Friday, April 29, 2011

Royal Wedding Highlights William & Catherine Westminster Abbey Royal Marriage


Royal Wedding Highlights
William & Catherine Westminster Abbey Royal Marriage


Rolex Annual Calendar Moonphase Reference 6062


...Studio Shot Of The Day...

The Last Emperor Rolex Triple-Date

Rolex Annual Calendar Moonphase
Reference 6062 on a Matching Gold Jubilee Bracelet

This watch belonged to Bao Dai, the last Emperor of Vietnam. The watch is featured in John Goldberger's book, 100 Superlative Watches on page 150.


Page 150 Bao Dai Diamond Moonphase. [Reference 6062] Circa 1952

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter from John Goldberger 1950s Rolex Cloisonné Mermaid Dial


Happy Easter from John Goldberger
1950s Rolex Cloisonné Mermaid Dial

John Goldberger is a renowned horological expert, collector and publisher. He sent in this photo to share with you and he said "Happy Easter!" This is clearly a beautiful Rolex Cloisonné dial from the 1950s and it features a mermaid holding what would appear to be a pearl, or perhaps an egg.

To all my readers who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter, and to all my other readers I hope you are having a great weekend, and special thanks to John for sharing this image.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

1st Generation "Orange Hand" Explorer II v. 2nd Generation "Red Hand" Explorer II


...Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day...

1st Generation "Orange Hand" Explorer II
v.
2nd Generation "Red Hand" Explorer II

Photo Credit: Adam

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

World War II Rolex Ads 1944 Rolex Oyster...


World War II Rolex Ads
1944 Rolex Oyster




Monday, April 18, 2011

Rolex Coolness: A.J.Foyt 1974 Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date Ad


...Now & Then...

The King Of Racing
Rolex Coolness: A.J.Foyt
1974 Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date Ad

5 Decades Wearing Nothing But Rolex

A.J. Foyt has had an amazing racing career. To this day, he is the only race car driver to win The Daytona 500, The Indianapolis 500, The 24 Hours of Daytona, The 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All together, A.J. Foyt won 159 auto races, which gave him the well-deserved title of "The King Of Racing."



We see A.J. Foyt in the photo above taken from the June of 1964 cover of Sports Illustrated. This photo was take just before he raced in and won the Indianapolis 500. In the next image below, taken a decade later in 1974, we see A.J. Foyt being celebrated in a Rolex Day-Date ad.




A. J. Foyt is pictured below with Richard Petty on the 4th of July in 1975.





A.J. Foyt is pictured below in a recent photo, and we see him wearing his yellow gold Rolex GMT Master. He also still wears his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date he is wearing in the 1974 Rolex ad pictured above.










Sunday, April 17, 2011

Introducing Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog...


Introducing Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog

I imagine it was just a matter of time, and I finally decided to start Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog. I first became aware of the Rolex brand when I was 15 years old, back in 1981. At the time, I was aware already aware of Patek Philippe because my father and grandfather both wore Patek Philippe watches.

Over the past several years, Jake's Rolex World has become the definitive guide for the world of Rolex and I intend to achieve the same standard with Jake's Patek Philippe World. If you are not familiar with the Patek Philippe watch brand it can be argued that if Rolex is the Mercedes of watches, Patek Philippe is the Rolls Royce of watches.


One of the primary differences between the two brands is that Patek Philippe watches are primarily dressy watches, and Rolex tend to be more sporty. Or course Patek Philippe makes sporty watches and Rolex makes dressy watches, but I would say that is the main differentiator. Also Patek Philippe watches tend to be much more expensive. Patek Philippe watches typically have the GENEVÉ seal, and Rolex watches typically have the C.O.S.C. seal.

The GENEVÉ seal requires a tremendous amount of hand finishing, with rules that say things like the watch cannot have any right angles on the outside or inside. Rolex watches tend to be very accurate timekeepers because of the C.O.S.C. seal.

Some people say that Rolex is all about the outside and Patek Philippe is all about the inside. They say this because it is very common for Patek Philippe watches to come standard with a synthetic sapphire exhibition caseback which allows you to see the typically beautiful and ornate movement, and Rolex has never made watches with exhibition casebacks as a standard item. It has been argued that Rolex movements are simple in design since they are designed to be tool-watch workhorses.

As different as Patek Philippe and Rolex are, they also share many similarities. Patek Philippe is one of the last family owned, independent watchmakers located in Geneva, Switzerland. Rolex is owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Trust, which was left to his existing family members as the beneficiaries, which still kind of makes it family owned.

Also people who like Rolex typically enjoy Patek Philippe, and visa versa. Many of the worlds top horilogical collectors are Patek Philippe and Rolex aficionados. Also, at most watch auctions world-wide, Rolex and Patek Philippe are always the high-performance stars.

Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog is still very much a work in progress, and I added a banner ad that appears at the bottom of every page on Jake's Rolex World so you can always find it easily. You can also check it out by clicking the banner above.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Rolex Lume Shot Of The Day Rocco's Rolex Explorer


Rolex Lume Shot Of The Day
Rocco's Rolex Explorer

Monday, April 11, 2011

Robert Scheidt & Torben Grael: The Worlds Greatest Sailors


Rolex Coolness
Robert Scheidt & Torben Grael
The Worlds Greatest Sailors
Rolex Submariner

Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael are considered to be two of the greatest sailors in history and in 2011 we will be taking an in-depth look at the world or Rolex World Sailors. Torben Grail who is pictured on the right was named the 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor Of The Year.


Robert Scheidt is picture above on the left wearing his Rolex submariner, and Torben Grael is pictured standing behind him, and Torben Grael, who is from Brazil is also pictured below wearing his Rolex Submariner.


Torben Grael and Anna Tunnicliffe, are picture below accepting their awards for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor Of The Year Awards in 2009.



Sunday, April 10, 2011

John Mayer's Incredible Hulk Submariner


...Wrist Shot Of The Day...

John Mayer's Incredible Hulk Submariner

John Mayer is one of the top guitarist and recording artists in the world today. On his blog he recently showed off his new Supercase Ceramic LV Submariner.

John Mayer wrote on his blog back on August 3rd, 2010:

"Look what I just got...No, not the brand new Rolex green dial/green bezel Submariner, ya goof. JM silly bandz! Available beginning tonight. One of these are worth at least a half dozen dolphins or bunnies."

Holy Men Wearing Rolex Two-Tone Datejust Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul


Holy Men Wearing Rolex Two-Tone Datejust
Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II

What do the the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II have in common beside the fact they are both holy men? They don't wear pants–they both wore gowns, and they both wore two-tone Rolex Datejust watches.


In this first photo we see the Dalai Lama at the the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and we see him wearing his two-tone Rolex Datejust.


In this next photo we see Pope John Paul II wearing his two tone Rolex Datejust.


In this next photo we see Pope John Paul II and U.S. President Ronald Reagan making a speech.


In the next photo below, we see Pope John Paul wearing his two-tone Rolex Datejust, as he sits next to President Ronald Reagan. It is interesting to note that Ronald Reagan also wore a Rolex Datejust.


In this next photo below, we see the Papal Father just after an assassination attempt was made on his life on May 13, 1981 as he entered St. Peter's Square. Notice he is wearing his two tone Rolex Datejust.

It is also interesting to note that in the photo above, that both Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul both not only wore Rolex Datejust models on a Jubilee bracelet, but they both also were shot at close range in assassination attempts that occurred within 43 days of each other in 1981. Dr. Martin Luther King was also wearing his Rolex Datejust when he was assassinated.

Pope John Paul and Ronald Reagan, both, in many ways symbolized the 1980s generation, and both passed away within a year of each other in the mid 2000s.


Pope Paul completely recovered and is pictured below with Mother Theresa. I think they were both very kind souls.


Saturday, April 09, 2011

...Rolex Wrist Shot Of The Day... Km'rol Rolex Explorer In The Car


...Rolex Wrist Shot Of The Day...

Km'rol Polar Rolex Explorer II In The Car

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Rolex LV Submariner customized with a Black Bezel...


Black LV Submariner
Maxi-Markers Are Mucho-Macho

A reader just posted a comment in this post asking where they can get a black bezel insert to replace the green one on a first generation LV Submariner? It is pretty easy to find one. I think just about any watchmaker can get one and swap it. Just to be clear, the watch below in an LV Submariner, which originally came with a green bezel insert. People prefer the LV over the standard older Submariner, because it has Maxi-Markers and fat hands. Maxi-Markers are bold and Macho ;-)

If you think you want to get an LV and learn how to swap the colors, it would be much easier to purchase a bezel insert with a bezel and swap the entire bezel. Swapping bezel inserts is a pain, but swapping bezels is much easier.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

...Lume Shot Of The Day... Night & Day All-New "Orange Hand" Explorer II


...Lume Shot Of The Day...

Night & Day
All-New "Orange Hand" Explorer II

A few weeks ago, I covered Rolex's BaselWorld Fair introductions and the star of the show was the retro-inspired "Orange Hand" Explorer which is a real beauty. I took these Rolex images and spliced them together to illustrate what the all-new "Orange Hand" looks like in light and dark. Very Cool...Don't forget to drink your Tang!!!




Orange Hand & Explorer Go Together!!!!
Like Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

The Very First 1953 Rolex Submariner


...The Power Of Simplicity...

The Very First 1953 Rolex Submariner
Exploring The Silent World

This is a photo from Rolex of the very first Rolex Submariner ever made in 1953. It is remarkably similar to modern Submariner watches from a distance, which is what gives it such a timeless appeal.

Notice there are no single track minute markers on the bezel from 0 to 15 minutes. Also notice there is no Mercedes logo circle on the hour hand, instead it has "pencil hands." The second hand is a small lollipop type with the second circle located way out at the end of the second hand.

Also notice it has a guilt dial and hands, and also notice there is no depth rating or COSC designation on the dial, and of course, it has no date.

I just updated the Jacques-Yves Cousteau story with the image above, and you see Commander Cousteau aboard his Calypso research ship during the filming of the Academy Award Winning "The Silent World" documentary in 1953, and he is wearing this same model.


My pal Auro who is one of the leading vintage Rolex collectors from Italy wrote in to share the photo below of his 1953 Rolex Submariner and he said:

"This very early Rolex Submariner [Reference 6404] has the serial number of 949,140, which is even earlier than the 1953 Rolex Submariner you showed in the photo at the top of this story. Rolex does not have early watches in their museum, the real Rolex museum is in the safes of collectors!"

Notice the very unusual "Submariner Perpetual" dial designation on this watch...


Monday, April 04, 2011

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 43rd Anniversary Of the Assassination


Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
43rd Anniversary Of His Assassination

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the greatest hero in Rolex History, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., being assassinated. If you have not read "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: The Greatest Rolex Hero In History" I am certain you will enjoy it very much.

I work on this story whenever I have time, and I have updated it since the last time I published it on the front page, and here are some new images of Dr. Martin Luther King wearing his yellow-gold Rolex Datejust. Enjoy...




Sunday, April 03, 2011

Rolex Coolness: Lamar Hunt 1979 Rolex Day-Date Ad


Rolex Coolness: Lamar Hunt
1979 Rolex Day-Date Ad

Lamar Hunt had an amazing career. He was not only the founder of the American Football League (which merged with the NFL in 1969), but he was also the founder and owner of the Chicago Bulls.