If you are staying up late night, it helps to keep good time on your Rolex. David Letterman needs no introduction as he is one of the most iconic men alive today. Letterman has been hailed as The King Of Late Night with a career on TV that spanned 33 years—even surpassing his mentor, Johnny Carson as the single longest-running late night talk show host in United States history. In the photos below we see David Letterman wearing his stainless steel Rolex Submariner.
Speaking of Late Night Talk Show Hosts, we also see Arsenio Hall pictured below wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date, as he is driving with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Conan O'Brien is pictured below wearing his Rolex Submariner on a FatStrap—Paul Newman Style.
Steven Colbert actually took over David Letterman's place as the host of The Late Show, and as we see in the two photo below, he also wears a Rolex Submariner.
Raja is a reader of Jake's Rolex World from Texas, and recently we had an absolutely fascinating conversation about his Stainless Steel Daytona with a black dial and matching black ceramic bezel. This Daytona blew my mind when I first saw it as I was shocked with how amazing it looked on Raja's Jubilee bracelet. But wait a minute!?!! What is going on with this great looking watch?
Rolex offers some models, like the GMT-Master on both a Rolex Oyster bracelet, as well as on a Rolex Jubilee. Think Batman v. Batgirl. That being said, my understanding is that Rolex only has offered the stainless steel Daytona on an Oyster Bracelet for many years now.
I asked Raja:
"What inspired you to put the Super Jubilee on your Daytona? And where/ how did you obtain the Super Jubilee? Did you purchase it separately?"
Keep in mind, this is NOT the current Daytona model, but the previous model.
Raja responded:
"I have had both the white and black Ceramic Daytona’s (116500LN) for quite some time and I felt both of them needed some extra distinction in addition to the dial colors being different.
Here comes the Super Jubilee bracelet (ref 63600), which differentiated the wearing experience of the black ceramic Daytona by making it much more lighter aka comfortable while adding a very slight “shine” to the watch that I secretly liked.
Not to mention I now do not have to worry about the pesky micro scratches that one can observe on the polished center links. Overall the black Daytona quickly has became my go-to daily wearer inside or outside the house whereas in the past I would gravitate more towards the white Daytona.
I bought the super jubilee bracelet (ref 63600) from my AD. They were able to special order it for me. It was delivered to me in about 3 weeks after the order was placed.
In all fairness I tried the super jubilee on the white ceramic as well but the super jubilee did not resonate with the white one as it did with the black one."
Many, many years ago, Rolex once offered the stainless steel Daytona on a Jubilee bracelet. In my opinion, Rolex should definitely bring back this AMAZING combination, or at least offer it both way, as it looks so RAD!!!!!!
I asked Raja to tell me more about himself and how he got interested in watch collection and he said:
"I have been into watch since the beginning of time (pun not intended). Growing up I used to have a scrapbook of watch pictures that I would collect from various magazines or newspaper articles. I knew of pretty much all the brands like Audemars, Vacheron, Patek, Rolex, Omega, JLC, Tissot etc although my pronunciation of few of them were absolutely questionable, especially JLC. That childhood hobby turned into watch collecting along with watch photography.
I have learnt quite a bit from other watch enthusiasts/photographers during the process. I have met some really amazing people in this journey of collecting, discovering and learning about watches and even in that set of friends, I call a subset of them good friends among whom we share our life experiences with each other every day."
Best Regards,
Raja
Captain Danny saw this image of a similar model Daytona and shared this wrist shot image with me from Karleone on RolexForums.com:
Captain Danny recently shared the following video with me and said, "this dude quickly mentions you", and of course that dude is David Concannon, who is an amazing explorer.
The article below is from the archives
and covers David Concannon
Spirit Of Exploration
...Rolex Super-Coolness...
Successful Bermuda Triangle DEEP-SEA
Apollo 11 F-1 Engine Recovery Expedition
Receives Explorers Club Citation of Merit
for An Outstanding Feat Of Exploration
The Spirit of Exploration is alive and well in the world we all share, and I am happy to report that a friend of mine, and fellow Rolex Fanatic/WIS, David Concannon was the project leader for the amazingly successful Apollo F-1 Engine Recovery Expedition.
This amazing expedition was the brainchild of Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and this last weekend in New York City, the Explorers Club awarded the team led by David Concannon, The Citation Of Merit for An Outstanding Feat Of Exploration. The award was presented by NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut, Buzz Aldrin at the 110th Explorers Club Annual Dinner in New York City.
David Concannon & Jeff Bezos
David Concannon is pictured above and below with Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and David is one of the top Expedition Attorneys in the world, and he has personally led many DEEP-SEA expeditions to the Titanic. David is pictured above shaking hands with Jeff Bezos, who's he worked with to undertake the retrieval of Apollo F-1 Engines from the Ocean floor through his Bezos Expeditions group.
Basically, Bezos Expeditions located and recovered many of the F-1 Rockets from the NASA Apollo Moon Missions located three miles below the Atlantic Ocean, and this was all achieved in very DEEP-SEAS, that were a mile deeper than the Titanic!!!!!! The photo below shows expedition workers examining a recovered F-1 Thrust Chamber.
In the two photos below, we see Expedition Leader, David Concannon sporting his Pepsi Rolex GMT-Master, which was also the personal watch choice of many NASA Apollo Astronauts.
Jeff Bezos said, when he announced to the world that the team was heading into Cape Canaveral, with the engines on the SeaBed Worker: "While I spent a reasonable chunk of time in my cabin emailing and working, it didn't keep me from getting to know the team. I'd like to call out a bunch of thank you’s. First of all to David Concannon who pulled together this team. The whole thing would simply have been impossible without the A-team, and I'm not sure anyone other than Dave could have brought them together."
Photo of Jeff Bezos and David Concannon appears courtesy of Josh Bernstein
I very highly recommend you check out this amazing video from Bezos Expeditions that tells the amazing story of Exploration, and if you look closely, you will notice David Concannon sporting his Pepsi GMT-Master II. David is a dyed in the wool Rolex fanatic!!!
Jeff Bezos perfectly summed up his ambitions (which he achieved) with this amazing project in the letter below which he wrote on March 28, 2012: The F-1 rocket engine is still a modern wonder — one and a half million pounds of thrust, 32 million horsepower, and burning 6,000 pounds of rocket grade kerosene and liquid oxygen every second. On July 16, 1969, the world watched as five particular F-1 engines fired in concert, beginning the historic Apollo 11 mission. Those five F-1s burned for just a few minutes, and then plunged back to Earth into the Atlantic Ocean, just as NASA planned. A few days later, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon.
F1 Engine Installation Pictured Above
Millions of people were inspired by the Apollo Program. I was five years old when I watched Apollo 11 unfold on television, and without any doubt it was a big contributor to my passions for science, engineering, and exploration. A year or so ago, I started to wonder, with the right team of undersea pros, could we find and potentially recover the F-1 engines that started mankind's mission to the moon? I'm excited to report that, using state-of-the-art deep sea sonar, the team has found the Apollo 11 engines lying 14,000 feet below the surface, and we're making plans to attempt to raise one or more of them from the ocean floor. We don't know yet what condition these engines might be in - they hit the ocean at high velocity and have been in salt water for more than 40 years. On the other hand, they're made of tough stuff, so we'll see. Though they've been on the ocean floor for a long time, the engines remain the property of NASA. If we are able to recover one of these F-1 engines that started mankind on its first journey to another heavenly body, I imagine that NASA would decide to make it available to the Smithsonian for all to see. If we're able to raise more than one engine, I've asked NASA if they would consider making it available to the excellent Museum of Flight here in Seattle. (For clarity, I'll point out that no public funding will be used to attempt to raise the engines, as it's being undertaken privately.) NASA is one of the few institutions I know that can inspire five-year-olds. It sure inspired me, and with this endeavor, maybe we can inspire a few more youth to invent and explore. We'll keep you posted. Sincerely,
Jeff Bezos
Bezos F1-Recovery Expedition Team
Apollo F-1 Rockets
I decided to add some context to the significance of this achievement by Bezos Ventures. Wernher von Braun is pictured below standing in front of Saturn V rocket thrusters he designed that would ultimately put men on the moon, including Mercury Astronaut, Alan Shepard on Apollo 14. The Saturn V rocket possessed 10 percent of the power of an atomic bomb.
The photo of Dr. Wernher von Braun standing next to the F-1 Rocket boosters give you a really great idea scale.
Rolex in Control at NASA
Dr. Wernher von Braun is pictured below at NASA ground control in 1965 during the testing of a Saturn rocket. Dr. von Braun is wearing a yellow gold Rolex and Dr. Kurt Debus who was the director of the Kennedy Space Center is also wearing his Rolex in this photo. Both men were German rocket scientists.
Dr. von Braun was the principal designer of the German V-2 rocket weapon as well as the Saturn V Moon rocket that put NASA astronauts on the Moon.
Pictured from Left to Right: Dr. Kurt Debus & Werhner von Braun
Dr. Wernher von Braun is pictured above at the Kennedy Space Center attending the Saturn 500F, rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on May 26, 1966. Dr. Kurt Debus is pictured next to von Braun and was the Director of the Kennedy Space Center.
Michael Collins Apollo 11
The EAGLE Has Landed
I have been working on a major update to a Rolex NASA story about Michael Collins Rolex he wore during his Apollo 11 experience, so I figured with the advent of the Jeff Bezos/ David Concannon story above, that now was as good as any time to publish some of my new findings. Michael Collins is pictured below at NASA on April 16, 1969 during centrifuge training for Apollo 11. Three short months later he would fly into the history books as part of the first team to land on the Moon and return safely to earth. In the photo below NASA Astronaut Michael Collins is wearing a Rolex Turno-graph.
Years ago, I published lower resolution versions of the images above, and today I am publishing for the first time, the image below of Michael Collins, which shows him as he prepares minutes before the photo above was taken. This photo below is obviously black and white, but he is wearing the orange jumpsuit as pictured above, and you can see him holding his headset in his hands below, that he is wearing in the photo pictured above.
NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins Wearing Rolex Watch, April 1969
Michael Collins was a U.S. Air Force test pilot prior to becoming a NASA Astronaut. So the obvious question, is wether or not Michael Collins wore his Rolex to the moon and back? In the future, I will cover this topic in more detail, but for the time being, it is cool to see that the Michael Collins chose Rolex for his personal watch.
Michael Collins is pictured below (second in line) as he and his Apollo 11 team members leave for the Moon.
The photo below shows Apollo 11 taking off to head for the moon.
In the photo below that was taken on July 20, 2009, we see the three Apollo 11 NASA Astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong in the Oval Office with President Obama.
Pre Daytona Rolex Chronograph models never cease to amaze me with their beauty. This 1957 model is Antimagnetic, and features dual scales printed on the dial, as apposed to the Daytona which has a single scale on the bezel.
Notice the subsidiary dial detail, that features the beautifully nested circular tracks...
Handsome In A Big, Brawny, Uniquely Rolex Sort Of Way
Everything-proof to an ocean depth of 660 feet
Yachting Magazine: March 1966
One of my favorite features on Jake's Rolex World is exploring vintage Rolex magazine ads, and this one is just stunning and eye-opening in an amazing way!!! Why am I so fascinated with older Rolex ads like this 1966 Rolex Submariner ad from March of 1966? Because it conveys Rolex design intent and ethos, and it is just so cool, innovative and authentic.
Rolex history is just so incredible!!! To put things in a proper context, consider the fact this ad came out only 12 years after the Rolex Submariner had been on the market–that's a half-century ago!!!
Summer in the northern hemisphere is rapidly coming to an end, and fall is just around the corner. When I think of summer, I envision barbecues, shorts, flip-flops, and refreshing drinks. I also think of fireworks shared with friends, which brings to mind the music of Jimmy Buffett.
Unfortunately, Jimmy Buffett passed away several September years ago, but his incredible songs continue to resonate with us and serve as perfect anthems as another summer winds down. Jimmy Buffett wore Rolex watches for 5 decades and is perhaps best known for his song, Margaritaville which was a mega-hit in 1977.
Jimmy Buffett's music is known as "Island Escapism", which is a form of country folk music, coupled with pop music, with tropical themes running through his lyrics. This form of music is also know as Gulf & Western. We see Jimmy Buffett pictured above and below in 1977 wearing his Rolex GMT-Master. I could not help but notice the anchor Jimmy Buffett is wearing around his neck in the photo above and below look a lot like the the one that comes in the box with the Rolex Submariner.
Jimmy Buffett pictured back in 1977 rocking his yellow gold Rolex GMT-Master on a Jubilee bracelet
Jimmy Buffett was a Protégé ofJim Croce, who also wore a Rolex sports watch. When Jim Croce died, ABC Dunhill chose Jimmy Buffett to take Jim Croce's place. In the video below we see Jimmy Buffett performing Margaritaville, back in the 1978, and he is wearing his yellow gold Rolex GMT.
In the recent photo below, we see Jimmy Buffett performing with stainless steel GMT Master on his wrist. Jimmy Buffett is more popular today than ever, and he is one of the hardest working live musicians. Jimmy Buffett is a cultural phenomenon in many ways, and has a following of fans which have a commonly used nickname of Parrotheads.
There is even a special nickname for Jimmy Buffett's younger fans, as well for the children of Parrotheads, which are referred to as Parakeets, or Keets. Jimmy Buffett's immense popularity with his highly dedicated fans would be akin to Deadheads who would follow the Grateful Dead all over the place, thus the similarity between Parrotheads, and Deadheads.
Jimmy Buffett is an amazing man, and an accomplished airplane pilot, and sailor, and surfer. His life is filled with many amazing lifetime achievements. Today, Jimmy owns a line of restaurants named Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. He also owns casinos under the same name and other business ventures. The video below was shot on Google campus, and features a great discussion from Jimmy Buffett, as well as a performance.
The photo below shows Jimmy Buffett at game five of the eastern conference semifinals on May 15, 2013, and Jimmy is rockin' a Rolex Sky Dweller.
Jimmy Buffett
Sings National Anthem @ Superbowl Rockin' His Rolex SKY-DWELLER
Jimmy Buffett performed the National Anthem at the 2019 Super Bowl and he was wearing a Rolex Sky-Dweller as seen in the photo below.
Historically Rolex has always been extremely secretive and discreet, and no journalists in the past have ever been invited "INSIDE ROLEX" to explore and report on all four Rolex Manufacturing faclities in Switzerland.
In November 2013, this changed when Rolex invited Jake to take an unprecdented journey into the heart of Rolex to learn and report on everything he witnessed and learned.
This Super-Detailed 3 Part Story is a "MUST READ" story for anybody who wants to understand what really makes Rolex tick.
