video excerpt from the 1958 film, GiGi and features Maurice Chevalier singing Thank Heaven Girls, which is one of the absolute mode classic songs of all time.



Maurice appears on the Ed Sullivan show with Sophie Tucker and as we see the man definitely had some serious French swagger.


Maurice Chevalier is pictured below with Jazz legends, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.


Desi Arnaz is pictured above on the left with Richard Keith and Maurice Chevalier in 1958 in "Lucy Goes to Mexico" on an episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.





Maurice Chevalier was a close friend of my family. Maurice Chevalier, for those of you who are too young to know, was a very famous French actor, singer and popular entertainer. One of his most famous songs was, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls."


Maurice Chevalier with Louis Lurie

Maurice Chavalier shared his birthday with my uncle Louis Lurie so they used to celebrate it together. Louis Lurie was an ultra-successful industrialist and owned half of downtown San Francisco. Louis Lurie was also a big Hollywood and Broadway producer. Louis Lurie was also my Grandfather Jake Ehrlich Sr's best friend for four decades.


San Francisco Mayor, George Christopher, Maurice Chevalier, Jake Ehrlich Sr.

In this photo my grandfather, Jake Ehrlich Sr., pictured front right is singing "Thank Heaven For Little Girls, with Maurice Chevalier (Front Center) and the tall gentleman to left was the then Mayor of San Francisco, George Christopher.

I have many other blogs, and one of them explores the life and times of my Grandfather Jake Ehrlich Sr., who was a very famous American Trial Attorney and businessman.

You can check out his blog at http://www.neverpleadguilty.blogspot.com