The Prince Of Cool: Chad McQueen

The Prince Of Cool

Chad McQueen

Belongs To The Ages

1960-2024

Rolex Submariner

Reference 5512

I am sad to report that Chad McQueen, the only son of legendary actor, Steve McQueen passed away. Chad is pictured below with his father, Steve McQueen who completely adored his son:

The family of Chad McQueen published this statement today:

"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our father Chad McQueen...

His remarkable journey as a loving father to us, along with his unwavering commitment to our mother, truly exemplified a life filled with love and dedication. His passion for racing not only highlighted his exceptional talent, but also served as a way to honor his father’s legacy, a testament to the values instilled in him. He passed his passion, knowledge and dedication down to us and we will continue not only his legacy but our grandfathers as well. As a family we need to navigate this difficult time and we kindly ask for privacy as we remember and celebrate his extraordinary life."

With heartfelt gratitude,

Jeanie, Chase, and Madison

Below is a story I originally published years ago on Chad McQueen:

I recently interviewed Chad McQueen. Chad mentioned to me that his father gave him two Rolex Submariner watches when he passed away—a Reference 5512, as well as a Reference 5513. Chad has his father's charisma is one really cool dude!!! In many ways, Chad followed in his father's footsteps as we will learn in this story...

Chad McQueen in the 1980s wearing his father's Rolex Submariner

The photo below appears courtesy of Charles Tearle and shows Chad's actual Rolex Submariner Reference 5512 that his father Steve McQueen gave him before he passed away in 1980. The provenance of this watch is beyond refuting and as real as the real-deal gets.

The Queen Of Cool

Neile Adams McQueen

Chad's mother, Neile Adams McQueen (The Queen of Cool) is pictured below, and when I interviewed her she told me that her husband, Steve McQueen purchased the two Rolex Submariner models in Zurich, Switzerland around Christmas of 1969. 

In the next photo, we see Neile Adams McQueen waiting with her husband Steve McQueen as he prepares to race at Sebring in 1970.

In the photo below we see Steve and Neile McQueen with Chad and his sister, Terry McQueen.

Below is a photo of Steve McQueen at Sebring with wife Neile, son Chad, and daughter Terry talking with Steve during a break.

In the photo below we see Chad with his father Steve McQueen on the set of Le Mans, and notice Steve is wearing his Rolex Submariner.

Steve McQueen is pictured below with his son Chad McQueen in September of 1971 at the California 500 Indycar race in Ontario, California.

In this next photo taken many years later, we see Chad McQueen with his mother, Neile, and sister Terry.

Chad's sister Terry wore a yellow gold Rolex Lady-Date as seen in the photo below on the left side. In this photo, Terry is holding her daughter Molly, who is also pictured on the right photo being held by her grandmother Neile. 

Unfortunately, Terry passed away years ago but was raised by her grandmother Neile. When I recently interviewed Neile, she mentioned that Molly has her mother's Rolex Lady-Date today. Terry and Molly are pictured again below with Terry wearing her Rolex Lady Date.

Neile is pictured below in a recent photo with her granddaughter Molly.

In this next photo, we see Chad with his mom and his first wife. Notice Chad is wearing one of his dad's Rolex Submariner models.

Chad McQueen and I also discussed how in the future he will share more details with me about his father's Rolex Submariner watches, which is very exciting!! 

Chad McQueen in the 1980s wearing his father's Rolex Submariner

The King Of Cool

Steve McQueen

Chad's dad, Steve McQueen, known as The King Of Cool is pictured below wearing his Rolex Submariner with his super-cool fold-up Person Sunglasses. I first began chronicling Steve McQueen wearing Rolex Submariner models back in 2008 in a 4-Part Profiles In Coolness series I wrote on Steve McQueen.

It is interesting to note that Chad wears his dad's Submariner on his right wrist—just like his father did.

Below we see a photo of Neile McQueen with her son Chad and grandson Steven McQueen, who is Chad's son.

Speaking of COOL—below is a photo of Steven McQueen who is Neile & Steve McQueen's grandson, and his parents are Stacey Toten and Chad McQueen. Steven McQueen is a talented actor and appears to be down to earth and very friendly.

I've written so much in the past about Steve McQueen, yet I am still in awe of how cool he really was. Long LIVE THE KING OF COOL!!!!

Rolex Lume Shot of the Day: Stainless & Platinum Yachtmaster

Maxi Lume by Jocke

September 11, 2001: Todd Beamer's Rolex

...Commemorating Sept. 11, 2001...

The 9/11 Rolex

Let's Roll!

By Capt. DANNY CRIVELLO

"Rolex is the international mark of success," is a phrase famously said by Jake in these pages and even requoted in The New York Times. For Todd Beamer, passenger of Flight United 93, his mark of success came when he was promoted from salesman to account manager at Oracle. 

Todd's father, David Beamer, agrees. "Todd's watch was a fine watch," he said. "He was a successful guy."

We can easily recall where we were on Sept. 11, 2001. I was putting my uniform on that morning, grabbing my flight bags and headed to my '65 convertible Mustang as an airline Captain based in Washington, D.C. My neighbor saw me outside and she called me. "Have you seen the news? I don't think you'll be flying anywhere today." I immediately went back inside and followed the horrific events on live TV. 

Todd Beamer

For Todd Beamer, it was a different story. He and his wife had traveled through Italy on a trip paid for by Oracle. The couple returned to the U.S. on Sept. 10, and Todd rose early the following morning to catch Flight 93 out of Newark airport for San Francisco.

Todd's story on that fateful flight is well known. "Let's roll!" were his last recorded words as he and other passengers attempted to storm the cockpit and retake the plane from the hijackers. The slogan subsequently became a battle cry for American forces during the War on Terror. 

In a Nov. 8 address from the World Congress Center in Atlanta, President George W. Bush invoked Todd's words: "Some of our greatest moments have been acts of courage for which no one could have been prepared. But we have our marching orders. My fellow Americans, let's roll!" He used them again in the 2002 State of the Union address: "For too long our culture has said, 'If it feels good, do it.' Now America is embracing a new ethic and a new creed: 'Let's roll.'"

Todd's watch is frozen in time, the date window permanently stuck on "11." It is a two-tone Rolex Datejust Turn-O-Graph with a champagne dial on Jubilee bracelet. The Turn-O-Graph is essentially a Datejust with a rotating bezel. Unfortunately, the model is no longer sold by Rolex; in fact, it hasn’t been since 2011.

Todd's Rolex is charred, smashed, fragmented, missing the crystal, the second hand, and what would appear to be the minute hand and also the bracelet. The Rolex has been through hell, there is no other way to put it. But the coronet logo is unmistakable. Every Rolex tells a story and, in a sense, this one still tells the story of one day, one date. Still displayed in the window.

 

After the hijackers took over the plane, Todd saw the dead co-pilot laying in the aisle near the cockpit with his throat slit. He reached for the phone on the seat back in front of him and tried to call his wife, but could not get through. 

Screenshot from the movie "United 93"

He instead got a G.T.E. operator. He told her what was happening, and she connected the call to F.B.I. agents. The phone remained connected for fifteen minutes while Beamer and several others organized to overtake the terrorists. 

Moments after Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania

He had the flight attendants boil water and assemble whatever could be used as a weapon. He said the Lord's prayer and the Psalm 23 with the G.T.E. operator, others joined in. He then told her to call his wife and kids and tell them he loved them. The last words the operator heard Todd Beamer say were, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.” 

We know that Flight 93 was destined for Washington D.C., near where I lived, making this story extra personal. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, at 9:55 am—as I was getting ready for work—the terrorist pilot Ziad Jarrah dialed in the frequency for the navigational aid at Washington Reagan National Airport, clearly indicating that the attack was planned for the nation's capital.

And Todd Beamer, a Rolex on his wrist, said, "Let's roll!" He helped stop the hijackers' plan from unfurling while saving countless lives on the ground. 

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?"