Jannik Sinner Wins U.S. Open!!!

Jannik Sinner

Wins U.S. Open

Lifts His Trophy 

Rocking a Root Beer GMT-Master

Rolex Ambassador, Jannik Sinner won the 2024 U.S. Open Men's Singles Championship, which was his second Grand Slam Title this year. You can watch the Full Match below which is AMAZING!!!!

Rocking Roger Shows Up at U.S. Open Rocking Rare Rolex Daytona...

...Rolex Super Coolness...

Rocking Roger

Shows Up at U.S. Open

Rocking an Exclusive Yellow Gold

 'Le Mans' 100th Anniversary Daytona

First Time Rare Daytona Seen in Public

Man, I don't even know where to begin with this story!!! Roger Federer is not only the greatest tennis player in the history of professional tennis, but one of the coolest guys on the planet. Rocking Roger Federer in many ways is the living embodiment of Rolex, in the sense he was born and resides in Switzerland, and is a top Rolex brand ambassador, or to use fancy Rolex parlance, would be to say Roger is 'a Rolex Testimonee.'

So Roger Federer recently was seen at the U.S. Open with Rolex CEO, Jean-Frederic Dufour, (pictured above) who is also another really cool guy, with great style. Jean-Frederic Dufour has always kind of reminded me of Steve McQueen in that he looks like McQueen with his blond hair, and the way he wears his Rolex on his right wrist. 

As an example, we see Steve McQueen pictured above in the 1968 movie named Bullitt, where he is roaring through the streets of San Francisco in his Army Green Ford Mustang Fastback, and he is wearing a sports coat. If I told you the man driving the Mustang in the photo above was Rolex CEO, Jean-Frederic Dufour, and you didn't know otherwise, you could confuse them. Also, as I previously mentioned, Steve McQueen also famously wore his Rolex Submariner on his right wrist, as does Dufour. No, that's not Dufour pictured below, but Steve McQueen back in the day...

Back to the main story, I originally discovered the image below which is a crop from the first image in this story on Perpetual Passion's Instagram page, and Matthew Bega wrote a great story on PerpetualPassion.com titled "Roger Federer at the US Open with the new Rolex Daytona 'LeMans' in yellow gold, ref. 126528LN-0001". Also, our Captain Danny also wrote a story titled "Exclusive Rolex Daytona Seen in the Wild for the First Time".

The Rolex Daytona 126528LN-0001 was very quietly introduced "off catalog" by Rolex at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Switzerland earlier this year, and it was almost identical to the original Rolex Daytona 100th Anniversary of Le Mans model with debuted in white gold earlier, but this one is yellow gold. 

Speaking of coolness factors, I will let you in on a Rolex strategic marketing strategy that most people probably are not aware of. Watch brands like to associate themselves with cool things. For instance, Omega wanted to associate themselves with the James Bond Franchise, and came out with watches that said "007" all over the dial which was an exercise is kitchy, campy goofiness. Rolex has always taken the opposite minimalist approach and the 100th Anniversary of Le Mans Daytona is a concrete example. 

Instead of plastering the name "Le Mans" all over the dial, Rolex ever so subtly added a red 100 on the bezel insert, as well as adding vintage Paul Neman Daytona Subdials, to set this beauty apart from all other Rolex Daytona models. For clarity sake, we see Paul Neman's actual Exotic White Dial Daytona pictured above, which sold at auction for more than $17 Million, and notice the three black subdials have markers that are shaped like a See's Candy Lollipop.

Matthew Bega from PerpeualPassion.com beautifully summarized the significance of Rocking Roger rocking this new Rolex model when he said:  

"This model features a yellow gold case with a black ceramic bezel and a dial with 'Paul Newman' style counters, a configuration very similar to the Daytona reference from the era of manual movements, the 6263/8.

The new Rolex Daytona 126528LN-0001 “LeMans” in yellow gold, unlike the references 126500 which mounts the caliber 4131, has a 24-hour totalizer thanks to the caliber 4132, a modified version of the caliber 4131 of the classic Daytona, making it perfectly suited to an endurance race such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

We could consider Roger Federer's appearance with the new Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 'LeMans' in yellow gold, as a real official launch. The most famous and recognized face among the Ambassadors of the Rolex family, with a new reference on his wrist that has found little space in the official communication of the brand.

What better communication strategy than having it worn by Roger Federer, the one who more than anyone else embodies the values ​​of the brand?"

Rolex Lume Shot Of The Day Hypophyse Submariner: Reference 5512

...Rolex Lume Shot Of The Day...

Hypophyse' Submariner
Reference 5512

Rolex Coolness: Eric Clapton-Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date Ad

...Rolex Super Coolness...

Eric Clapton

A Brilliant Musical Career With Rolex Keeping His Time

Eric Clapton has enjoyed an amazing musical career. He is the only three-time Rock and Roll Hall of fame inductee, as a solo artist, as well as a member of the Yardbirds, as well as Cream. Eric Clapton is arguably one of the most influential and successful guitarists of all time.

Eric Clapton is a vintage Rolex collector as well as being a Rolex Ambassador. In the photo above and below we see Eric Clapton sporting his Paul Newman Rolex Daytona on a Fatstrap, the exact way Paul Newman wore his.



Just for frame of reference, I thought I would share this photo of Paul Newman wearing his trademark Exotic Dial Daytona on a Fatstrap. If you compare the photo above and below you see that Eric Clapton's Paul Newman Daytona is absolutely true to form.

Rolex Coolness: Eric Clapton

Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date Ad

Rolex Coolness: Eric Clapton

50th Anniversary Rolex GV Milgauss

Clapton Sporting a Rolex Submariner

Clapton Sporting a Rolex GMT-Master

Riding With The King

Eric Clapton is pictured below with B.B. King. Eric is wearing his Submariner and B.B. King is wearing his trademark yellow gold Rolex President which is not visible in this picture. B.B. Kings Rolex President is as much a part of his kit as his guitar–Lucille.

Speaking of Eric Clapton and B.B. King, here they are pictured above with John Mayer, and they are all wearing Rolex watches. B.B. King, Eric Clapton and John Mayer are considered to be the greatest guitarist of their respective generations.

Of course when B.B. King played his trademark Gibson Lucille (Model ES 355) he wore his trademark Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date President.

In this photo Clapton is also wearing a Day Date and John Mayer is wearing one of his vintage Rolex Explorer II watches with the orange hand.

Eric's Great Buddy

Talk about a Mentor and Protege...Blues guitar legend Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton at a Crossroads Charity event. Crossroads is Eric Clapton's charity organization.

Buddy Guy is one of the greatest Blues and Rock guitarist that ever lived. If it was not for Buddy Guy's early innovation on the guitar playing style on the guitar there never would have been a Hendrix.

Buddy does not just play the guitar, he completely dominates it like I have NEVER seen anybody else do.

Eric Clapton's Rolex Watches At Auction

Eric Clapton was one of the first celebrities to get into collection vintage Rolex watches. Over the years he has auctioned many of them and donated the benefits to his charity foundation. This Stainless Steel Rolex Daytona set a world watch auction record a few years ago by selling for $505,000.

The watch is considered to be very rare because it has an "Albino" dial.

Eric Clapton's Albino Daytona

Eric Clapton once owned this Extremely Rare Rolex watch dubbed "The Yachtmaster Daytona which was a Prototype Rolex and was never offered to the public. It is fascinating to see how Rolex experimented with the nautical theme in the 60s and early 70s be creating a 39MM Yachtmaster. Of course, Rolex did not bring the current Yachtmaster to market until decades later.

Eric Clapton's Rolex Yacht-Master prototype sold at a Christie's Auction in 2003 for $125,000, and Eric Clapton donated the proceeds to his Crossroads Foundation. His Rolex Yacht-Master is picture below and appears courtesy of Christie's Auction House.

Here is another photo of Eric Clapton's Rolex Yacht-Master Prototype Reference 6239/6242. There are only 3 known examples of the Rolex Yacht-Master Prototype. The first is this one that was owned by Eric Clapton. The second one is owned by John Goldberger, and the last one is owned by Rolex and kept in their private collection and it has a special bezel [Reference 6542].

Rolex Studio Shot of the Day: Amanico's Pepsi GMT Master

...Rolex Studio Shot of the Day...

Amanico's Pepsi GMT Master

Amanico is an amazing Rolex photographer. He has taken some stunning images and this is definitely one of my favorites for several reasons. Amanico's Pepsi GMT is a Rolex Reference 1675 and in my opinion the 1675 with Maxi-Markers is one of the coolest and most timeless vintage Rolex watches.

Richard Gere Two-tone Datejust...

...Rolex Coolness...

Richard Gere

A Brilliant Career

With a Stainless Steel & Gold Rolex

Datejust on His Wrist

Richard Gere is 74 years young today. What do Rolex and Richard Gere have in common? They are both timeless, charismatic, good-looking and super iconic, so should come as no surprise that Richard Gere has worn the same two-tone Rolex Datejust for many decades. In the recent photo below, we see Richard still rocking his Rolex Datejust.

Richard Gere has had an amazing acting career that has spanned several decades and included movies like American Gigolo (1980), An Officer and Gentleman (1982), Breathless (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Pretty Woman (1990), Primal Fear (1996), Runaway Bride (1999), Chicago (2002), Arbitrage (2012), The Dinner (2017), and the mini-series MotherFatherSon (2019). Richard Gere is pictured above and below sporting his two-tone Rolex Datejust.

Of course, Richard Gere is known for his rugged good looks and he was voted The Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine in 1999.

American Gigolo
1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL
It could be argued that Richard Gere's Magnum Opus movie was American Gigolo. The famous opening screen can be seen below in the video, where he is driving his 450SL Mercedes-Benz down the Pacific Coast Highway, while Blondie's mega-hit song "Call Me" plays in the background.

Pretty Woman

Richard Gere also starred in the 1990 mega-hit Pretty Woman which costarred Julia Roberts. This was not only the ultimate chick-flick, but dudes loved it as well.

Richard Gere wore his two-tone Rolex Datejust in the movie Pretty Woman, as you can see in the screen grabs and press photos seen below.

In the two photos below, we see Richard Gere sporting his two-tone Rolex Datejust which he wore in the blockbuster movie Pretty Woman.

The Movie Star and the Model

Richard Gere was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995.

In the photo below we see Cindy Crawford with Richard Gere dressing like twins. And if you look closely they are both wearing two-tone Rolex Datejust models.

Dalai Lama & Richard Gere

2 Two-Tone Rolex Datejust Models?

Richard Gere has been a supporter of His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, for many years. The first photo taken in 1994 shows Richard Gere wearing his two-tone Rolex Datejust and in the second photo we see the Dalai Lama wearing his two-tone Rolex Datejust. Perhaps Richard Gere gave the Dalai Lama his Rolex?

Mysterious Off Catalog Datejust with Ice-Blue Dial and Hands

September 5th Update: It's pretty amazing how many people have attempted to get to the bottom of this mystery. Here are some examples: Cam from Craft & Tailored, said he thought perhaps it might actually be a Platinum Datejust. Nick Gould said he thought perhaps Rolex sent an "Ice blue dial and hands to the Datejust line by mistake?" And somebody on our Instagram @Rolex.Magazine said "Judging by the reflections on the bracelet, I'd go with just blue lighting." Captain Danny is following up to see if he can separate-the-fact-from-the-fiction, and if he does I will post another update.

WhatIsDis!?!!

Mysterious Off Catalog Datejust

with Ice-Blue Dial and Hands

Captain Danny in Paris

Captain Danny was recently in Paris, where he noticed what appears to be new "off catalog" stainless steel Rolex Datejust with an ice blue dial, with a complimentary metallic teal blue Rolex Crown on the dial as well as matching blue hands.

"Sowhat is the deal with this off catalog Rolex?" (Said with Jerry Seinfeld accent ;-). We can't seem to figure it out, but one thing for certain is she is a dropped stunning beauty...

Rolex Day-Date with Ice Blue Dial

Below we see Rolex's Platinum Day-Date in 40MM with the Ice-Blue dial, which looks somewhat reminiscent of the Datejust pictured above, but under more careful evaluation we see the dial and hands on the mystery Rolex Datejust pictured above is a darker Ice-Blue, or metallic teal blue, which looks super-cool...

Also, the baton marker surrounds on the mystery watch as well as the Rolex coronet logo on the dial and the minute, hour and seconds hand are also a metallic teal blue, which the Platinum Day-Date lacks, with the exception of it's seconds hand, which is the same darker metallic teal blue.

Captain Danny even said, "When I first saw the Datejust, my brain mistook it for the Platinum with Ice-Blue Dial 40MM Day-Date. The Rolex Day-Date 40MM in Platinum pictured below lacks the metallic teal blue, but is still a very cool looking watch...

ONE MORE THANG

One of my favorite things to do when I write stories on Rolex is to add a music video with a soundtrack that feels like it's on point for my poetic assertion. I was watching the Vanilla Ice vide above, and I remembered, speaking of Rolex Day-Date and Vanilla Ice, brought to mind my memory that he has worn a Rolex Presidential model his hole adult life...