One of the strangest things about Rolex is they have never made watches for the public with exhibition case backs. The logic is that Rolex movements are not highly decorated, but I have to say I think Rolex movements are magnificently beautiful, and I hope one day Rolex starts showing them off.
An Amazing Career with Rolex Keeping The Time Of His Life
Placido Domingo has been a Rolex Ambassador for four decades, and in this first image we see him sporing the Rolex Day-Date II in Rose Gold.
In this next Rolex ad we see Placido Domingo sporting a Platinum Rolex Day-Date II.
2007 Vintage Rolex Ad
Yellow Gold Day-Date
1995 Vintage Rolex Ad
Yellow Gold GMT-Master
1992 Vintage Rolex Ad
Yellow Gold Day-Date
1984 Vintage Rolex Ad
Mocha GMT Master
It is profound to think this vintage Rolex ad was published more thana quarter-century ago!?!
This was such a great color combo on the Rolex GMT Master. I think Rolex Should bring back the brown bezel and dial on the Yellow Gold GMT Master.
1983 Vintage Rolex Ad
Mocha GMT Master
In the video below we see Charlie Rose interviewing Placido Domingo in 1993.
In the following videos from 1994 (15 Years ago) shot in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., you can see and hear Placido Domingo singing with his fellow 3 tenors, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavorotti, with Zubin Metha conducting. You could live a thousand lifetimes and it won't ever get better than this!!!!
The 3 Tenors singing "My Way" to Frank Sinatra!!!
I have an interesting story to share with you about Frank Sinatra's song, "My Way." One day, more than 20 years ago, I was in New York on business. I took a cab from the airport into Manhattan and I had this cab driver who who was a really nice gentleman. He was born and raised in New York and had a classic New York Accent. We had a nice conversation and I asked him what his favorite song was?
He responded by saying, "My Way, by Frank Sinatra." I asked him if he new the words to it and he said yes. Then I asked him if he would sing it for me and he said yes. So here I am in the back of this yellow taxi and in the most perfect voice, he starts singing My Way—flawlessly!!!
The thing I noticed about the way he sang it, was that he not only knew the words, but I could tell that he meant the words as he sang them. It was his anthem. He was a lot older than me, I would say he was in his mid to late sixties and he was wearing a sport coat and glasses and looked like a character out of a Leroy Nieman painting from the late 1960s.
If you ever listen carefully to the words to My Way, they give you a great perspective. In my mind's eye, I can still see and hear him singing My Way while driving me into Manhattan. What a song!!! What a Life!!!! What a World!!!
BTW, I am pretty certain at the time, I was wearing an all stainless Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet with a white dial with raised white gold Roman numerals or a yellow gold Day-Date with a white porcelain dial with raised yellow gold Roman numerals.
Summit Nag, from Revolution Magazine, is a friend of mine and one of my favorite people in the horological world. Summit is an extremely gracious gentleman and a superb conversationalist and interviewer as we see in this interview with Aurel Bacs from Phillips Auction house. Aurel Bacs is also a brilliant conversationalist and gentleman, so we get a real treat with this fascinating interview.
In this video Summit and Aurel talk about the upcoming Phillips auction that will offer John Goldberger's unique white gold Daytona, the proceeds of which will be donated to a children's charity.
Alva Ross "AJ" Kitt is an American World Cup alpine ski racer and he competed in four Winter Olympics. He was featured in several Rolex ads back in the 1990s as seen below.
1996 U.S. Alpine Ski Team Ad
David Concannon sent in this great U.S. Alpine Ski Team Rolex ad from 1996 that features legendary skier A.J. Kitt.
A few days ago, Andi from Munich, Bavaria wrote in and mentioned that fellow Rolex fanatic and memorable actor R. Lee Ermey had recently passed away. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at his career achievements as well as some of the Rolex watches he wore.
In the photo seen above, we see R. Lee Ermey wearing his Rolex Daytona. So you think you are an alpha male? R. Lee was probably best known for his role as a U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor in the movie Full Metal Jacket, which was about Vietnam. In his role as a Marine Drill Instructor Sergeant, he gives a knock-down-drag-out performance of a hardcore alpha male, which would make most men who think they are alpha males, seem like girly-men (to use a Schwarzeneggerism :-)
The only other movie scene I can think of in another movie that comes close to being this over-the-top is Alec Baldwin's 'Always Be Closing' speech from Glengarry Glen Ross. R. Lee Ermey earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in his portrayal as Marine Corps drill instructor, in Stanley Kubrick's Academy Award-nominated 1987 movie, Full Metal Jacket. Stanley Kubrick famously directed many iconic movies like Lolita (1962), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Clockwork Orange, The Shining (1980), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
R. Lee Ermey began his acting career when he was cast by Francis Ford Coppola as a First Air Cavalry chopper pilot in the 1979 movie named Apocalypse Now.
WARNING: The video below is NSFW and contains a great deal of profanity and verbal abuse. Normally I would not post a video clip like this, but R. Lee Ermey's performance, as seen in the opening of Full Metal Jacket is considered by many to be one of the most engaging and emotionally charged performances in a military movie. Once again, please use discretion if you decide to watch the video below as it contains a great deal of swearing.
I remember seeing Full Metal Jacket in theaters when it came out, and this opening scene (above) actually shocked me. I remember when I turned 18 praying they did not bring the draft back, as the last thing on earth I wanted to do was have to go and fight in some stupid war, halfway around the earth. WARNING: The video below is also from Full Metal Jacket is also filled with profanity, but is another famous scene from the movie.
Below is an interesting 1987 review of Full Metal Jacket by Rex Reed.
R. Lee Ermey was in the Marines as we see in the photo of him below.
R. Lee Ermey is interviewed below discussing his role in Full Metal Jacket.
Gomer Pyle USMC
1964-1969
Talk about Deja Vu. I realize I am wandering off the reservation a little bit, but that is what I do on Jake's Rolex World...
When I was a small child, I watched a tremendous amount of TV. I learned so much about the world from the boob tube. One of my favorite shows, when I was a small boy, was Gomer Pyle USMC, which was a spin-off of the Andy Griffith show. It starred Frank Sutton, who was AMAZING as Sergeant Carter. Below is and excerpt from the first episite of Gomer Pyle.
One of the reasons I am including these videos from Gomer Pyle is that R. Lee's character in Full Metal Jacket references Gomer Pyle a few times in the movie, and there really are many parallels. This is perhaps part of the Stanley Kubrick genius.
A Serious Rolex Collector
R. Lee Ermey was a serious Rolex wearer as we see in the photos below which show him wearing a stianless steel Rolex Datejust on an Oyster bracelet, a yellow gold Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet, a Pepsi GMT-Master on a Jubilee bracelet, a two-tone Rolex Submariner on a Jubilee bracelet as well as a two tone Rolex Daytona.
Everybody's favorite scoundrel is back!!! Disney recently released the first official trailer for the highly anticipated upcoming Han Solo prequel movie titled, "Solo: A Star Wars Story" which was directed by Ron Howard. This new movie covers the adventures of young Han Solo in the years prior to the events in the original 1977 'Star Wars' movie. This includes how he met his co-pilot, Chewbacca, as well as the notorious gambler, Lando Calrissian. Alden Ehrenreich is playing Han Solo which was originally played by Harrison Ford.
The image above of Alden Ehrenreich appears courtesy of British GQ, and in the photo below we see a close-up of the detail of his Rolex Oyster.
Alden Ehrenreich is pictured above wearing an early Rolex Oyster with a transitional case. The photo below is of a very similar transitional 32MM Rolex Oyster model, which I am including for frame of reference. It features the same case, hands, winding crown, and dial. It appears his dial differs in the sense it says 'Rolex Oyster' below the 12 O'clock marker, with the words 'Ultra Prima' surrounding the top of the seconds subdial.
What makes this watch 'transitional'? The first Rolex Oyster cases featured soldiered skinny lugs, and the transitional cushion case on this watch was the first one that soldiered thicker lugs that featured a spring bar. The next and final version of this cushion case came later and featured lugs that were machined as part of the case.
The New Han Solo
The new 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' will answer many questions, like how did Han Solo complete the Kessel run in the Millennium Falcon at less than twelve parsecs? It will also cover how Han met his future copilot, Chewie, and Lando, as well as how he got indebted to the interstellar gangster, Jabba the Hutt.
In the photo below, we see Alden Ehrenreich playing the role of Han Solo.
The new 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' official teaser trailer, as well as the official movie trailer, are featured below, which I highly recommend watching. Solo: A Star Wars Story is scheduled to debut at the Cannes film festival on May 15th, and will be in theaters this summer around the world on May 25, which is Memorial Day in the United States.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is the first in a series of upcoming Disney movies that are based upon the earlier history of Star Wars figures. Disney is also working on a Star Wars story movie about young Obi-Won Kenobi, as well as a movie about Boba Fett, which are scheduled to be released in 2019.
Alden Ehrenreich is featured below in an interview before he was chosen to play the role of Han Solo, and he seems like a really cool dude...
Alden Ehrenreich has big shoes to fill in following Harrison Ford in the role of Han Solo, and from what I have seen, he seems to be doing a great job.
Harrison Ford's role as Han Solo in the original Star Wars movies is beyond iconic, and as we see in the picture below, he is holding Carie Fisher in his arms, off-set, while he is wearing his stainless steel Rolex Datejust.
In the photo below we see Harrison Ford's wearing his stainless steel Rolex Datejust off-set when he was filming the original Blade Runner movie.
It's profoundly ironic that both men who play Han Solo on-screen wear silver Rolex watches off-screen!!!
Irina Shayk is a famous Russian actress and model and as we see below she wears a yellow gold Rolex Daytona as well as a GV Rolex Milgauss. If you get a chance, you can check out Irina's Instagram page.
In the photo below we see Irina Shayk sporting a Rolex GV Milgauss which features a very cool looking green crystal.
Irina is married to actor Bradley Cooper and they recently had a daughter.
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.
