Recently, in one of the greatest upsets in basketball finals history, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Championship which I watched live, and it was quite a thrilling game (you can see the highlights in the videos at the bottom of this story.) The Cleveland Cavaliers were down 3 games to 1 to the Golden State Warriors, and managed to come back to win the Finals, which has never happened before in NBA Finals history. LeBron James is arguably the driving force that led the Cavalier to their Championship in 2016, and he is pictured below getting around two Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals.
LeBron James has won three NBA Championships in his amazing career (2012, 2103, 2016) as well as four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013). LeBron James is widely considered to be one of the best basketball players in the history of the game.
I first noticed that LeBron James was wearing his Rolex Day-Date at the 2016 NBA Championship Parade when Hodinkee recently published a story on the subject, which included the photo below of LeBron James wearing his 41MM yellow gold Rolex Day-Date II.
Image Appears Courtesy of David Liam Kyle / Getty Images
LeBron James was not the only Cleveland Cavaliers team member rockin' his yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date, as I could not help but notice at least four team-members were also wearing yellow-gold Day-Date models including Mo Smith, Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson. Below we see Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert sporting his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.
Image Appears Courtesy of Josefczyk / Reuters
In this next image we see Tristan Thompson, who wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date on June 22, 2016 at Cleveland Cavaliers Championship Parade.
Sammy Davis Jr. has been commonly referred to as the greatest entertainer that ever lived, and I would have to agree. Sammy was a big watch collector and wore a number of different Rolex models. This first picture is intriguing because it shows him wearing what appears to be a highly customized Rolex model.
If you look closely, you notice this is clearly a yellow gold Rolex, but it has a yellow Rolex President bracelet, on what appears to be a yellow gold Submariner body, coupled with a diamond bezel. I've seen some interesting Rolex customizations in my lifetime, but I don't recall ever seeing anything quite like this? In the photo below we see Sammy Davis Jr. sporting a yellow gold Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee Bracelet.
Sammy Davis Jr. was one of the original member of the Rat Pack, and is seen below with fellow members, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra.
Sammy Davis Jr. is pictured below on stage in Las Vegas in the Copa Room at The Stardust with fellow Rat Pack members Dean "Dino" Martin on the far left of the stage and Frank "Old Blue Eyes" Sinatra on the right.
The Candy Man Can
Sammy Davis Jr & Mickey Rooney
The incomparable Sammy Davis Jr., is pictured below hugging actor, Mickey Rooney backstage at Rooney's Broadway show named "Sugar Babies" in 1981. Of course, Sammy Davis Jr., is wearing his trademark yellow gold Rolex Datejust.
I recently wrote a story titled, "The Rolex Woman", which explored the Evolution Of The Female Rolex Archetype. So when we think about the male Rolex archetype, many different people come to mind. Macho-men, that are really cool, like Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Steve McQueen. In modern times you might think of Michael Jordan, Brad Pitt, or James Cameron.
When you think of Political figures who wear a gold Rolex you might think of U.S. Presidents, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson or Bill Clinton, or even former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. When people think about Civil Rights Leaders who have worn yellow gold Rolex watches, they might think about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., or Jesse Jackson. One man who might surprise people with wearing a Yellow Gold Rolex President, is no other than His Holiness, The Dali Lama of Tibet.
I recently published a story on Jake's Rolex World that showcases a story I wrote that was published in Rolex's paper magazine named, "The Rolex Magazine." The name of my story was "The Rolex Precedent", which is a play on the widely used nickname of the Rolex Day-Date, which is is know as "The Rolex President." The Rolex President gained this name and notoriety as it has been worn on the wrist of many powerful politicians, and political figures. U.S. President, Lyndon Johnson was probably the first figure that not only wore a Rolex Day-Date, but wielded it as the ultimate "Political Tool Watch." In other words, Rolex's Sports Models, which have commonly been referred to as Professional Models by Rolex, are commonly referred to by collectors as "Tool Watches." So many people are surprised to learn that the ultimate "Political Tool Watch" have historically been the Yellow Gold Rolex Datejust and Day-Date models.
...Nobel Peace Prize Laureate...
Dalai Lama
Rolex Keeping The Time Of His Life
Blue Sunburst Dial
The Dalai Lama is considered to be the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and he is renowned for his wisdom diplomacy, kindness, smile and peaceful nature. It is difficult to discover what kind or watch he wears, because he always wears his watches, rotated 180 degrees around his wrist. When a watch is worn backwards on the wrist, it serves to camouflage the watch, which makes it difficult to observe.
In the photo above, we see The Dalai Lama wearing his Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date as he stands next to South African President and Civil Right Leader, Nelson Mandela.
As mentioned, The Dalai Lama typically goes out of his way to make certain his watches never appear to be fancy or ostentatious. His holiness does so, by typically putting them on inexpensive stretchable Speidel Twist-O-Flex watch bands. In this recent photo, we see the Dalai Lama with Prince Charles, and the Dalai Lama is wearing a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date with a cobalt blue dial.
The photo below shows a cobalt blue Rolex sunburst dial which I believe is the same one on the Dalai Lama's Day-Date.
In this next photo, we see the Dalai Lama wearing a two-tone Rolex Datejust on a jubilee bracelet, as he meets with the Head Rabbi of Israel Meir Lau, in Jerusalem, Israel.
Apparently, His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama is not only a big watch collector, but works on his own watches, as seen in the photo below. It turns out that former U.S. President, Franklin Roosevelt was apparently responsible for infecting Dalai Lama with WISitus when he was only seven or eight years old! During World War II , the Allied Powers wanted to build a road through Tibet, from India that continued to China. In 1943, two American agents from the Office Of Strategic Services delivered a package to the young Dalai Lama from U.S. President Roosevelt, which contained a letter and a complicated yellow-gold Patek Phillipe Reference 658 Pocket-watch model. This story first came to light in the Patek Philippe Magazine, Issue Number 8, from Fall of 2000.
The Dalai Lama once recounted his experience as a young boy while working on watches: "I have always enjoyed repairing watches. But I can remember a number of occasions as a boy when, completely losing my patience with those tiny, intricate parts, I picked up the mechanism and smashed it down on the table. Of course, later I felt very sorry and ashamed of my behavior—especially when, as on one occasion, I had to return the watch to its owner in a condition worse than it was before!" [Dalai Lama, Ethics for the new millennium].
Scott Eastwood looks just like his superstar father, Clint Eastwood when he was younger. Scott is sporting a stainless steel Rolex Yacht-Master II.
Clint Eastwood
Two-Tone Root Beer GMT-Master
[Jubilee Bracelet]
Scott Eastwood's father is Academy Award Winning Director and actor, Clint Eastwood, who is also a big Rolex fan.
1981 Two-Tone Root-Beer Rolex GMT Master
[Jubilee Bracelet: Reference 1675]
This photo of Clint Eastwood was taken at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in April of 1981, and we see Clint in front of the very first Space Shuttle, Columbia just after it completed its first orbital flight.
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.