Thursday, February 28, 2019

Rolex Submariner Triplock Winding Crown



...Rolex Macro Shot Of The Year...

Rolex Submariner

 Triplock Winding Crown

There are macro shots, and then there are Amazing Macro shots—and this is one of them. The only weird thing is this stunning Rolex macro shot comes directly from Rolex!!?! Rolex recently posted this stunner on its Official Rolex Instagram page, and it blows me away. Particularly the level of magnificent engineering that is visible when you get this close up.


Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Academy Award Winning Director: Alfonso Cuarón





2019 Academy Awards 



...Academy Award Winning Director...


Alfonso Cuarón

Rolex Mentor & Protégé Member



Alfonso Cuarón was nominated for five Academy Awards and won three at the 91st Oscars. Alfonso won the awards for Best Director, Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography. His movie "Roma" was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Rolex congratulated Cuarón on its Instagram account as seen below.




Alfonso Cuarón is a member of Rolex's Mentor & Protégé Arts initiative which creates valuable relationships between talented mentors and protégés. Alfonso Cuarón recently mentored Chaitanya Tamhane who is a young filmmaker from India. Cuarón and Tamhane are pictured below on stage at a Rolex Mentor & Protégé event that took place last year in Berlin, Germany.



Can you imagine being an aspiring young director and being mentored by a director who has won so many Academy Awards!?!!



You can watch the trailer for Alfonso Cuarón's Academy Award winning movie "Roma" above, as well as his acceptance speech for Best Director below. 








Alfonso Cuarón
Won 2014 Academy Award For Best Director
Rolex Submariner

Alfonso Cuarón won the Oscar for Best Director in 2014, and the photo below shows him at the Academy Awards, and you see he is wearing his Rolex Submariner. Alfonso Cuarón's movie "Gravity" swept the 2014 Oscars by winning a total of seven Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.










Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper




2019 Academy Awards






...A Star Is Born...



Lady Gaga & 


Bradley Cooper



Outrageous 91st Oscars Performance!!!!


Tudor Ambassador Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper ripped it up at the 91st Oscars Sunday night when they shocked the world with their absolute command performance of their song "Shallow" from the movie they co-starred in named "A Star Is Born." 






Lady Gaga was nominated for three Oscars at the 91st Academy Awards including Best Actress, and twice for Best Original Song, for which she won the Academy Award. 


Lady Gaga was decked out in an Alexander McQueen dress and was wearing a 128-carat canary yellow diamond Tiffany & Company necklace which was last worn by Audrey Hepburn in 1961 as seen below. Gaga’s dress and beehive hairstyle also appear to be inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s timeless and classic ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’ look...


Audrey Hepburn is pictured above and below with the legendary 130-carat canary yellow Tiffany & Company diamond which was discovered in 1878.  This stone remains the largest known canary yellow diamond in the world today, and it's worth around $30 million!!!


Lady Gaga is pictured below at an Academy Awards after-party in Los Angeles with Madonna and her Oscar Trophy.


As I mentioned, Lady Gaga is a Tudor brand ambassador. Tudor Watch is owned by Rolex and was launched by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf back in 1952.








Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper is one cool dude and was voted to be The Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine back in 2011. In the photo below we see Bradley Cooper rockin' a vintage RootBeer Rolex GMT-Master as he shares a smile with fellow actor, Dennis Quaid.


Bradley Cooper has a daughter with the famous Russian supermodel, Irina Shayk, and they are pictured together at the 2019 Oscars. 



Bradley Cooper's girlfriend, Irina Shayk, is pictured below wearing her yellow gold Rolex Daytona.


Special thanks to Nick Gould who turned me on to this image of Sam Elliot who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in "A Star Is Born." Notice Sam Elliot is wearing a yellow-gold Rolex Day-Date in this photo from Vanity Fair.


In the video below we see Lady Gaga performing Always Remember Us This Way (From "A Star Is Born").


I remember the last "A Star Is Born" movie which came out in 1976 when I was a kid. The movie starred Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson and it was a huge hit. My parents had the soundtrack to the movie which was amazing!!!


Ironically, the 'A Star Is Born' starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga is the third remake. The first 'A Star Is Born' movie was released in 1937 and was also nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
 

In 1954 Judy Garland and James Mason starred in the second version of "A Star Is Born." As Mark Twain once quipped, "History may not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme."



It Doesn't Just Tell Time.

It Tells History.



Rolex congratulated Lady GaGa for her well deserved Academy Award as seen in the picture below.



Monday, February 25, 2019

Kevin Heart Oscar Controversy....



...Getting To The Heart of an

Academy Award Controversy...



Kevin Hart

Rolex Daytona

Vintage Reference 6263


I have to admit—perhaps like so many others—I heard about this Kevin Hart Oscar hosting controversy, but didn't know much about it before I researched and wrote this story today. Hopefully we can all learn something valuable from this cause célèbre. Comedian and actor Kevin Hart was supposed to host the 91st Oscars which aired last night. Due to controversy and backlash from homophobic tweets he posted ten years ago, he decided to step down from hosting the Academy Awards last night—against the advice of his friend and extremely supportive advocate, Ellen DeGeneres.

Kevin Hart pictured wearing his vintage Paul Neman Daytona Reference 6263


Ellen DeGeneres is one of the most successful women in the world today. Ellen came out in 1997 as a lesbian which became major tabloid fodder. Ellen's openness about her sexual orientation resulted in a contentious media frenzy that caused Ellen to become very depressed—which took a lot of time for her to overcome. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the 2007 and 2014 Academy Awards which made her the first openly gay person to serve as an Oscar host. Ellen is also a major advocate for LGBTQ rights. 






RAINBOW

Daytona

Everose Reference 116595 RBOW 

Kevin Hart is a Rolex fanatic of the highest order—as is former Oscar host, Ellen DeGeneres who interviewed Kevin Hart about this controversy. 



In the photo above from the video interviews below on the Ellen Show, you will notice Kevin Hart is wearing a bejeweled Rainbow Rolex Daytona and Ellen DeGenerous is also wearing a white gold Rolex Daytona. 




The Rolex Everose Rainbow Daytona Kevin Hart wearing is not only one of the rarest and most sought after Rolex models made today, but are in such high demand they sell for around double the retail price, which makes them around $250,000—if you can find one. 



If you watch the two interviews episodes below you can gain both their perspectives on this issue, as well as check out their Rolex Daytona watches they are both wearing. 




Sunday, February 24, 2019

Rolex Spotting @The 91st Oscars






Rolex Spotting


@The 91st Oscars


Sam Rockwell is pictured below rocking his Coffee GMT-Master to Chris Connelly. Sam is nominated for Best Supporting Actor.





Nick Gould was first out of the gate to ID-spot a Rolex at the 2019 Oscars. Also, Captain Danny sent me a text that said, "Blown away by Seacrest's vintage Daytona!" 









ROLEX 2019 Oscar Commercials Future Filmmaker Messages





ROLEX

2019 Oscar Commercials

Future Filmmaker Messages


Rolex is a proud sponsor of the Academy Awards, and at this years Academy Awards, Rolex will be airing 4 new commercials which feature a theme of top directors writing a message to future generations of directors.




As we see in the Rolex photo above, this years Academy Award commercials with feature legendary directors, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, Kathryn Bigelow and Alejandro Iñárritu.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Lindsey Vonn Doing Pull-ups!!!



...Rolex Hotness...


Lindsey Vonn

I, um, ah, couldn't help but a notice this on Instagram. Turns out Lindsey Vonn is now officially retiring, but she is in AMAZING Shape!!!






Thursday, February 21, 2019

From The Archives...



From The Archives

I was just going through the archives and I came across these cool images so I thought I would share them with you. This first image shows Air France's Concorde in 1988 flying over Djibouti which is located in the horn of Africa, with the President of France, François Mitterand on board.


This next image show legendary Olympic Ski Champion, Jean-Claude Killy chatting with fellow Rolex enthusiast and beloved American Actor, Ernest Borgnine back in the 1970s.



Wednesday, February 20, 2019

50th Anniversary Of Moon Landing






Apollo 11 Astronaut


Michael Collins





1969 Rolex Day-Date


This is such epic news, I had to borrow Hodinkee's Breaking News moniker again for this story!!! I just discovered that NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut wore a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date for 34 years, which is pictured below. The watch was recently auctioned by Sotheby's, and in the description Michael Collins mentioned he wore it for 34 years. This is such an apropos discovery as we are now celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing!!!




The photo above and below are of Michael Collins Rolex Day-Date and we see he had an engraving of his initials. Notice the band has a "69" engraving, which means it was made in 1969.




Below is a fascinating list of NASA Astronauts & Test Pilots I have discovered and documented wearing Rolex watches over the past decade:
  • Chuck Yeager of Edwards Air Force Base was first to break sound barrier in 1947 while wearing a Rolex Perpetual Oyster.
  • William Knight of Edwards Air Force Base Fastest manned flight of Mach 6.7 (4,250 Miles Per Hour ins X-15 which is nearly 7 times the speed of sound) in 1967.
  • John Glenn of Mercury 7.
  • Scott Carpenter of Mercury 7.
  • Walter Schirra of Mercury 8, Gemini 6A & Apollo 7.
  • Frank Borman of Gemini 7 and Apollo 8.
  • Michael Collins of Gemini 10 & Apollo 11.
  • Pete Conrad of of Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 2 (Discovered by Nick Gould).
  • Richard Gordon Jr. of Gemini 11 and Apollo 12. (Discovered by Nick Gould).
  • Jack Swigert of Apollo 13 (Wore to Moon).
  • James Lovell was a U.S. Navy Test Pilot and went onto NASA to participate in Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 & Apollo 13 (Pictured Above).
  • Stuart Roosa of Apollo 14 (Wore to Moon).
  • Dr. Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14 (Wore to Moon).
  • Alan Sheppard of Mercury 3 & Apollo 14 (Worn On Cape Canaveral & Possibly To The Moon).
  • Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 (Wore to Moon).
  • Eugene Cernan of Gemini 9A, Apollo 10 & Apollo 17 (Worn Outside Space Suit and Possible To The Moon).
  • Lloyd Blaine Hammond of 1991 Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-39, and 1994 Space Shuttle Discover STS-94.
  • Dr. Leroy Chaio (Wore on 3 Space Shuttle Missions and while Commander of the International Space Station Expedition 10).


The story below was originally published on July 22, 2014:



45th Moon Landing Anniversary Celebration


Michael Collins

Apollo 11


First Documented Rolex On NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut
Rolex Turn-O-Graph






The EAGLE Has Landed!

This week celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Moon Landing and exploration, which remains one of mankind's greatest achievements. In 2008, on Jake's Rolex World, I first began documenting the fact that many NASA Apollo Astronauts wore Rolex watches, and many of them wore their Rolex watches to the moon and back. Prior to this discovery, the common believe was that Apollo Astronauts only wore Omega watches, but over the past seven years I have busted that false myth.

Michael Collins is pictured below at NASA on April 16, 1969 during centrifuge training for Apollo 11. Three short months later he would fly into the history books as part of the first team to land on the Moon and return safely to earth. In the photo below NASA Astronaut Michael Collins is wearing a Rolex Turno-graph.





Michael Collins' Rolex Turn-O-Graph was an early model, which had a gilt dial, and it is interesting to note that these first generation Rolex Turn-O-Graph models looked and functioned similarly to a Rolex Submariner.



In the close-up photo below of Michael Collins' Rolex Turn-O-Graph, we not only see the gilt dial and hands, but also the early models of the Turn-O-Graph featured all 60 second markers on the black bezel insert. This design feature predated the Rolex Reference 5517 Milsub, as well as the Rolex DEEP-SEA, which also have this feature.


Years ago, I published lower resolution versions of the images above, and today I am publishing for the first time, the image below of Michael Collins, which shows him as he prepares minutes before the photo above was taken. This photo below is obviously black and white, but he is wearing the orange jumpsuit as pictured above, and you can see him holding his headset in his hands below, that he is wearing in the photo pictured above.

NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins Wearing Rolex Watch, April 1969 


Pictured above and below are the prime crew of Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Left to right are Neil Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot and Edwin "Buzz" Aldren Jr., Lunar Module Pilot (May 1, 1969). Notice in the photo above that Michael Collins is wearing his Rolex on his right wrist as he posses with his fellow crew members, in front of the Saturn V at the Kennedy Space Center that would soon take them to the moon and back.







The Rolex Turn-O-Graph Michael Collins is wearing looks remarkably similar to the Rolex Submariner, but its slightly smaller.







Michael Collins was a U.S. Air Force test pilot prior to becoming a NASA Astronaut. So the obvious question, is wether or not Michael Collins wore his Rolex to the moon and back? Michael Collins official Apollo 11 NASA portrait is pictured below and if you look carefully, you can see he is wearing his Rolex Turn-O-Graph!!!



We can tell Michael Collins is wearing his Rolex Turn-O-Graph in his official Apollo 11 portrait (pictured above and below since we can see the grooves/notches on the side of the bezel, which allows the user to spin the bezel. 





Michael Collins is pictured below as he suits-up to leave for the Moon on Apollo 11.



Michael Collins is pictured below (second in line) as he and his Apollo 11 team members leave for the Moon.


The photo below shows Apollo 11 taking off to head for the moon.





...The Rolex President...

U.S. President Lyndon Johnson
Apollo 11 Lift-off
Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date

In this next photo we see U.S. President Lyndon Johnson wearing his trademark yellow gold "Rolex President" Day-Date as he watches Apollo 11 take-off for the moon on July 16, 1969 at 9:32am EDT. U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew is pictured on Johnson's right and Lady Bird is on his left.


Historical Note: The photo above of U.S. President Johnson is a bit ironic because he was no longer President when this photo was taken. At the time Richard Nixon was the President of The United States and he did not attend since he was paranoid the launch might fail. Instead he watched the launch live on TV from the Oval Office.

Another irony, regarding the photo above is that Lyndon Johnson was able to witness first hand, what he had helped develop at the beginning of the Kennedy administration back in 1960, when he served at the Vice President Of The United States. 





President John F. Kennedy
The Moon Speech 

September 12, 1962

The video below of JFK giving his famous September 12, 1962 Moon Speech is deeply profound, as it set the course for the amazing achievement of Apollo 11.

"Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." –U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962






...The Greatest Newsman In History...

Walter Cronkite
The Most Trusted Man In America
Two-Tone Rolex Datejust

Apollo 11 Moon Touchdown Coverage


The image below is of major historical significance. We see Walter Cronkite on July 20, 1969 as he keeps his eyes glued to his monitor as NASA's Apollo 11 Mission touches down on the Moon for the fist time, and notice that Walter Cronkite is wearing his trademark two tone Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee Bracelet.










In the photo below that was taken on July 20, 2009, we see the three Apollo 11 NASA Astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong in the Oval Office with President Obama.


U.S. President Obama met with the two surviving Apollo 11 Astronauts, today in the Oval Office to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Moon Landing. Unfortunately Neil Armstrong passed away recently, but Michael Collins was there! It is a trip to see how similar, yet different Collins looks today from the way he looked in 1969.