....Rolex Time Machine...1965...The Sydney Morning Herald

 

....Rolex Time Machine...

1965

The Sydney Morning Herald

Jose from Perezcope.com recently discovered this super-fascinating Rolex ad which was originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday, December 7, 1965. The shockingly insight that caught me by surprise is that if you read the text next to the illustration of the GMT-Master it says the GMT is the Official watch of James Bond!?!! 

Be sure to click on image below to significantly enlarge text for easy reading:

I genuinely have no idea what this means as Thunderball was the James Bond movie in 1965 and we see in the movie poster below it shows Sean Connery as James Bond rocking his trademark Submariner—which is clearly NOT a GMT-Master!?!!

I know Rik Van Nutter wore a GMT-Master on the set of Thunderball as seen in the photo below as he played James Bond's handler, Felix Leiter. Nick Gould and I discussed this and believe it is likely Rolex Australia confused the GMT-Master with the Submariner.

Update: Mark Rackley wrote in and and said:

Jake:

Another possibility for the Sydney Morning Herald referring to the GMT as the official watch of James Bond might be more to the movie series and not Bond himself - e.g. the GMT worn by Pussy Galore in Goldfinger in 1964.

Just a thought.

Mark Rackley

I think Mark may have figured out this puzzle as we see with this Rolex Goldfinger movie poster featuring Pussy Galore shows her rocking her GMT-Master. 

Hank Williams Jr. Rolex Day-Date Keeping The Time Of His Life

The Kings of Country Music Wearing Rolex Series

Hank Williams Jr.

Rolex Keeping The Time Of His Life

Hank Williams Jr. is the son of the greatest Country singer, Hank Williams Sr. Hank Williams Jr., is pictured below in the 1960s wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.

Hank Williams Sr. is pictured below with his son, Hank Williams Jr., Hank Williams died when he only 29 years old in 1953. 

Hank Williams Sr.

As I mentioned earlier, Hank Williams Sr., is considered to be one of the greatest country singers in history and in this next video, we have the pleasure of watching June Carter, who later married Johnny Cash introduce Hank Williams..

The French Connection: French Rolex Presidents...

French Rolex Presidents

When I think of the term, the Rolex President, I typically think about American Presidents wearing Rolex, but in this case we are going to take a look at French Presidents wearing Rolex. The 1964 Rolex ad below showcases Rolex's worldview at the time.

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

French President 1974-1981

First we see Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, wearing a two tone Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet. Jacques Chirac was the Prime Minister of France under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

François Mitterrand

French President 1981-1995

I am fairly certain François Mitterrand wore a Rolex, but I have not been able to find a photo of him wearing one. That being said, in the photo below taken by Marc Riboud in 1974 we see François Mitterrand looking at Michel Rocard's Rolex at an event in Paris. Michel Rocard served as François Mitterrand's Prime Minister from 1988 to 1991.

Jacques Chirac


1932-2019

In the photos below, taken several decades apart we see Jacques Chirac wearing his stainless steel Rolex Datejust.

Jacques Chirac

French President 1995-2007

Next we see Jacques Chirac, sporting his stainless steel Rolex Datejust on a matching jubilee bracelet. Jacques Chirac served as the President Of France from 1995 to 2007.

The photo below shows Jacques Chirac in 2014 at age 81, still wearing his stainless steel Rolex Datejust.

Nicolas Sarkozy 

French President 2007-2012

In the 1981 photo below, taken long before either was elected president of France, we see Jacques Chirac with his young protege, Nicolas Sarkozy, who went on to become a future President of France from 2007 to 2012.

I remember when Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France, and I noticed he wore a black dial and a white dial Rolex Daytona as seen below. I though he was really cool. I also noticed that Nicolas Sarkozy wore a white gold Patek Philippe [Reference 3940], which I wrote a story about on Jake's Patek Phillips World. I simply thought the Sarkozy had great taste in watches.

Nicolas Sarkozy's taste in watches caused a huge controversy in France, when one of his close friends named, Jacques Seguela was quoted as saying: "If you don't have a Rolex by the time you reach 50, then you have clearly failed in your life.." 

I am NOT an expert this subject, but I think it is worth exploring. Basically, in February 2009, while Sarkozy was the President of France, apparently some of Sarkozy's advisers told him to tone down his 'bling' image by refraining from wearing Rolex watches and Ray-Ban sunglasses in public. this was just after the huge worldwide economic downturn that had a strong effect on France. 

Somebody created a FAKE Rolex advertisement that featured Sarkozy wearing a yellow gold GMT-Master on his wrist, along with matching gold Ray-Ban Sunglasses.

This FAKE Ad is interesting as Sarkozy has never been seen wearing a yellow gold watch. He only wears stainless steel or white gold watches. 

This false internet meme caused a lot of commotion. Nicolas Sarkozy's friend, Jacques Seguela was asked what he thought about Sarkozy taste in wearing expensive jewelry, and Seguela responded, "So what if he owns a Rolex, we can't blame him for that. Everyone has a Rolex. If you don't have a Rolex by the time you reach 50, then you have clearly failed in your life."

After Jacques Seguela made this statement, all hell broke loose in France. The President of Sarkozy's own UMP party responded by saying "It's ridiculous to say owning a Rolex is a mark of success in life." A French newspaper named 'France-Soir' responded by saying, "There is a global financial crisis and people are struggling to make ends meet. Most workers will find this highly offensive."  A French news website responded by saying, "This remark is obscene. We would like to shove Seguela's own Rolex down his throat." This statement was kind of ironic in the fact that Seguela does not own or wear Rolex watches. 

It is a fact that Jacques Seguela played matchmaker by introducing Nicolas Sarkozy to his gorgeous wife, Carla Bruni, who is a famous singer.

In retrospect it is clear to see the big deal that was made at the time about Nicolas Sarkozy's excellent taste in watches, was, as Shakespeare put it, "Much ado about nothing." At the time, the worldwide economic downturn was very real and I don't mean to discredit the way many people felt at the time. My point is that I think Sarkozy is handsome and looks cool with his Ray-Bay Aviators. To me he typically looks like he just stepped out of a GQ photo shoot.

As far as Rolex being the International Mark Of Success, I think it is all relative. Speaking of successful men who wear Rolex, Warren Buffett's notion that "Success is getting what you want, while happiness in about wanting what you get."

In the photo below, we see Nicolas Sarkozy wearing a non-chronograph Rolex with a black dial, which appears to be either a vintage Milgauus, or a Datejust.

In the next photo we see Nicolas Sarkozy wearing a stainless steel Rolex Datejust which appears identical to the one Jacques Chirac wears.

 

New James Bond Rolex History Volume Added

From Switzerland with Love

I recently announced I am coming out with a series of 5 books that covered the entire history of Rolex. 

One More Thang!!!

Things have changed since then as I realized that 5 volumes would NOT be enough!!! In the not so distant future I will post an update on my progress but in the meantime I thought I would share the fact with you I am working on a book dedicated to the History of James Bond and Rolex, and below is a copy of the preliminary book cover artwork.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Thunderballs.org recently showcased this really cool James Bond poster concept for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" which I had never seen before. If you are not familiar with Thunderballs.org, I highly recommend you head over and check it out as it offers tremendous insight into the amazing history of the James Bond enterprise...

Macro Shot of the Month: Eduardo's Daytona...

Magic Macro

Eduardo is very talented and passionate Rolex photographer and he sent in this superb macro shot of his Rolex Daytona. I am awarding this the Macro Shot of the Month because it is so outstanding!!! Thanks for sharing Eduardo!!!

Rolex & Yachting

Rolex & Yachting

Obi-Wan Kenobi Actor Ewan McGregor Rocking His Submariner

 

Obi-Wan Kenobi Actor

Ewan McGregor

Rocking His Submariner

Star Wars fans around the world are joyous as Ewan McGregor recently reprised his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the self titled new series that is available to stream on Disney+. So far they have published the first four episodes of the series, which I watched and its very good! Basically, it's a prequel to A New Hope which explains the history between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, as well as Princess Leia as a 10 year old girl... 

Ewan McGregor who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi was recently interviewed along with Hayden Christianson who plays Darth Vader in the new sequel to the prequels and we clearly see McGregor rocking his Submariner, which he has been wearing for many years.

Below we see the official trailer for Obi-Wan:

One of my favorite Ewan McGregor movies is Trainspotting from 1996, and I love this scene that covers Sick Boy's Theory of life, which is profoundly true...

Ana Ivanovic

...Rolex Tennis Super-Hotness...

Ana Ivanovic

Rolex Yacht-Master

Breaking Bad Actors Wearing Rolex Datejust Models

Breaking Bad

Rolex Reunion

I have a big surprise to share with you! The cast of Breaking Bad just got together with People Magazine and recorded a spirited reunion with all the amazing cast members and super talented writers, which you can watch below. 

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, who were the two lead stars of Breaking Bad, are both still wearing their matching Rolex Datejust models as we see in the image below.

The two images below appears courtesy of Entertainment Weekly and were taken at the reunion. This firs image shows Aaron Paul rocking his stainless steel Rolex Datejust on an Oyster Bracelet, and in the second image you can see him rocking his Rolex as well as Bryan Cranston...

Below is an earlier story I published back in January:

Emmy Award Winner

Breaking Bad

Aaron Paul

El Camino Movie

Aaron Paul is famous for his role as Jesse Pinkman on the Blockbuster show named Breaking Bad, which you can watch on Netflix.com. If you are not familiar with Breaking Bad, which ran for 5 seasons from 2008 to 2013 (62 episodes), it is arguably one of the greatest binge-worthy TV series of all time, up there with The Sopranos, Downton Abbey, The Man In The High Castle, and Mad Men. Breaking Bad was nominated for 58 Emmy awards and won 16 times.

Netflix also has a full length movie named El Camino, which picks up where the Breaking Bad series left off. I watched El Camino and thought is was Superb! Below you can watch the trailer:

Aaron Paul is pictured below with his super iconic co-star, Bryan Cranston who played Walter White on Breaking Bad, which originally aired on AMC.

Bryan Cranston

Walter White Sr. 

A.K.A. Heisenberg

Bryan Cranston plays Walter Hartwell "Walt" White Sr.'s on Breaking Bad and has a nickname of 'Heisenberg' which is in honor of renowned German Physicist and quantum mechanics pioneer, Werner Heisenberg. 

Bryan Cranston ironically appears to wear the exact same Rolex Datejust that Aaron Paul wears.

Aaron Paul is pictured below wearing his stainless steel Rolex Datejust.