Thursday, January 18, 2024

1979 French Rolex Explorer II: The Original Orange Hand








The Complete History Of The Rolex Explorer II


...Rolex Super-Coolness...

Jean-François PERNETTE


1998 Rolex Laureate Winner
Rolex Awards for Enterprise


5 Decades Of Exploration

Relying On His Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II

One of my favorite things to do on Jake's Rolex World is bring to life many characters who have appeared in vintage Rolex ads, by delving deeper into their history to learn what makes them tick. Today, I am excited to do just that, by taking a closer look at the amazing career achievements of Jean-François Pernette. 

Jean-François Pernette is one of the worlds leading cave explorers, and he is pictured below in Pierre Saint Martin, four decades ago, in 1981, while on a cave exploration expedition, and he is wearing his trademark Rolex Explorer II "Orange Hand."

Jean-François Pernette pictured above in 1981 wearing his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II



Jean-François Pernette is considered to be one of the worlds leading speleologists. He was born in 1954 in France, and he is pictured below, exploring in Papua New-Guinea in 1980, and notice he is wearing his trademark Orange-Hand Rolex Explorer II. Jean-François Pernette went on to become the 1998 Rolex Laureate Winner of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise. 






1979 French Rolex Explorer II
The Original Orange Hand
Reference 1655

The 1979 Vintage Rolex Jean-François Pernette magazine ad was published in France.




Journey To The End Of The World


Rolex Awards For Enterprise Documentary produced a video about Jean-François Pernette in 1998 and it is Titled, Journey To The End Of The World, which you can watch below:



The next two photos below, show Jean-François Pernette in Papua New-Guinea in 1980, communicating with natives, who have had limited contact with the outside world.






In the next two photos we see Jean-François Pernette exploring a cave in Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin, which is part of a mountain pass on the border of Spain and France, located in the western Pyrenees mountain range.





The above photo was taken in 1981, and the photo below were taken in 1982 in  Pierre Saint-Martin. Notice Jean-François Pernette is wearing his trademark Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II in most of these photos taken over the last 4 decades. The Orange hand serves two purposes. First to keep the cave-dweller aware of wether it is AM or PM, and secondly, to able to keep track of time in a second timezone.

In the photo below, we we see Jean-François Pernette sporting a Rolex Datejust.










Rolex Awards Geneva 1998

This next photo was taken in 1998, upon the occasion of Jean-François Pernette winning the 1998 Rolex Award For Enterprise, and we see him being awarded with a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.


In the next photo below, we see Jean-François Pernette hiking in the mountains of Nepal in 2012. Notice he is still sporting his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II, which has served him well since 1979 without any challenges, throughout all his expeditions, the latest of which were Patagonia in 2010 and Nepal in 2012.

Jean-François Pernette pictured above in 2012 wearing his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II

This last photo of Jean-François Pernette was taken this year (2013) while cave exploring in France. Jean-François Pernette has lived an extraordinary life, filled with amazing achievement, all while keeping time with his loyal companion and timekeeper, which is an original, vintage Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II. You can learn much more about the Jean-François Pernette by visiting his Rolex Awards For Enterprise microsite.