Sylvester Stallone: Rolex GMT-Master II Meteorite Dial

 

STALLONE INTERVIEWED

BY HIS DAUGHTERS 

A METEORITE-DIAL GMT ON HIS WRIST

By Danny Crivello

This week Sophia and Sistine Stallone interviewed their dad to mark the 50th episode of their podcast "Unwaxed." From his childhood, career, raising daughters, the episode shows a different, funnier, softer side of Sly, who was rocking his Rolex meteorite-dial, Pepsi-bezel GMT-Master II.

Sylvester Stallone is a big Rolex fan; he has been spotted wearing a yellow gold Submariner, a Deep Sea Sea-Dweller and a white-gold Pepsi GMT-Master among many watches. Below, a younger Sly is rocking a Sub ref. 1680. 

Check out the full interview with his daughters below.

If James Bond Wore a Rolex... Again

By DANNY CRIVELLO

           

"No Time to Die," the latest James Bond movie and Daniel Craig's last outing as a Mi-6 agent, premiered Tuesday at London's Royal Albert Hall, a world premiere that was attended even by the Royal Family. 

To be sure, the 007 types "with easy smiles and expensive watches" have been rocking Omegas since the Pierce Brosnan days, but please indulge me: let's say you've been hired as the new wardrobe supervisor for the franchise, and Daniel Craig needs a new watch for his last portrayal of the famed British spy. We are in a parallel universe here, and Omega no longer has the exclusivity.

The movie director agrees to Rolex, but there is a caveat: You can't use the obvious, safe choice, which is the Submariner, the model that has adorned the wrists of the very first and very last Rolex-wearing 007, Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton. So here are my top-three Rolex picks.

FAST-DRIVING JAMES BOND 

It doesn't have to be a diver; after all, Ian Fleming, you are reminded, wore a Rolex Explorer. And Daniel Craig in recent 007 movies wore an Aqua Terra, which feels more Datejust than Sub. Besides, James Bond has spent more time behind the wheel of a high-performance car than under water. 

Whether at the casino or at an embassy party while wearing Bond's signature white tuxedo, the Cosmograph Daytona on the wrist of 007 is a class of its own: waterproof to 100 meters, yet equipped with a steel bracelet with polished center links—an easy transition from wet suit to tuxedo. The Daytona remains an icon 50 years after its creation and should be a strong contender for this iconic, fast-driving spy.

TACTICAL JAMES BOND

The Yachtmaster 42 in white gold brings class and sport in one watch—James Bond in a nutshell. 

The broad hands and hour markers are filled with a luminescent material emitting a long-lasting glow, offering exceptional legibility for those low-light tactical operations thanks to its Chromalight display. 

The watch is waterproof to 100 meters, and its bi-directional bezel could help the secret agent time a dive or detonation, while the black Oysterflex with Glidelock clasp is robust and comfortable both under the cuff and above the wet suit. For extra lightness, "Q" would suggest the Rolex prototype version in titanium instead.

RUGGED JAMES BOND

Whether on a trip home to Skyfall, in the highlands of Scotland, or skiing down the slopes of Tyrol, Austria, the Explorer II with its GMT complication is the perfect fit for this tough-living, globe-trotting spy who straddles time zones. Besides its legible orange GMT hand, the watch's movement is fitted with Paraflex shock absorbers, offering greater resistance to shocks and extreme conditions if fist-fighting with villains' henchmen. A cosmopolitan, resistant luxury watch engineered for a traveling action-packed spy.

Did I miss the mark? What modern Rolex would you see on James Bond's wrist? Let me know via Twitter or Instagram.

PROJECT X DESIGNS PXD SS1: Customized Rolex LV Submariner

Rolex Coolness: Daniel Craig

The Royal Hunt of the Sun

PROJECT X DESIGNS

PXD SS1 Limited Edition

Customized Original 50th Anniversary Rolex LV Submariner

Daniel Craig is a big Rolex fan. In the photo below he is wearing his PROJECT X DESIGNS Customized Original 50th Anniversary Rolex LV Submariner.

Many people argue that Daniel Craig is the best James Bond, and that is saying a lot since he is following in the footsteps of Sean Connery and Roger Moore. In any case, you can always learn about all the watches James Bond actors have worn which I covered in my series named "The Complete History Of James Bond Watches: The Definitive Series," which begins with Ian Flemming and Cary Grant, and goes onto Sean Connery, and walks you through step by step, all the way to the present, with Daniel Craig.

Daniel Craig is sporting a copy of "The Royal Hunt of the Sun," which is a play written in 1964 by Peter Shaffer that is about the destruction of the Inca empire by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro.

The PROJECT X DESIGNS customized LV Submariner that Daniel Craig is wearing is no longer available because they only made 24 of them, and they sold out quickly. It has its crown guards removed to give it a vintage big-crown look, as well as the Cyclops date magnifier removed.

In the future, I have much more exciting news and James Bond history coming up regarding James Bond and Rolex, so stay tuned!!!

Perpetual Planet

Perpetual Planet

Rolex just dropped this AMAZING new video that showcases their historical and current commitment to exploration and conservation of the only home we've ever known...

Paul Newman's Daytona: Rolex Holy Grail Makes First Public Appearance

Paul Newman's Daytona

Rolex Holy Grail 

Makes First Public Appearance

Nick Gould pointed out the first photo of Paul Newman's legendary Daytona [Reference 6239] out in the wild, and it was being showcased at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in a display case as seen below! The picture was snapped by @vikavickyvictoria who is Editor of JCKMagazine which she published on Instagram.

The description below the watch reads:

Private collection

Made available thanks to the support of Rolex

As Mr. Spock would say: "Fascinating Captain!?!!"

What does the Beverly Hills Cop think about the PLAID Tesla?

 

What does the Beverly Hills Cop 

Think about the PLAID Tesla?

I just debuted this new episode of the JAKEeSHOW on Jake's Tesla World and it's very cool. This episode features Eddy Murphy who is a huge Rolex President collector. My next JAKEeSHOW video I am working on will be on the Titanium Yacht-Master so stay tuned, and enjoy!!!

Speaking of Eddie Murphy and Rolex we see him rocking his Rolex Day-Date below in 1983 on the set of Saturday Night Live around the same time he was shooting Beverly Hills Copy which is featured in my video above.

Rolex Explorer II at 14,600 feet

 

...Rolex Action Photo of the Day...

Climate Scientist Adjusts Weather Station

Dr. Perry stands on Tupungatito Volcano—at 14,600 feet—to adjust a weather station, his trusty Rolex Explorer II on the wrist. With the installation of the weather station, scientists will have a window into atmospheric processes in the high Chilean Andes.

 

Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping...

Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping
Pushing the Boundaries of Achievement

Ellen Rocking Her Paul Newman Daytona...

Ellen Rocking Her Paul Newman Daytona
Interviewing Ringo

In this video we get a look at Ellen rocking her beautiful white exotic dial Daytona as she interviews Ringo Starr, who is rocking his Jumbo Patek Aquanaut. All the Beatles are amazingly charismatic, but for some reason I have always had a special appreciation for Ringo, who is one cool dude...

Patrick Swayze: Kept the time of his life with Rolex

...Rolex Coolness...

Patrick Swayze 

Rolex Kept The Time Of His Life

1952-2009

I first discovered and documented Patrick Swayze wearing a Rolex Daytona back in 2008 no so long after I stared Jake's Rolex World. In the superb photo above taken by Javan Schaller which was published on the cover of Arabian Horse World Magazine we see Patrick on his horse named Tammen and he is wearing his Rolex Submariner.

Over the decades I have noticed many images of Patrick Swayze rocking Rolex watches, including the one below which Nick Gould discovered.

It's hard to believe Patrick Swayze has been gone for twelve years now. Actor Patrick Swayze starred in many 'chick-flicks' including "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" and died when he was only 57, so if you have any dreams you have put off, now is the time to live them since we are all on the same conveyer belt of life. So, have the time of your life!!!!

I Had The Time Of My Life!!!

Patrick Swayze is pictured above wearing a stainless steel Rolex Submariner and is pictured below wearing his yellow gold Rolex Daytona which illustrates that Rolex kept the time of his life and that Swayze lived-it-up. As Saroyan so articulately put it "In the time of your life–live!!!"

Below we see a cool image of Patrick with Brook Shields who is wearing here Rolex Lady Date.

Rolex and Equestrianism

ROLEX AND EQUESTRIANISM

Rare Two-tone Deep Sea Special Appears on the Market

A Rare Two-tone Deep Sea Special

Appears on the Market

Unlike its steel counterpart, the Deep Sea Special in two-tone never descended into the Mariana Trench. It was to commemorate the achievement of the original watch's survival, in 1960, that Rolex made a rare few in two-tone steel and yellow gold for special partners, Beyer among them. 

In a Hodinkee episode of Talking Watches, René Beyer said: "I was told that Rolex offered to very special partners the version in stainless steel and gold which is of course understandable. It was exactly produced the same way [as the steel one]."

This November, Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo will offer a Rolex Deep Sea Special from 1965 as a lot in its Geneva watch auction—an auction that could fetch over $2 million. One of just 35 examples ever made, the watch’s numbered caseback features the date of the record-setting dive it commemorates (Jan. 23, 1960) and its water-resistance rating (10,908 meters/35,789 feet). 

So rare is this timepiece it joins the extremely exclusive club (of which five of its kind have been sold in the public sphere) with other publicly known examples owned and displayed by institutions. It has been over a decade since the last example has appeared on the market. Considering the majority of examples are in institutions, there is no telling when another will grace the market.

The two-tone piece commemorates the Jan. 23, 1960, event, when legendary oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Captain Don Walsh shattered the all-time depth record by descending down into the Challenger Deep to the deepest known point on Earth's seabed into the Mariana Trench. Piccard's submersible had a Rolex Deep Sea Special in steel attached to the outside of the Bathyscaphe Trieste that traveled all the way down 7 miles and returned topside fully functional.

This was not the first time Jacques Piccard set an all-time depth record with a Rolex Deep Sea Special attached to the outside of this Bathyscaphe Trieste: He set an all-time depth record with the Deep Sea Special prototype #1 in 1953 when he and his father Auguste Piccard dove down 10,350 Feet (3150 Meters).

The photo below shows then-U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Professor Jacques Piccard which was taken after they had surfaced from their record setting dive, along with the Rolex Deep Sea Special, all of which were in perfect working condition.

After they returned from their record-shattering dive, Jacques Piccard sent Rolex of Geneva a historic telegram that simply said: "Happy to announce that your watch works as well at 11,000 meters as it does on the surface." 

The photo below shows the Bathyscaphe Trieste flying the American flag, since it was owned by the U.S. Navy, along with the Swiss Flag, since Piccard was Swiss as well as the Italian Flag, since it was originally constructed in Trieste, Italy.

Oceanographer & Professor 

Jacques Piccard

Oceanographer Jacques Piccard began his teaching career as a professor of Economics at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

Jacques Piccard would ultimately leave his career as an Economics Professor at the University of Geneva to assist his father, August Piccard, to build world-class submersibles. Auguste and Jacques Piccard are pictured below.

Jacques Piccard is pictured below during testing of the Bathyscaphe Trieste in 1959 near Guam.

Oceanographer & U.S. Navy Captain

Don Walsh, Ph.D

Captain Don Walsh is pictured below on the right side with his Operation Nekton team member U.S. Navy Lieutenant Larry Shumaker who is wearing his hat. Lieutenant Larry Shumaker had previously served with Captain Don Walsh on the U.S. Navy submarine named U.S.S. Rasher. Don and Larry were great friends and Larry served as Captain Walsh's assistant, and they were classmates at the Annapolis Naval Academy.

U.S. Navy Captain Don Walsh had an amazing career in the U.S. Navy. In 1958 he was a submarine Lieutenant serving on the staff of Submarine Flotilla One in San Diego, Calif., as part of the U.S. Submarine Force. Submarine Flotilla One commanded 24 submarines along with four support ships which gave it a large theater of operations as part of the Pacific Fleet.

The Four Guys

Lieutenant Don Walsh was chosen by the Navy to spearhead the Bathyscaphe Trieste effort. Captain Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard first met in 1958. In this next photo, from left to right, we see Lieutenant Larry Shumaker; Lieutenant Don Walsh; Dr. Andreas Rechnitzer, Ph.D; Oceanographer and consultant Jacques Piccard.

The Bathyscaphe Trieste is pictured below during the test phase in 1959 which would prepare it for its final record-setting dive.

The Rolex Deep Sea Special Prototype

Attached Outside the Bathyscaphe Trieste

The photo below is of the actual Rolex Deep Sea Special prototype (DEEP SEA SPECIAL #3) that Jacques Piccard attached to the outside of the Bathyscaphe Trieste before it made its record setting dive down into the Mariana Trench and into the Challenger Deep in 1960. The Rolex Deep Sea Special was essentially a Rolex Submariner with a special prototype case and crystal designed to withstand tremendous pressure. The historically significant Rolex DEEP SEA SPECIAL #3 pictured below is currently located in the Smithsonian Institute's permanent collection in Washington D.C. This magnificent watch features a white dial and a case diameter of 42.7 MM, with a Radium dial and a Rolex Caliber 1000 movement.

The special domed crystal essentially worked on the same principle as a geodesic dome, or egg, in the sense it was extremely strong and utilized the laws of physics to withstand more than 8,000 tons of pressure per cubic inch. This is the exact same physics principle the domed sphere shape gondola utilized on the Bathyscaphe Trieste itself. After the successful 1960 successful dive in 1965 Rolex made multiple replica models to showcase their technology which we see in the image below.

One Of Mankind's Greatest Achievements

The U.S. Navy Bathyscaphe Trieste 

Dives Deeply Into History

Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench

200 Nautical Miles South-West of Guam

Morning of January 23, 1960

Walsh and Piccard had a challenging time getting into the Trieste because despite having clear skies, the Bathyscaphe Trieste was sloshing around in huge waves. This made it difficult to get from the USS Wandank (ATA-204) and USS Lewis (DE-540) headquarter-ship into the Trieste.

The photo below was taken of the Bathyscaphe Trieste as she prepares to dive to the deepest known part of earth's ocean on the morning of Jan. 23, 1960, with the USS Lewis (DE-540) behind her.

Into The Mystic

The photo below was taken during the descent when Walsh and Piccard were close to reaching the bottom of the Challenger Deep. In an interview, I once asked Captain Walsh if he was ever scared or nervous on the descent, and he said he never was. This came as a bit of a surprise since during their early descent, at 9,000 feet, one of the outside plexiglass windows cracked and made a huge noise, shaking the Trieste.

The Bathyscaphe Trieste submersible took 4 hours and 48 minutes to descended to the ocean floor.

At the Top of the Bottom of the World

The illustration below is an artist's rendition of what the Bathyscaphe looked like when it touched down on the ocean floor in the Challenger Deep. Despite having cameras on board, they were not able to take photos at the bottom because when they landed, a tremendous amount of sediment started swirling around the Bathyscape which Captain Walsh said was like "being in a bowl of milk."

Inner-Space Conquered

This next photo was taken of the Bathyscaphe Trieste gondola during the 20 minute stay on the ocean floor in the Challenger Deep. U.S. Navy Captain Don Walsh is holding the American flag, and both Piccard and Walsh have put on sweaters since the temperature has dropped significantly from the balmy tropical seas of Guam down to a cool 7°C (45°F).

It is profound to consider that at the moment this photo was taken, there was a Rolex Deep Sea Special attached to the outside of the Bathyscaphe Trieste and it was holding its own, against the more than 16,000 pounds of pressure per cubic inch!!!

Just before they landed on the sea floor Piccard and Walsh were shocked that they were seeing animals swimming around. It was previously believed that no form of vertebrae life could exist under that kind of water pressure.

The ascent back up to the surface took 3 hours and 15 minutes.

After they returned from their record-shattering dive, Jacques Piccard sent Rolex of Geneva a historic telegram that simply said: "Happy to announce that your watch works as well at 11,000 meters as it does on the surface." 

A Presidential Welcome & Congratulations

White House, Washington, D.C.

Upon their triumphant achievement of conquering inner-space, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard went to the White House where they were given awards by President Dwight Eisenhower where they received medals.

Captain Don Walsh was one of only three members of the armed forces to receive a military medal from President Eisenhower at the White House during his eight-year term as President of the United States.

A Hero's Welcome

In the next photo we see the Bathyscaphe Trieste being proudly paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 1961, as part of the JFK Inauguration Day Parade.

Into the History Books

The United States, under the Eisenhower administration had finally conquered inner-space with its new heroes, Lieutenant Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard, and the new administration under President Kennedy would continue to explore the magnificent ocean while ambitiously directing significant resources toward conquering outer-space with the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs.