Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter From John Goldberger: Paul Newman Daytona...


Happy Easter From John Goldberger

John Golberger is the author of the amazing book 100 Superlative Rolex Watches, and you can check out my review by clicking here. John sent in these photos he took for Easter of his Exotic Dial Paul Newman [Reference 6263, Caliber 727] which was sold in the U.S.A., in 1971. Thanks for sending in the photos John, and a happy Easter to you and everybody!!!


Thursday, March 28, 2013

Paul Newman Daytona Taken Apart


Paul Newman Daytona
The Sum Of Its Parts

Peter Roberts is a watchmaker in the U.K. and he just sent in this image of a stainless steel Rolex Daytona he was recently working on and decided to send it in to share with you. Of you were ever wondering what a Paul Newman Daytona looks like when it is taken apart, here it is...


Friday, March 15, 2013

1964 Magazine Ad Men who guide the destines of the world wear Rolex watches


1964 Magazine Ad

Men who guide the destines
of the world wear Rolex watches

This 1964 Rolex magazine ad really demonstrates that Rolex was really excited and proud to share with the world that many of the top leaders wore Rolex. The most interesting detail is that U.S. President Lyndon Johnson had recently begun wearing what became his trademark yellow-gold Rolex Day-Date in 1964, and it appears Rolex could not wait to indirectly let everybody know. You can always learn much more this subject by checking out my 11 part series on The Complete History Of The Rolex President.

I believe the hats on the table are symbolic of the actual men who wore them, so the obvious question, is who wore those hats? My best guess for who the hats belong to or symbolize would be U.S. General Eisenhower, French General de Gaulle, Swiss General Henri Guisan, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Lord Mountbatten of the U.K. and U.S. President, Lyndon Johnson. I am a little confused by the unusual hat located closest to the front of the table? Does anybody know what kind of hat that is?

Update: A bunch of people wrote in to answer the question. It turns out it is a Russian Cossacks lambswool hat, which makes you wonder who the ad is referring to? It must be Nikita Khrushchev? I know Nikita's son, Sergei Khruschev wears a yellow gold Rolex. Hmmm!?!? 



Update 2: I am really embarrassed to admit this, but Jake's Rolex World reader, Karl wrote in from Austria and said:

"Have a look at Russian/Soviet Leaders and at Russian/Soviet Hats and your Blog Archive and you will see for what and whom this picture hat stands."

The hat was symbolic of Leonid Brezhnev, who became the General Secretary of the Communist Party in October of 1964. Leonid Brezhnev is pictured below with U.S. President Gerald Ford, and Ford is wearing a Soviet mink hat, which I tried on one, and was stunned with how luxurious, soft and warm it was.

Now that I think about it, that is a trip that in 1964-1968, then U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and U.S.S.R. leader, Leonid Brezhnev were both wearing yellow gold Rolex watches.



I thought I would share this next photo of me back in 1973 when I was 7 years old, and I am wearing a similar U.S. Presidential seal necktie as President Gerald Ford in the photo above...just saying...

Did I make you laugh, or at least smile?



Wednesday, March 13, 2013

...Rolex Wrist Shot Of The Day... Karl's Black Dial Explorer II


...Rolex Wrist Shot Of The Day...

Black Dial Explorer II
Black Tropical Braided Strap

Jo from Norway took this photo of his black dial Rolex Explorer II on a braided tropical strap, which is a great look!!!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Daylight Savings Time Does Not Make Sense


Daylight Savings Time
Does Not Make Sense

Moving your Rolex forward an hour for Daylight Savings Time always seems like a wast of time for me. Ever wonder why we even have this crazy thing called Daylight Savings time? This video does a superb job of explaining the history and implications of Daylight Savings Time. 

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Rolex Coolness: Channing Tatum


Rolex Coolness: Channing Tatum
From GQ to GI Joe
Rolex Daytona

Monday, March 04, 2013

Former Rolex CEO Patrick Heiniger Died Today



Former Rolex CEO
Patrick Heiniger
Belongs To The Ages
1950-2013

Former Rolex CEO, Patrick Heiniger passed away earlier today in Monaco at age 62. Patrick Heiniger went to law school in Geneva, Switzerland and went on to became an intellectual property attorney in New York and founded his own law firm specializing in intellectual property and international law before. In 1986 he came on-board taking over as the Director of Marketing for Rolex. 

Next, he went on to take over the reins of Rolex from his father, André Heiniger in 1992. Patrick Heiniger abruptly left Rolex in 2008 for "personal reasons", which were never publicly divulged, but were heavily speculated upon. 



On Jake's Rolex World, I specialize in separating the fact from the fiction, and that is my goal since there was so much speculation on why he stepped down as CEO or Rolex. Patrick Heiniger was a heavy cigarette smoker. From the research I have uncovered, I was told by a highly credible and unofficial source that one day Mr. Heiniger had a very soar throat, and went to the doctor who diagnosed him with throat cancer. Mr. Heiniger returned to Rolex Headquarters and resigned immediately so he could treat his cancer.

Patrick Heiniger is pictured above–sporting his trademark Platinum Rolex Day-Date. He was born on August 26, 1950 in Beunos Aires, Argentina in South America to André and Odette Heiniger. Patrick's father, André Heiniger ran Rolex South America. André Heiniger joined Rolex in 1948 and grew to become a close and trusted associate of Rolex Founder, Hans Wilsdorf who is pictured below.



Hans Wilsdorf, sent André Heiniger to Buenos Aires, Argentina to develop the South American Rolex market, which he achieved brilliantly. Hans Wilsdorf died in 1960 leaving Rolex leaderless. 

Between 1960 and late 1962, Rene-Paul Jeanneret directed Rolex and in late-1962, early 1963,  André Heiniger (pictured below in 1963) was appointed Director General of Rolex, which is the equivalent title of CEO in the United States. 


André Heiniger is pictured below, between golf legend and Rolex Ambassador, Arnold Palmer and his son Patrick Heiniger.


André Heiniger successfully ran Rolex from 1963 to 1992, when he passed the Rolex leadership baton to his heir-apparent son, Patrick Heiniger.



Patrick Heiniger achieved many things as the CEO or Rolex, including the drive to turn Rolex into a completely integrated vertical company, which means he bought up all of Rolex's suppliers to bring all manufacturing in-house.



"The stars of Rolex are the timepieces, not the directors." –Patrick Heiniger


Patrick Heiniger is pictured below with auto racing legend, and long time Rolex Ambassador, Sir Jackie Stewart, at a reception in 2002 after being awarded The Knight of the Legion of Honour by the French Government.


Patrick Heiniger is picture below with Olympic Skiing Superstar and Rolex Board Member, Jean-Claude Killy.



Patrick Heiniger is pictured below when he was the CEO of Rolex, and he is pictured below on 2005 just having been awarded the Commander in The Order of Arts And Letters by the French Government.




Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
Founded by Patrick Heiniger in 2002


This next set of six photos appears courtesy of PatrickMcMullan.com. This first image shows Patrick Heiniger with his girlfriend, Nina Stevens on December 5, 2005 at the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative Gala. Patrick Heiniger developed the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative in 2002 to help talented young artists realize their potential.


This next image shows Patrick Heiniger with Nina Stevens and legendary actress, Joan Collins at the same Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiatve Gala on December 5, 2005.


This next image below, shows from left to right, TV producer George Schlatter, Wolfgang Puck, Nina Stevens, Nikki Haskell, Patrick Heiniger, and New York Art Dealer, Tony Shafrazzi. It was taken at the Nikki Haskell Dinner on January 13, 2006.



This next image shows Patrick Heiniger with Nina Stevens at the same event as pictured above. Apparently Patrick Heiniger was crazy about Nina and she had a significant impact on his design aesthetic for ladies Rolex watch design direction. It is fascinating to note that both Patrick and Nina are wearing 36MM Rolex Day-Date watch models, with his being a standard Platinum version and hers being a heavily jeweled Yellow-Gold version.



"Women are the future of Rolex." –Patrick Heiniger

It was rumored that Patrick Heiniger's girlfriend, Nina Stevens was the catalyst and inspiration for some high-fashion Rolex ladies watches, like the Bejeweled Leopard Rolex Daytona pictured below.


Nina Stevens and Patrick Heiniger are pictured below with actress, Lynn Redgrave on November 12, 2007 at the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative.



Patrick Heiniger is pictured below in a recent photo with Nina Stevens, and friend, Narcisa Tamborindeguy. This photo was taken less than a year ago, and Patrick Heiniger does not look very healthy in this photo.


Patrick Heiniger is survived by his daughter, Alicia Heiniger (pictured below), and his son Sébastien Heiniger. Alicia Heiniger followed in her father and grandfather's footsteps and went to work for Rolex after she graduated from college.





Patrick Heiniger Legacy


Somebody once asked Rolex CEO, Patrick Heiniger what made him feel the proudest about being the leader of Rolex, to which he answered, "Meeting total strangers who are wearing a Rolex." 



Bruno Meier (pictured above), was a Rolex Board Member and Rolex CFO, that was chosen by the board of the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation to replace Patrick Heiniger in 2008, and served as the CEO of Rolex until May 2011. 

Rolex appointed the head of Rolex Italy, Gian Riccardo Marini, as the new CEO in May 2011. Patrick Heiniger is pictured below in Capri in May 2007 with the now current CEO of Rolex, Gian Riccardo Marini, who is pictured opposite of Heiniger.





I believe Patrick Heiniger's early exit from the stage of life surprised and caught many people off-guard. 

So what is Patrick Heiniger's legacy? Rolex only developed one new model under his tenure, which was the Yacht-Master. However, during his 16 years tenure from 1992 to 2008, as CEO, he consolidated Rolex's entire business into four super-state-of-the-art facilities, all located in Switzerland, which resulted in superb economies-of-scale and significantly contributed to improving the quality of modern Rolex watches. 

In the future, I will dive deeper into exploring Patrick Heiniger's legacy. Patrick Heiniger was one of only five men who ran Rolex over more than a century.



On March 5, 2013 Rolex published the following press release:

Geneva, 5 March 2013: The Board of Directors and the General Management of Rolex SA express their deep sorrow on the passing of Patrick Heiniger, former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, in Monaco after a long illness. They would like to pay tribute to the memory of a man who marked the history of the company when he presided over its destiny from 1992 to 2008, and extend their sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Throughout his 16 years as head of the company, Patrick Heiniger was the faithful heir to the spirit of enterprise that has made Rolex an exceptional brand. He combined tradition with the demands of an ever-evolving world and his vision brought the company solidly into the third millennium.

Patrick Heiniger was appointed Managing Director of Rolex in 1992, six years after he joined as Commercial Director. He was also named Chief Executive Officer in 1997. As the company's third Managing Director since it was founded, he followed his father, André J. Heiniger, who in 1963 had succeeded Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex. Born in Argentina in 1950, Patrick Heiniger was a lawyer by training, specializing in international and intellectual property law. He made it his mission to reinforce the defence of the brand throughout the world.

Under his impetus, in the mid-1990s Rolex made a fundamental strategic choice and opted for the vertical integration of its means of production. This strategy was intended to guarantee control over manufacturing of the essential components of the brand's watches and thus to ensure its autonomy.

Rolex decided to group at three industrial sites all of its activities located in the canton of Geneva. This step was designed to reinforce the quality of its products while remaining true to the best watchmaking tradition. The vast vertical integration programme led to the construction of new, state-of-the-art production facilities at Rolex headquarters at Acacias, at Plan-les-Ouates and at Chêne-Bourg in the 2000s, as well as at Bienne in north-western Switzerland, where a new extension building was inaugurated in October 2012.

As a true independent watchmaker of the 21st century, enjoying unprecedented freedom in the design and manufacture of its watches, Rolex could take its ambition for excellence and innovation to new heights.

In 2002, Patrick Heiniger created the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, dedicated to helping promising young artists realize their full potential under the watchful eye of a renowned mentor in their discipline.

That same year, he was awarded the insignia of Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honour and, in 2005, he was appointed Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Patrick Heiniger retired from the helm of Rolex in December 2008. 

Sunday, March 03, 2013

Conan O'Brien Rockin' A Rolex Submariner on a FatStrap


...Rolex Coolness...

Conan O'Brien
Rockin' A Rolex Submariner on a FatStrap


Saturday, March 02, 2013

Sir Wally Herbert: The Greatest Polar Explorer In History


...Rolex Coolness...

Sir Wally Herbert
1934-2007

The Greatest Polar Explorer In History

Wally Herbert was an British explorer, artist, and writer. In 1969 he became the first human to walk to the North Pole without dispute. This 1970 Rolex ad features Wally Herbert and some of his accomplishments.



In 2008, Antiquorum Auction House successfully auctioned Sir Walter Herbert's Rolex Oysterquartz that he wore during his 1971 arctic expedition to Greenland. He also wore it in 1979 when he circumvented Greenland, and here is a photo of his Reference 17000 Rolex Datejust Oysterquartz.

Friday, March 01, 2013

Platinum and Stainless Steel Rolex Yacht-Master...


...Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day...

Platinum and Stainless Steel Rolex Yacht-Master

Celter from Norway took this photos of his Platinum and Stainless Steel Rolex Yacht-Master. This model was the first modern Rolex that brought back Maxi Markers.