This article was originally published on Jake's Rolex world on October 10, 2008. S
The First Rolex FBI Director
J. Edgar Hoover
The Most Powerful Man In America
Stainless Steel Rolex Submariner
There was a myth that was perpetrated on the web that said that J. Edgar Hoover wore a Rolex Submariner that was given to him as a gift. It turns out it was not true and instead was a false myth perpetuated by a man who was trying to make a quick buck.
J. Edgar Hoover was an interesting man nonetheless who somehow managed to turn the United States into his personal fiefdom. J. Edgar Hoover, pictured below, began his career as a clerk in the United States Justice Department, and over time worked his way up the ladder into the Bureau of Investigation. In 1924 he became the director of the Bureau of Investigation. The Bureau of Investigation was the precursor to the FBI, and it specialized in fighting white-collar crime.
In the early days of the FBI, it was comprised of many lawyers and accountants. In the early 1930s, there was a great deal of gangster activity occurring, and J. Edgar Hoover took it upon himself to reinvent the FBI to cope with the interstate crime sprees that were happening in the midwest of the United States.
J. Edgar Hoover and his G-Men, as they were called, systematically went after all the gangsters, beginning with John Dillinger, who was known as Public Enemy Number one, and eradicated slowly and methodically wiped them out. This list of Public Enemies included Bonnie & Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, and Pretty Boy Floyd.
As a result of the massive effort it took to wipe out all the gangsters, J. Edgar Hoover's power became immense. He was extremely methodical in keeping notes about people which would later aid him in staying in power as the Director of The FBI for 48 years, whereupon he served under 8 U.S. Presidents. But that kind of depends on who you talk to. Some would say it was the other way around, and that the Presidents of the United States served his wishes.
Despite not being very physically attractive, J. Edgar Hoover had a powerful aura about him, and in many ways, he was an elegant man. In the photo below I am fairly certain we see J. Edgar Hoover wearing a Cartier Tank Cintrée.
Clyde Tolson
Deputy Of the FBI
J. Edgar Hoover was unusual in many ways. He lived with his mother until he was 40 years old. Clyde Tolson was J. Edgar Hoover's right-hand man from 1928-1972 and was appointed Assistant Director of the FBI in 1930 by Hoover.
J. Edgar Hoover once described Clyde Tolson as his alter ego. Hoover and Tolson rode to and from work together, ate lunch together every day, and vacationed together. They regularly traveled together on official FBI business.
Many people have put forth the idea that J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson were lovers. I don't know this to be a fact, but there is a great deal of evidence to support this. One thing is for certain, and that is they were inseparable and loved and respected each other deeply.
In J. Edgar Hoover's will, he left everything he owned to Clyde Tolson, including his home, which Tolsen moved into until he passed away. The photo below shows Clyde Tolsen attending J. Edgar Hoover's funeral.
This is where the false Rolex Submariner myth comes into play. A man using the name Walter Cohen published a story with photos on the internet along with the story quoted below:
"In April 1975, a frail elderly man walked into Milton Schlosser's jewelry shop in Washington DC to have a link removed from his Rolex (Submariner) watch. The polite elderly gentleman left the watch with the shop owner and never returned. Unbeknownst to Milton Schlosser, the elderly man had died the next day.
It wasn't until 1983, when two FBI agents showed up at his door to inquire about the watch did Schlosser realize who Clyde Tolson was."
The photos above and below were purported to be of J. Edgar Hoover's supposed Rolex Submariner Reference 5513, which has an engraving on the back.
The photo below of the Submariner case back engraving appears to read, "JEH 46 GREAT YEARS AND COUNTING. MAY 1, 1970. CLYDE".
When I investigated this story, there were a bunch of fishy clues. For instance, the engraving on the back of the Rolex Submariner says 46 great years. The challenge is that J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolsen didn't meet until around 43 years before the date on the watch. The issue is the criminal who perpetuated this fallacy didn't even do his homework to learn when and how they actually met.