Sunday, January 31, 2010

2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona Coverage...


2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona Coverage
Another Historic Rolex Race Is In The Books!!!
755 Laps Completed in 24 Hours

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is now in the record books, and this was the 48th anniversary of this historic race held annually at Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

In this fascinating article we are going to take a look at the race itself, as well as explore the rich tapestry of Rolex Daytona History. First we begin with the official artwork of the 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona which was designed by the talented French artist, Erwin Dazelle.



Rolex Introduces The Rolex Daytona In 1965

David Concannon is a world-class explorer and diver. He has been an advisor on 6 expeditions to the Titanic and led the last expedition to the Titanic, and has participated in 3 DEEP-SEA dives to the Titanic. In 2010 we will be doing a story about his amazing career achievements including a podcast about his Titanic expeditions.

David is also a Rolex fanatic (severe RISitus) and daily reader of Jake's Rolex World Magazine and he sent in this amazing original Rolex Daytona ad from 1965 introducing the Rolex Daytona Chronograph as the official Watch of Daytona.


FYI: In the Future, I plan to write a series, titled, "The Complete History Of The Rolex Daytona Cosmograph" which will be fascinating and shed all kinds of new light and insight onto the magic behind one of the most coveted, iconic, inspiring and illusive watches in history.


Rolex Coolness: Vic Elford
1968 Rolex Daytona Winner

In the historic Rolex photo below from Porsche Motorsports, we see the 1968 Rolex Daytona winner, Vic Elford representing Great Britain, being presented with a stainless steel Rolex Daytona Cosmograph for his victory of the 24 At Dayona.


Vic Elford is pictured below posing with his 1968 Rolex Daytona prize for winning the 24 hours of Daytona.



Fast forward, 42 years from 1968 to the 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona and we see Vic Elford below being presented a new stainless Rolex Daytona Cosmograph by Rolex U.S.A. President and C.E.O., Allen Brill.


Rolex has been involved with the Daytona Intentional Speedway since 1959 and to this day Rolex actively sponsors many of the most prestigious motorsport events, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona, The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the European Le Mans Series, and the Rolex Sports Car Series.

Rolex also supports The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and the Pebble Beach Tour D'Elegance presented by Rolex, and The Quail, which is a Motorsport Gathering.


The Paul Newman Daytona
1995 Winner of The Rolex 24 At Daytona

In 1995 ultra-famous movie star, amazing philanthropist and ultra-succesful entrepreneur, Paul Newman raced into the record books when he won the 24 Hours At Daytona.


Paul Newman is famous in the collectable Rolex world for wearing many different Rolex Daytona Cosmograph watches over the years, but he is most associated with the "Exotic Dial Paul Newman as seen on a FAT-STRAP in the photo below, which his wife Joanne Woodward gave him as a give in 1972 when he started his racing career. Paul Newman became extremely passionate about racing while starring in the 1969 movie named Winning, in which he played a race-car driver as pictured in the photo above.


As I mentioned, Paul Newman was a huge Rolex Daytona collector and Rolex collector in general. He wore many, many different Daytona watches, and in a more recent photo taken just a few years before he passed away, we see him racing with a different Paul Newman Daytona. This one is clearly on a Rolex Oyster bracelet.



2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona

Since we have taken a historic look back at Daytona, let's take a look at the 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona. The Rolex 24 at Daytona is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on a 3.56-mile (5.73km) combined race course. This unique road course utilizes portions of the NASCAR tri-oval, coupled with an infield rad course. The race has historically been held the last weekend of January or first weekend of February.

In 1962, a few years after the track was built, a 3-hour race named The Daytona Continental began, which counted toward the World Car Championship. Rolex has sponsored the race for 19 years since 1991. Winners of the Rolex 24 At Daytona always receive a stainless steel Rolex Daytona.

In the photo below, we see the newly christened Rolex 24 At Daytona flagstand at the Daytona International Speedway.



World Class Drivers & Actors?

There have been some really successful actors like James Dean, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen who got really into racing cars. Many heavy-hitting drivers showed-up to compete to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona and actor Patrick Dempsey, who stars on the TV show Grey's Anatomy (pictured below) even showed up to compete. Patrick drove for the Dempsey Racing Team in #40 in the Mazda RX-8. The 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona was the third time Patrick Dempsey competed as a team member.


Here is a video of Patrick Dempsey talking about the 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona and he mentions how he wants to win the Rolex Daytona Cosmograph watch:



Luke Hines is pictured below sporting his Rolex LV 50th Anniversary Submariner. Luke was representing Great Britain and drove on the Miller Barrett Racing team in the Porsche GT3 #48. (Sorry, I couldn't resist matching the color of this text with Luke's funky shades ;-) Dude!?! Wasssuuuup with the lid!?! Say Ho, if you got your funky busfare!!!!

Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go!!!! I have no idea why I just wrote that, but the Speed Racer theme-song started playing in my head!?!


In the photo below we see two of the wicked-cool new Chevy Camaro Concept cars looking awfully tight!!! I can't remember the last time I actually like and desired an American car, but that all-new Camaro is looking amazingly cool!!!! I can't wait so see it next year when Chevy introduces the convertible version!!!! The cars below were competing in the Grand Touring Class which is commonly referred to as the GT Class.


There are two distinct classes of cars that compete at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The Daytona Grand Touring Class and the Daytona Prototype Class. Daytona Prototype Class cars use less expensive materials and technology.

This next shot was taken in the 18th hour of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. In this photo the cars kind of look like Hot Wheels–don't they?


Fireworks Over The Daytona International Raceway


In this next photo we see racing legend Hurley Haywood in the pitstop in the middle of the night as the pit team begins to prepare the car for its next driver. The different teams have multiple drivers who switch off driving the car.




This next shot is of a Porsche Gt3 from the Miller Barrett Racing Team.







The Checkered Flag Goes To
Winners Of The 2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona

The Daytona Prototype (DP) Class winner was the Action Express Racing Car #9, which was a Porsche driven by the following team members: Terry Borcheller (Vero Beach, Florida), Joao Barbosa (Portugal), Mike Rockenfeller (Altnua, Switzerald) and Ryan Dalziel (Orlando, Florida).


The Rolex 24 at Daytona team that got the checkered flag for the Grand Touring (GT) Class was the SpeedSource car #70 with was a Mazda RX-8 which was driven by the following team members: David Haskell (Plantation, Florida), Sylvain Tremblay (Sunrise, Florida), Nick Ham (Evergreen, Colorado) and Jonathan Bomarito (Monterey, California).


Each winning team member of the Rolex 24 At Daytona gets a special edition stainless steel Rolex Daytona, which they receive in an oversized presentation box.


Each Rolex 24 at Daytona winner receives a special commemorative winners plaque as seen below, along with their special-edition, winner's Rolex Daytona Cosmograph.


Each team member of the winning team, receives a special edition stainless steel Rolex Daytona with the really cool engraving on the back!!!!



Rolex 24 At Daytona
Winner's Circle

In this next photo we see the GT Class winning team posing with their Rolex Daytona Cosmograph prize. From left to right we see: Nick Ham, David Haskell, Sylvian Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito from who won in the Mazda RX-8 #70.


In this next shot we see Rolex U.S.A. President and C.E.O., Allen Brill posing with the winners of the Rolex 24 At Daytona from the Grand Touring (GT) Class #70, Mazda RX-8 as they pose with their Rolex Daytona Cosmograph prize watches.


In this next photo we get a close-up of Joao Barbosa from Portugal showing off his Rolex Daytona Cosmograph he won after his team won the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the Daytona Prototype Class.


All the photos in this series, unless otherwise mentioned, were taken by Stephan Cooper and are copyright by Rolex U.S.A. 2010.


Night Practice and Qualifiying Videos
Rolex 24 At Daytona Track

P.S. Want an idea of what it is like to drive in a race-car at the Rolex 24 At Daytona? Check out this night-practice video and turn the volume way up!!!!!




Presidential Watch Sunday: An Unprecedented Look At The Presidency




Presidential Watch Sunday
An Unprecedented Look At The Presidency

I realize it has been a while since I have published Presidential Watch Sunday. I have not published it for some time now because I have been deep in research and writing on the current series I am working on named, The Complete History Of The Rolex Submariner & SEA-DWELLER.

I am also embarrassed to admit that I just finally had the opportunity to watch the State Of The Union speech. This is because I was so involved in covering, the 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Navy Bathyscaph Trieste record setting depth dive in 1960.

I am sharing President Obama's 2010 State Of The Union Address with you in case you missed it.

1955 Rolex Yellow Gold Oyster Perpetual


1955 Rolex Yellow Gold Oyster Perpetual
From Fredi in Germany
[Reference 6085 in 1955]

If I am recalling correctly, this is the same reference as the early Rolex Explorer, but without the Explorer designation, and in 14K gold. Speaking of which, I have some interesting historical news coming up on early prototype Rolex Explorer models that were made by Rolex in yellow-gold!!!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Rolex Coolness: Gustavo Dudamel-Rolex Datejust


Rolex Coolness: Gustavo Dudamel
An Absolutely Brilliant Career
With His Rolex Datejust Keeping Perfect Time

Richard Saavedra is a reader of Jake's Rolex World and he is from Venuzula. Richard sent in these images asking for us to share Gustavo Dudamel's brilliant career. Of course, I was familiar with Dudamel's amazing career achievements, and I wish to thank you Richard for sending in the great images!!!

Gustavo Dudamel is considered by many to to be the best conductor alive today, or certainly one of them. Gustavo is currently the Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Gothenburg, Sweden as well as the Music Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.


Gustavo was born Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramirez on January 26, 1981 in Barquisemeto, Venezuela and is a violinist and conductor. His father was a trombonist and voice teacher and Dudamel became deeply involved in El Sisterna, from an early age.

Photo Credit: Chris Christodoulou


Dudamel began studying conducting in 1995 and began conducting in 1999. He is picture below wearing his trademark Rolex Datejust.


Gustavo Dudamel's passion with which he conducts is absolutely intoxicating!!!!!!


Here is an interview that Bob Simon from 60 Minutes conducted with Gustavo The Great in 2008:



Here is some amazing concert footage of Dudamel conducting the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra!!!




In this video, Dudamel is conducting the Mendelsshon Symphony No 4 at the internationally renowned opera house, Teatro Alla Scala in Milano, Italia!!!:

Ladies Special Edition Rolex Datejust


Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
Ladies Special Edition Rolex Datejust
Yellow Gold With Diamonds and Roman Numerals

This Special Edition Ladies Rolex Datejust is from Rolex.com and this watch is an absolutely gorgeous masterpiece. It is so feminine, stylish and chic!!!! Just Stunning!!!!

NASA Research Desktop Wallpaper


Big City Lights: October 23, 2000
NASA Research Desktop Wallpaper
Ever Wonder Where All The Rolex's Are On Earth?
[At Least Most Of Them]

This is an amazing NASA image that shows earth at night. It essentially shows earth's urbanization as apposed to population of our world. For a really high-resolution wallpaper version of this amazing earth image click here.

If you click on the first image below it will give you an image that is 1600 x 800 pixels. For those of you who have the amazing new Apple 27inch iMac I prepared a higher resolution version which is 2560 x 1440.


The America's At Night


Europe, Middle East and Africa and India At Night


India, China, Japan, Australia at Night

Friday, January 29, 2010

Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day: Bernhard's Mighty Milsub


Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day
Bernhard's Mighty Milsub

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Apple Coolness: The iPad


Apple Coolness: The iPad
A Revolutionary Step in Digital Publishing
This Changes Everything!!!!

Yesterday Apple officially showed off their revolutionary all-new tablet form-factor known as the iPad. Some people say it is a huge iPhone, and others say it is like a small laptop.

I think it is much, much, much more than just an oversized iPhone. I believe it will completely revolutionize digital publishing and if you are a fan of Jake's Rolex Watch Blog it will revolutionize the way you enjoy it.
The coolest part about the iPad form factor is that is only weighs 1.5 pounds and is a half-inch thin. It also has a 1024 x 768 screen with 132Pixels per inch on its IPS LED backlit LCD panel which means it will look great!!!

In my mind, Jake's Rolex Watch Blog is the only real online magazine on the web. I did not say I thought it was the only Rolex magazine online, I said it is the only actual online magazine. Most online magazines have tiny images you have to click on and reading a detailed story requires you to click through many, many pages.

Jake's Rolex Watch Blog is the only large format photo magazine I know of on the web. To me it is like combining the best of the old LIFE Magazine with National Geographic and People Magazine, all with huge colorful photos that tell the story well. Readers ask me all the time if I intend to do print books and the answer is NO!!!!!!!! You can't update books with new information and books don't allow you to listen to podcast interviews or watch high-resolution movies. Books are also expensive and terrible for the environment.

Don't get me wrong, I like books, I just personally prefer to view content digitally and that is what is so great about the iPad. You can sit in front of the fireplace on a cold winter evening and surf the web, or read about great Rolex history on Jake's Rolex Watch Blog.

Steve Jobs Showing Off The All-New iPad in San Francisco

So let's take a closer look at the all-new Apple iPad. It starts at just $499 for a 16GB version which is amazing!!! Depending on how you spec it, you will be able to spend up to $829 for one with 3G and 64GB of Storage. All iPad models come with 802.11n wi-fi which is fine for people who don't travel much, but if you commute or travel a lot, you can get an unlimited 3G data plan for only $30 per month, or if you don't need that much bandwidth, they offer a 250MB plan for $15 per month.

The cool thing is that neither plan requires any kind of contract, so you can turn it on and off whenever you want. ATT is also offering free WiFi spot access for iPads. On of the unanswered questions is how much is ATT going to charge for iPhone tethering? I imagine it would be close to the same pricing as the options for the iPad, so if you already have and iPhone, when ATT begins offering 3G Data tethering it might make more sense to use your iPhone 3G connection for the iPad, because you could also tether it to a Macbook or other laptop.



The iPad works just like an iPhone in the sense that you use your fingers to do just about everything. As you can see from the photo below, the form-factor is stunningly cool, simple and elegant. The iPad measures 7.5 inches wide x 10 inches tall x .5 inches thick.


The side view below really shows off how cool the all-new iPad is:
As you can see in the following images, the all-new iPad should be the ultimate web-surfing device.


One of the obvious question is whether or not the iPad can really replace a laptop? I think the answer is simple. It really depends on what you do. I would never try to publish Jake's Rolex Watch Blog using an iPad, but if you just surf the web and do light email, it should be great.

I believe among other things, the iPad will slaughter the Netbook market and a good part of the laptop market, including Apple's own Macbook line. I think the iPad will be really popular with guys, but also very popular with women because they can easily travel with it in their purse. This is a huge benefit for the ladies because they no longer have to carry around a separate goofy laptop bag.

I think it will also be great as a digital book and magazine reader. In other words, the Amazon Kindle book reader just got blown to smithereens!!!! Just one of the amazing advantages the iPad has over the Kindle is that it has a vivid color backlit screen v. the Kindle having a stupid, small, black and white screen with ZERO backlighting.

In other worlds, if you want to read in bed at night in the dark with the Kindle, you can't because it has no backlight, whereas the iPad has an ultra-bright, super-high-contrast screen with strong LED backlighting. Not to mention, the iPad is black with a fine chromed edge with an aluminum body and real glass where the Kindle is all plastic and beige!!! Beige is so 1995!!!

In this next Sizemodo comparison from Gizmodo, you can see a great size comparison between the Apple iPhone, Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad, which obviously speaks volumes.


Also, if you are a serious photographer, you can use the iPad as a portable digital photo viewer and storage device, so you can travel light, but still be able to check out your images as well as be able to upload or email them.

In the future I will write a review of the iPad to share my real-world observations with you, but I think the iPad is going to revolutionize computing and digital publication. Apple has a great overview movie and you can also watch the Steve Jobs iPad Introduction Keynote with took place in San francisco. The iPad also runs almost all of the 140,000 currently available iPhone apps!!!!!!!



Here is a video from Engadget that shows how blazingly fast the iPad is. Apple brough a company that made its own chips so Apple could design their own chips and the fruits of that effort are in the iPad. Namely the all-new Apple i4 Processor, and man does it fly!!!!!!!

By the way, for anybody that complains that the iPad lacks cameras or any other significant features, remember that Leonardo da Vinci said that "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" and I argue it's smart of Apple to make the 1st generation version as bullet-proof and simple as possible. They can, and will add additional functionality in future generations.

PC Magazine
"What this thing can do is Mind-Boggling!!!"

Tim Gideon, from PC Magazine reviewed the iPad and said "First off, what this thing can do is mind-boggling!!!" He continues: "New apps and games developed specifically for the iPad do amazing things with the additional screen real estate, but if you think it's just a toy, you're wrong."



A Serious Game Changer

The iPad heralds in a whole new generation of computing. Basically, in the world of computing and publishing, the ceiling just became the new floor. It is almost difficult for me to express in words how profound the impact the iPad will have on the world will be!!!

No, the iPad is not just another Microsoft Tablet, or a netbook killer. The challenge in the past, the iPad overcomes is with the ultra-simple and fun user-interface, coupled with an extremely cool looking aesthetic and a lightning fast processor that allows everything happen in real time.

For instance, in the book reader, you go to turn the page, and it turns just like a real book–in other words, there is zero delay. Not to mention, there is almost zero learning curve and if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, there is zero learning curve.

The Ultimate Learning Tool

First, let's examine the impact it will have on education. There is or was a movement in the world named One Laptop Per Child. The idea, is that if somebody could figure out a way to make a very simple laptop that was indestructible and dependable, and would cost only $100 to make, that if every child on planted earth received one, it would not only level the playing field, but significantly improve the overall education level or humanity, in the short and long term. The notion that a rising tide should lift all boats. The idea was noble, but the actual product left much to be desired.

Fast forward several years to the iPad. I argue the iPad delivers on the dream of 1 Laptop Per Child, except it will be 1 iPad Per Child, not only in wealthy countries but it will also become the standard in third world countries. Why? Because the iPad will replace ALL school textbooks, and even paper for taking notes, and even using as an art tool for doing things like finger-painting and drawing.

The current iPad with 16GB of RAM and Wi-Fi is only $499 retail, and with a student discount it will probably be $449. With Moore's law, and a very-high adoption rate, the same model a year from now will be half the price. In two years, following Moore's law and with economies of scale, the same machine will probably retail for around $125 and eventually $100.

Instead of children breaking their backs with a backpack full of heavy, expensive books, and notebooks, they will carry just an iPad. Teachers will be able to create and distribute coursework digitally over the internet.

Probably the most important thing, is all students gain the ability to simply educate themselves with extremely powerful tools like Wikipedia. Pretty soon, for the first time in history, we will have a level playing-field where the only limitation to anybody's education will be their curiosity and desire to learn.


Tremendous Green Environmental Impact

Imagine all the paper and toxic ink that will be saved by distributing books and magazines so they can be read on an iPad!!! Also, you can't read a book, or magazine or newspaper in bed in the dark in bed, or on a dark airplane, but you will be able to with the iPad.

Leo and I are in the process of significantly overhauling every aspect of Jake's Rolex World and we will be optimizing EVERYTHING around being as easy as possible to use on the iPad. Think about the possibilities!?!


The iPad Potential For Rolex Enthusiasts

Today, I know many Rolex Authorized Dealers send their employees and sales-people to Jake's Rolex World to educate them about Rolex history which gives them many excellent stories they can pass along to customers, not to mention it allows them to speak more intelligently, insightfully and passionately about Rolex. AD's also have their sales-people listen to our podcasts to improve their understanding and knowledge of Rolex.

We are also underway with an extremely ambitions project to build a world-class database and Rolex Reference Library that will contain high-resolution photos of every Rolex ever made, all shot in 3-D, so you as an end-user will be able to spin them around and examine all the great detail.


As and end-user you will be able to view Everything Rolex however you wish. So as an example, you will be able to view all the Rolex historical ads, by model, or in chronological order. The coolest aspect is that, we will be taking an open-source approach, so anybody will be able to contribute to or benefit from the library.

What does this have to do with the iPad? I imagine the Apple iPad as being the ultimate tool for exploring all this rich Rolex History. If we get half-way, where we intend to go with this project, everybody, including AD's, Vintage Rolex Dealers, and Collectors and Enthusiasts will all be able to access everything from one kindergarden-simple User-Interface, from the web, on an iPad.

And yes, it has crossed my mind to bundle this all as an iPad application that can be accessed on the iPad without a persistent internet connection, and of course, whenever you wished to update the app data, so long as you have an internet connection, you would be able to.

The greatest challenge is that I am absolutely committed to keeping all this rich history and data free to everybody. If it is not free to everybody, it is not worth doing. The days of exclusivity are over. Taking an inclusive approach is where the best days ahead will be found.

The online Rolex community is still very-much in its infancy, if not still in the incubator, but it never ceases to amaze me how powerful a tool the internet has become as a mechanism for sharing valuable information and making new friends who share our interests. These are truly amazing times to be living in, and I believe the Apple iPad will go down in history as the most revolutionary platform that completely transformed and delivered on the promise of the internet and computing in general, as well as the helping humanity achieve much higher levels of knowledge, understanding and education!!!!


Captain Piccard on iPhone Love

Sir Patrick Stewart who was the Captain on the Star Trek does not like Twitter, but Methinks he will love the iPad!!! It is fascinating to consider the dude who played the captain of the Enterprise on TV had all these tech-toy props that showed how cool the future would be, then fast-forward a few short years later and he is an iPhone junkie and he is talking about how the iPhone is so much more powerful than anything from Star Trek!?! Live long and prosper!!!!



Charlie Rose On iPad

Walt Mossberg, Michael Arrington & David Carr had the chance to sit down with Charlie Rose and discuss the implication of the future for the iPad.


Update: On February 10, 2010 Interview Magazine put together this video to show what its magazine would look like on the iPad:



Wired Magazine's Wired Reader

Update: Here is Wired's idea of how their magazine will look on the iPad using software named Wired Reader which uses Adobe Air. I am not certain how they plan to run this application on an iPad, since Apple does not appear to intend to support Adobe Flash on the iPad. On Jake's Rolex World Magazine we intend to use the exact same user interface for the Desktop/Laptop version as well as the iPad. It does not make sense to me to have to have 3 or 4 different versions of the same "Experience."





Reinventing The Book & Magazine

In the next two videos we see the CEO of Penguin books, John Makinson talking about the future of his books and in the video below he shows off just how amazing an ebook can be on the ipad!!!