Rolex Coolness: James Gandolfini Belongs To The Ages 1961-2013

...Rolex Coolness...

James Gandolfini
Belongs To The Ages
1961-2013

Tony Soprano

Ay'der!?! What'r you lookin at!?! hugh!?!

Rolex Presidential

It is hard to believe that at only 51 years of age, James Gandolfini died. James Gandolfini played Tony Soprano on the HBO megahit, Sopranos. James Gandolfini won 3 Emmy awards on a total of six nominations. He passed away in Italy while on a vacation and the reported cause of death was a heart attack. 

James Gandolfini is arguably one of the best character actors, and in his role as Tony Soprano, he may very well have been the greatest character actor.

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day." –Anthony "Tony" Soprano [1999]

The Sopranos originally aired on HBO, and completely changed TV. The Sopranos was a hyper-immesive show, and probably the greatest TV show that ever was filmed. It certainly was also one of the most financially successful TV franchises as well. It is likely that it never would have been nearly as successful as it was if it was not for James Gandolfini doing such a convincing job of Playing Tony Soprano.

In the famous and now iconic Sapronos intro you can see Tony Saprono wearing his trademark Rolex Day-Date. Watching this now sends shivers down my spine, is a DejaVu kind of way...

Despite the fact that The Sopraons was an over-the-top violent show, James Gandolfini's character Tony Soprano in many ways symbolized the aggressive alpha-male, almost in a raw, caveman kind of way, which is what made the fact that Tony Soprano wore a Rolex President quite fitting. If the Rolex Day-Date is the International Mark Of Success, then it perfectly symbolized Tony Soprano's disposition.

The Sopranos was such a highly addicting show. I remember I used to jones to see the next episode. It has been many years now since I have watched an episode of the Sopranos, but in the future I am excited to do a Sopranofest, where I watch all six seasons, back to back to back.

The Sopranos Rolex Watches

The HBO his series, The Sopranos was created by David Chase and is the most financially successful cable series in television history. 

The Sopranos probably featured more Rolex watches per actor than any other TV show or movie in history. Tony is pictured below wearing his trademark yellow gold Day-Date and his wife, Carmella is wearing her trademark ladies two-tone datejust on a Jubilee bracelet.

As I mentioned earlier in this article, James Gandolfini was arguably one of the greatest characters actors in history. I remember after years of enjoying watching the Sopranos, hearing James Gandolfini speak with his real voice and I was shocked!!??!! 

In real life he was completely antithetical to the Tony Soprano character  In real life he was a gentle, soft-spoke giant, kind-of-like Mike Tyson, in the sense that if you just saw Mike Tyson box, the first time you heard him speak, it was shocking because his voice did not match his presence. 

...Rolex Super-Hotness...

Jamie Lynn Sigler

Sopranos Daytona

Jamie Lynn Sigler played Medow Soprano on the HBO Blockbuster hit who was Tony Sopranos' daughter. In her private life she wears several Rolex Daytona watches. In this first photo we see Jamie Lynn Sigler wearing her stainless steel Rolex Daytona.

Rolex Datjeust...

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

Rolex Datejust

Harold Wilson Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom

A Prime Minister Wearing A Rolex President

Harold Wilson

Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom

1916-1995

James Harold Wilson served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970, as well as from 1974 to 1976. He was a British Labour Party politician. He began his political career in 1945 when he entered Parliament. As we see in the photos below, Harold Wilson wore a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date, also known as The Rolex President.

Harold Wilson is pictured below meeting with U.S. President Kennedy at the White House in Washington D.C., on April 2, 1963.

Harold Wilson is pictured below with Queen Elizabeth in September of 1975 at Balmoral just after he informed her he was planning to retire his position as Prime Minister on his 60th birthday in the following March.

"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." —Harold Wilson

BaselWorld 2016 Reflections

BaselWorld 2016 Reflections

Rolex An Enormous Success 

Another BaselWorld has come and gone, and I would say this has been one of the most exciting and successful for Rolex. There were so many new and interesting models introduced, along with other iconic models that received significant upgrades. Rolex's history of timeless design which is constantly improved through a strong iterative process continues. During this BaselWorld we learned that The Reputation Institute awarded Rolex its highest honor by sharing the results of its 2016 Survey that concluded Rolex is the #1 Most Reputable Company On Earth!!!

2016 also represents the 90th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster model, as well as the 60th anniversary of The Rolex Day-Date. Also during BaselWorld, we got to celebrate the 135th Birthday anniversary of Rolex's founder, Hans Wilsdorf. BaselWorld 2017 should also be fascinating, and I already can't wait...

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

New Yacht-Master Color Combination

Sky Blue Second Hand and Dial Designation.

37MM & 40MM Models. Reference 116622

At BaselWorld 2016, Rolex introduced two new Yacht-Master models. This includes the all-new RootBeer Yacht-Master model I covered recently, as well as the model seen below which comes in a 37MM model, as well as a 40MM model. This steel and platinum model features a dark silver sunburst dial, with a sky-blue second hand, with a matching blue YACHT-MASTER dial designation.

The Rolex Yacht-Master has a fascinating history, as it was originally designed to be an alternative to the Rolex Submariner. You can learn all about the history of the Rolex Yacht-Master on Jake's Rolex World.

Jocke from Sweden took the photo below of the new 40MM Rolex Yacht-Master next to the 37MM model.

New Gold Rolex Daytona Models Very Cool New Color Dials

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

New Gold Rolex Daytona Models

Very Cool New Color Dials 

At BaselWorld 2016, Rolex showed off two new gold models. The first is in white gold and it has a cobalt blue sunburst dial with red 5 minute micro markers, with matching red inner sundial rings that match the Red DAYTONA Dial designation.

Rolex also showed off a yellow gold Daytona with a dark kelly green dial with red details as seen below. Both these watches are so great looking!!!! I could not help but notice the yellow gold Daytona has longer lugs than the white gold model...I have never been able to figure out why Rolex does this? Also, I am a big fan of colored dials. Not that there is anything wrong with a black or white dial. I just think these shades of blue and green are timeless and charismatic cool...

Jocke is a famous Rolex fanatic from Sweden and he attends BaselWorld every year. He took the photos below of the new Rolex models.

Rolex Rated #1 Most Reputable Company On Earth!!!

ROLEX Rated #1 

Most Reputable Company On Earth!!!

Reputation Institue Most Prestigious Award

This is a mind-blowing story, which at the same time is not surprising. Forbes Magazine just broke the news that The Reputation Institute ranked Rolex as the Number 1 Most Reputable Company On Earth. This accolade was based upon polling of close to a quarter million people in 15 countries around the globe according to the Reputation Institutes Annual 2016 Survey. This study is the largest global reputation study.

The following list shows the top 25 Most Reputable Companies On Earth:

1. Rolex

2. Disney

3. Google

4. BMW

5. Daimler (Owner of Mercedes-Benz)

6. Lego

7. Microsoft

8. Canon

9. Sony

10. Apple

11. Intel

12. Adidas

13. Nike

14. Rolls-Royce

15. Michelin

16. Johnson & Johnson

17. Samsung

18. Ferrero (Maker of Nutella:-)

19. Nintendo

20. Levi's

21. Amazon

22. Nestle

23. Philips Electronics

24. L'Oréal

25. Bosch

So what does this mean exactly? It's hard to say, but I will point out that to the best of my knowledge that out of the top 25 most reputable companies on earth, not only is Rolex ranked #1, but it is the only privately held company in this outstanding group.

The following comes from the Reputation Institute web page:

Reputation Institute is the world's leading research and advisory firm for reputation. We provide senior communications and marketing executives at global companies the single-best way to measure, communicate and manage reputation performance. With this insight, companies can protect their reputations, analyze risks and drive competitive advantage. We serve clients in more than 400 of the top Global 1,000 companies.

Our founders Charles Fombrun and Cees van Riel started the discipline of reputation management more than two decades ago. Groundbreaking professors specializing in business and corporate communications, they founded Reputation Institute in 1997. Founder Charles Fombrun created the original academic models for measuring reputation — refining them with the launch of Reputation Institute and RepTrak®.

Reputation Institute’s RepTrak® model is the gold standard for reputation measurement, providing a one-of-a-kind appraisal of how the general public views the world’s best-known companies. The RepTrak® database examines 15 stakeholders in more than 25 industries and more than 40 countries for more than 7,000 companies.

Reputation Institute’s research is considered the authoritative source for Corporate Reputation Management by the world’s leading publications, including The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Bloomberg, Information Week, NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. Our industry leaders are regularly sought out and appear in the news and on the radio, for example on NPR, CNBC, Fox Business News, BBC, and CNN.

Rolex "President" Day-Date 60TH Anniversary

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

Rolex "President" Day-Date

60TH Anniversary Reference 118348 

40MM EverRose Gold 

Rolex is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster which debuted in 1926. 2016 also represents the 60th anniversary of the Rolex Day-Date which was introduced in 1956. Rolex created a special 60th anniversary model with a green dial to commemorate this anniversary, and it comes with a green dial as seen below. Rolex is offering this model in EverRose Gold as seen below, as well as in White Gold, and both feature the new movement Caliber 3255. You can learn much more about this beauty on the Rolex Microsite dedicated to this model.

Happy Birthday 135th Birthday!!!! Hans Wilsdorf Founder Of Rolex...

...Rolex Ultra Super-Coolness...

Happy 135th Birthday!!!!

Hans Wilsdorf

Founder Of Rolex

1881-1960

Today is Hans Wilsdorf's 135th Birthday!!! It is beyond amazing to me that he left such an amazing legacy. I just updated his story on Jake's Rolex World named, "The Complete History Of Rolex Leadership. Part 1: The Hans Wilsdorf Years", which I highly recommend checking out if you have not already had the chance to. Happy Birthday Old Boy!!!!!! P.S. Notice how big those cups of coffee are :-)

Hans Wilsdorf in 1942 watching (no pun intended :-) his watchmakers work in Rolex workshop in Geneva, Switzerland

Happy 90th Birthday!!!!

Rolex Oyster

2016 represents the 90th Anniversary of the Rolex Oyster wristwatch, which was the first waterproof watch. The Rolex Oyster was the first of many, many, many innovations under the leadership of Rolex Founder, Hans Wilsdorf...

BaselWorld 2016 Introduction... The Return of The Rolex Air King

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

The Return Of 

The Rolex Air King

40MM Stainless Steel: Reference 116900

Rolex seems to have really done well with all the Amazing watches introduced at BaselWorld 2016. Everybody thought Rolex had permanently discontinued the Air-King, several years ago, when they stopped making it, but sure enough, like with many other Rolex watches it has returned—and arguably for the better. Michael Bublé is pictured below sporting the all-new Rolex Air King model.

So let's take a closer look at the all-new Rolex Air King. It has a number of interesting details. For one, it is kind of retro-futuristic in the sense Rolex decided to re-use their "Air-King" typeface logo from the 1950s version of the same watch. This model also represents the first time Rolex has made a watch that is available to the public with the green and gold Rolex logo combo on the dial, but NOT the first time it has used it to keep time. More on that at the end of this article :-)

The Air King was originally introduced in 1945 as the Rolex Reference 4925 which used a Caliber 10.5' movement. The Rolex Air-King evolved from a previous Rolex named the Speed-King. At one time in the 1940s Rolex had many Airplane themed models including the Rolex Air-Lion, Air-Tiger, and Air Giant. 

The Rolex Speed-King was based upon Sir Malcom Campbell, who thought the 1920s and 1930s set one world land speed record after another, all while wearing Rolex watches.

On April 3, 1933 The Royal Air Force Squadron was the first to fly over Mount Everest. Pictured below is Flight Lieutenant David McIntyre who, with his squadron members flew into history as first men to fly over Mt. Everest, with their trusted Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches keeping their time.

The photograph below is the first photograph ever taken from above Mount Everest, from the 1933 Royal Air Force expedition that was famously equipped with Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches.

Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf was obsessed with achievement and supported many teams of explorers who tried to push the envelope.

So at this point, you are probably wondering what all this has to do with the all-new Rolex Air King!? 

The user-interface for the new Rolex Air-King was inspired by the Bespoke Rolex Clock Rolex made for the Bloodhound SSC, which you see in the cockpit photo below on the right.

What exactly is the Bloodhound SSC? It is a special vehicle designed to set break the all-time speed record and set a new speed record by driving faster than the speed of sound!!! And Rolex is not only custom made the speedometer and clock, but is also a sponsor of the Bloodhound project.

In conclusion the all-new Rolex Air-King looks like it is on its way to becoming a mega-hit. I say this because everybody I have talked to loves it, both women and men alike. A female friend of mine saw it and said "Wow!!! That's a really cool looking watch! I love the colors. Is it for woman?" 

Another friend of mine who is a hardcore watch nut said he loved it and can't wait to get one, and he is a serious watch snob. He also said that he really liked the dial because it reminded him of the The Rolex California dial. He said, "There is just something about that dial that is so cool, and I can't quite place it? It has to do with the contrast between the  large and bold 3, 6, and 9 markers, in juxtaposition with the digital looking other typeface. And I LOVE how Rolex setup the Rolex coronet and 'ROLEX' logo in the colors of their brand print logo. It just looks so instantly iconic and cool. I also love how it is bigger than the Rolex Explorer at 40MM v. 39MM, but its also 2MM thicker, so it is kind of like a Rolex Explorer on steroids."