Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2022 – Preview

ROLEX 
Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2022 Preview

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an icon of its sport. First held in 1945 and partnered by Rolex since 2002, the 628-nautical mile (1,163 kilometre) offshore race is revered as one of sailing’s most gruelling challenges. This year marks the 77th edition of the event organized by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia with the support of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. An impressive international fleet has registered for the race which commences, as is tradition, on 26 December from Sydney Harbour. Their ultimate destination is Hobart, the state capital of Tasmania. The journey south takes competitors on a compelling racecourse, comprising a long passage down the New South Wales coast and then across the easternmost edge of the exposed and infamous Bass Strait. While some of the world’s fastest and most powerful yachts will contest line honours the most treasured prize is the Tattersall Cup awarded to the overall race winner.

Avatar, Rolex, and Saving the Planet

PERPETUAL PANDORA:

AVATAR, ROLEX, 

AND SAVING THE PLANET

By DANNY CRIVELLO

After reading the "Avatar" script for the first time, the head of 20th Century Fox had some choice words for the author, according to James Cameron: 

"I like this story, it's a good script, but can we get all this tree-hugging, hippie bullshit out of it?" 

Mr. Cameron, a lifelong climate activist, refused and told the executive:

"The reason I want to make the film is exactly because of the tree hugging, hippie, hairy-legged, Birkenstocks-wearing bullshit." 

That was 15 years ago. On Dec. 16, Mr. Cameron, an Oscar-winning film director and Rolex brand ambassador, will release the sequel to "Avatar." And this time, the movie heavily features underwater scenes. "Avatar: The Way of Water," revolves around the theme of ocean conservancy.  

This month, Rolex unveiled the Deepsea Challenge, the watch with the highest depth rating ever commercialized. James Cameron presented the new watch from Rolex's headquarters in Geneva. A day later, the trailer for "Avatar: The Way of Water" made its debut on the internet. 

Mr. Cameron's and Rolex's goals are aligned in a way rarely seen before among brand ambassadors. And the filmmaker's partnership with Rolex was formed organically.

"I always knew that Rolex made the best dive watches," Mr. Cameron said. "I was asked if I would become an ambassador for this prestigious brand. I’ve worn a Submariner for over thirty years so it seemed natural to accept." 

And when Mr. Cameron needed a new watch for his record-setting solo dive to the deepest point on Earth, in 2012, Rolex built one in just five weeks.

Both Mr. Cameron and Rolex have made preserving the planet their raison d'être. Both have invested dearly in exploration. Both support the cinema. Rolex is also the biggest sponsor of the annual Academy Awards, where Mr. Cameron will likely be nominated in 2023.

On Wednesday, Rolex released a video called "Perpetual Planet."

In the video, Rolex clarified its position on supporting today's explorers: This is no longer about exploration for the sake of discovery or setting records. But to find ways to safeguard the planet and conserve the oceans. 

We may think we’ve seen it all. But the world has its limits after all. But why do explorers, adventurers, scientists continue to venture out there again and again? Certainly not just for the record! So, what do they seek, really? To understand more intimately how complex and delicate our planet is? To document its change and how we can affect it for the better? As long as they need it, we will be at their side. Because today, the real discovery is not so much about finding new lands. It’s about looking with new eyes at the marvels of our planet. Rekindling our sense of wonder and acting, here and now, to preserve this pale blue dot and make it perpetual.

While "Avatar" lost the Best Picture Oscar in 2010 to "The Hurt Locker," it went on to be the highest grossing movie for at least a decade. Still, this was a double win for Rolex: "The Hurt Locker" was directed by Mr. Cameron's ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, also a Rolex ambassador. 

More importantly, after the release of "Avatar," indigenous leaderships in various parts of the world reached out to Mr. Cameron and shared their experiences. 

The movie he'd just made, they all said, was showing the types of things they were actually living.

The lessons from Avatar apply to present-day Earth, too. Indigenous peoples sustain 80% of our planet’s remaining biodiversity – ecosystems essential to our climate, fresh water, and food security. Join me in supporting and uplifting #IndigenousGuardianship by following @NiaTero.

— James Cameron (@JimCameron) October 1, 2022

So for a couple of years, Mr. Cameron went on to become an overt activist, trying to help indigenous tribes, whether it was in the Athabasca tar sands, in Alberta, or down in Brazil with the Belo Monte Dam.

During Mr. Cameron's research into indigenous cultures, he met Raoni, the leader of the Kayapo people who live deep in the Amazon forest. Mr. Cameron said Chief Raoni welcomed him and gave him "gifts of things that had great meaning to him." 

Mr. Cameron gave him his Rolex in return: "It wasn’t a sacrifice. It was a token of friendship," he would later said.

"What do I have that has that kind of value that I could give him?" Mr. Cameron said in a Rolex video. "I couldn't think of anything except my watch that had been with me for 20 years and had been through all my experiences." 

"It was a Submariner [that] I wore for 20 years, everywhere I went, everything I did, 33 dives to the Titanic making all the films that I made during that period of time. I was wearing the watch the first time I saw Titanic for real through the porthole of a submersible ... and I was wearing the same watch in my black tie when I went up on the stage to get the Oscar for directing 'Titanic' and it was equally appropriate in both places. It's the one constant companion. People come and go; the watch is always there."

 

But Mr. Cameron did not want to become a "drive-by do-gooder," he said. He wanted to reach a much wider audience—and do it through "Avatar" movies. 

As the director of two of the three highest grossing films in the world, Mr. Cameron has essentially become the biggest spokesperson for the Perpetual Planet initiative that Rolex ever had. The new "Avatar" will likely be as popular and, at the same time, raise awareness about the threats facing our oceans even though it is about Pandora's. 

"It may be with a somewhat-diluted message because it's interwoven with entertainment," Mr. Cameron said. "But it throws a much broader net and that's important."

Happy Thanksgiving from Jake...

  

A Note from Jake

Happy Thanksgiving 

Hi Everybody!!!

It is hard to believe it is already Thanksgiving again on Jake's Rolex World!!! It has been another absolutely amazing year filled with growth and fascinating new Rolex historical content!!! I am now in my 15th year of publishing Jake's Rolex World and I still feel like I am just getting warmed-up with Rolex history. I have many, many more exciting pieces of the Rolex history puzzle to share with you in the future, as well as some major announcements coming up...

"The First Thanksgiving" painting by Jean Gerome Ferris (1863-1930)

2022 has been another really bizarre year for everybody—but nonetheless, I am very grateful to have so many great readers all over the world and I hope you have found some solace and inspiration in all the amazing Rolex history I have shared with you. So many of you have written in over the years to help correct my typos, as well as to share your valuable insight and enthusiasm, for which I am eternally grateful!

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday as it gives us a chance to pause and reflect on how fortunate we all are to be able to experience this amazing miracle, known as life, on this spinning marble we all share–named Earth.

I recently completed my new studio, and shot my first Rolex video for my JAKEeSHOW, and am currently working on editing my second episode, which I plan to publish soon...In case you missed my first Rolex episode, I am including it below...

As many of you know, I have been working for some time now on a series of dozen books that cover the entire Rolex history arc. I plan to start rolling out my 12 volumes next year, with Volume 1 dropping in late Q1 of 2023, with each following volume releasing on a rolling quarterly basis, which means I expect to publish the final volume in Q4 of 2025.

PERPETUAL PLANET

PERPETUAL PLANET

Rolex just launched this AMAZING new video about how they support Rolex Explorers with their perpetual planet support initiative...

Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf used the world as a testing ground for his watches, supporting explorers who ventured into the unknown. Rolex continues his legacy but with a new mission to help make the planet Perpetual by supporting those who protect the oceans, study the effects of climate change and create a more sustainable world. Rolex stands behind the scientists, explorers and visionaries who will spark the imagination of future generations – for the sake of a Perpetual Planet.

Rolex to Build New Factory in Bulle

...BREAKING NEWS...

ROLEX TO BUILD 5TH FACILITY,

 

GROW BY 25%

LOCATION OF FUTURE ROLEX FACTORY

By DANNY CRIVELLO

If you were wondering whether demand for Rolex watches will continue to outstrip supply, Rolex is giving you one billion reasons. 

Rolex will invest 1 billion Swiss Francs into a new manufacture it plans to build in Bulle, Switzerland, the watchmaker's biggest move yet to thwart product shortage. Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), a Swiss public broadcaster in French, was first to break the news. 

ROLEX WORLD HEADQUARTERS, GENEVA

One of the biggest challenges Rolex had been facing when considering tackling record demand is to find land to build a new manufacture in Switzerland, one Rolex employee told me. Rolex is a vertically integrated company, and Switzerland is a small country, one-tenth the size of California. 

But the news broke Monday Rolex had found land in the business-friendly canton of Fribourg to build a new manufacture, its fifth. According to one of the county commissioners interviewed by RTS, it is a project of rare ampleur for the county. The word "jackpot" has even been mentioned. The Bulle City Council will likely approve the sale, a decision expected by Dec. 12. The land, which is comprised of two parcels, covers a total area of 24 acres.

 

LOCATION OF FUTURE ROLEX FACTORY

The City of Bulle is centrally located between Lausanne and Bern, the capital, and this will help with staffing. One of the challenges when building a new manufacture is to find qualified labor. 

As you can see on the map above, the other Rolex manufactures are near the French border. Many Rolex employees are frontaliers; meaning, they live in France, where costs are cheaper, but cross the border to work in Switzerland. Bulle, however, is deeper in Swiss country, far from the border. Still, its location between Lausanne and Bern should provide an adequate pool of qualified workers, a factor in the decision by Rolex to choose Bulle. 

ROLEX PLAN-LES-OUATES SITE

CURRENT ROLEX MANUFACTURING SITES

GENEVA: The Rolex world headquarters is home to all the management, administrative and communications activities of the company, as well as those related to the final assembly, final control and sales of the watches, and to Rolex World Service, which is responsible for after-sales service activities. The site is also home to Rolex design and research and development teams in addition to the laboratories that test all the assembled watches before they are distributed worldwide.

PLAN-LES-OUATES: This site groups all the activities related to the development and production of Rolex watch cases and bracelets, from processing and machining of the raw materials to polishing and finishing the final components.

CHÊNE-BOURG: This site brings together all the activities related to the development and manufacture of the dials and gem-setting. Cerachrom bezels and bezel inserts in ceramic are produced at Chêne-Bourg, and the site is also home to the brand’s gemmology laboratory and gem-setting workshops.

BIENNE (BIEL): This site is devoted to the manufacture of Rolex movements. Here, the components of the movements, from 200 to almost 400 for the most complex calibres, are manufactured. 

BULLE MUNICIPALITY

Rolex says it plans to hire 2,000 employees for the new manufacture, a sizable growth when considering Rolex currently has 9,000 Switzerland-based employees.

 

The new manufacture will be operational no sooner than 2029. The acquisition of 24 acres of land to build a new Rolex factory is the latest sign Rolex doesn't feel the demand will relent anytime soon even amid economic uncertainties. This is good news for those who already own Rolex timepieces, as their value on the secondary market still exceed retail prices. 

Starting in 2029, though, this might be a different story. 

Oysterflex on a Yacht-Master

...Rolex Studio Shot of The Day...

Oysterflex on a Yacht-Master

30th Anniversary Celebration 1992 COMEX HYDRA 10

 

30th Anniversary Celebration

1992 COMEX HYDRA 10

Theo Mavrostomos

701 Meters=2300 Feet

Exactly 30 years ago today, or November 20, 1992, COMEX set a new world record of in an on-shore hyperbaric diving chamber. This time COMEX diver, Theo Mavrostomos sustained 701 Meters (2300 Feet) and it took him 43 days to complete his dive. Theo dove on a special breathing gas mixture of Hydeliox (Hydrogen, Helium & Oxygen). 


Theo Mavrostomos wore his Rolex SEA-DWELLER [Reference 16600] when he set this amazing record in 1992 (as seen below). This model of SEA-DWELLER had a 1,219 Meter depth-rating which is equal to 4000 feet. This set the all-time depth-record for a simulated dive with remains to this day. Together Rolex and COMEX had pushed the absolute boundaries of what was necessary or realistic.

1942 Rolex Error Proof Dial Poster

 

1942 Rolex Error Proof Dial Poster

I LOVE this magnificent Rolex Art-Deco poster from 1942 which features their Error-Proof dial. I wrote an article years ago that featured this poster and it was titled, "California Dreaming: The Complete History of the California Dial."

Roberto's Single Red Submariner

...Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day....

Roberto's Single Red Submariner

Hodinkee Rolex Daytona Reference Points...

 

Hodinkee

Rolex Daytona Reference Points

Hodinkee's brilliant senior editor, Danny Milton, is joined by Rich Fordon who is Hodinkee's Vintage specialist, as they walk through the AMAZING history of the super-iconic Rolex Daytona. I HIGHLY recommend watching this SUPERB overview of the Rolex Daytona:

In the past I published an article named "The Complete History of The Rolex Daytona Cosmograph", that covered many aspects of the Rolex Daytona History. Also, Nick Gould published his epic story titled "Rolex's Road to Daytona...Rolex Racing Champions...The Evolution of The Rolex Racing Revolution", and I  have two anecdotes to add to what they discuss:

Point 1: The Rolex "COSMOGRAPH" designation that appeared on early Daytona models, made its debut on the Rolex Triple Date Moonphonase, and Rolex later repurposed in for the Daytona.

The following excerpt is from my story named "The Complete History of The Rolex Moonphase". It is interesting to note that in Rolex's advertisement the ref. 6062 was referred to as the 'COSMOGRAPH'. 

Point 2: I have been working for some time now on a dozen books that cover the entire Rolex history arc, and one of my books focuses on Rolex's Conquest for Speed, and covers the history of the Rolex Daytona. In the upcoming volume I will share previously undocumented insight on the origins of the Rolex Daytona, which is mind numbing!!! I plan to start rolling out my 12 volumes next year, with Volume 1 dropping in late Q1 of 2023, with each following volume releasing on a rolling quarterly basis, which means I expect to publish the final volume in Q4 of 2025.

1929 Rolex Oyster Ad

1929 Rolex Oyster Ad

This is a fascinating Rolex magazine ad from 1929, which means Rolex had obviously already introduced their revolutionary "Oyster" waterproof case, but had not yet introduced their "Perpetual" automatic movement, which came along in 1931. I am always fascinated when I find and publish another aquatic themed vintage Rolex ad which completes another piece of the Rolex history puzzle!

In my mind the illustration above shows the ships captain with his first and second mate and they are tripping on how cool their waterproof Rolex watches are. If you were alive in 1929 and you were a ship captain and you tried on or wore a Rolex waterproof watch it would be shocking—like driving a Tesla for the first time when it first came out...just otherworldly!!!

The Story of Time By Rolex 1951 Documentary

The Story Of Time
BY
Rolex
1951 Rolex Documentary
Soundtrack Performed by The London Symphony Orchestra
Back in June of 2017 I just discovered the documentary titled, The Story Of Time By Rolex which was a 1952 Academy Award nominated short film documentary that explored the subject of what time meant, and how time measurement evolved throughout the history of mankind. The way I discovered, the movie was a friend of mine who is a fellow Rolex fanatic, referred to it, and I had no idea what he was talking about? He was surprised, and I Googled it, and there it was hiding in plain sight.

This Rolex movie ads additional pieces to the Rolex History puzzle, and it very profound on many levels. The Story Of Time By Rolex documentary can be viewed below. The Rolex documentary was filmed in 1951, and is obviously dated today, but deeply profound in many ways—especially if you watch it over and over again, as I have done.

This Rolex video and its theme, very much remind me of another online horological magazine I publish, named, "Jake's Time Machine: Exploring The History Of Timekeeping." I must admit I am utterly fascinated with Timekeeping and all of its facets. I think the pursuit of timekeeping in many ways correlates with the Spirit Of Inquiry. This brings to mind a few great Albert Einstein quotes; which I believe are perfectly on-point for the Rolex documentary, the first of which is:
"The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects." —Albert Einstein

The second Einstein quote which I believe is also perfectly on-point says:
"The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity!" —Albert Einstein

Yesterday, our Captain Danny published a brilliant story named "When Rolex Took a Left Turn." Nick Gould pointed out that in the 1953 Rolex video above that it features a left handed Rolex which is seen below.

Left-Handed Rolexes Uncovered

When Rolex Took a Left Turn

Rolex's Left-Handed Model

Isn't Its First

By Danny Crivello

The black-and-green GMT-Master II with the crown on the left, released on March 30, 2022, surprised the watch community and industry experts. The current CEO of Rolex, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, is left-handed and Rolex insiders say he instigated the project for a watch that can be worn on the right wrist.

Rolex told me it is not marketing the watch as a watch for lefties. After all, right-handed Rolex lovers might want to wear it too. It is simply calling it "the GMT with the crown on the left" and letting clients decide how they want to wear it. Still, this is not the first time the brand has made a left-handed watch.

But this watch is a first for Rolex in two important ways: 

1. It is the first time a Rolex watch has a date on the left. 

2. It is the first time Rolex is mass-producing and marketing the watch "with a crown on the left." Until now, unusual and rare "Destro" Rolexes have surfaced during auctions. But the brand had never advertised left-crown watches though it occasionally made some. Jake spotted a Destro Rolex and posted a picture in these pages 14 years ago.

Among the famous, Charlie Chaplin, who was left-handed, owned a Rolex ref. 4453 made in 1945 with the crown on the left. 

Here are other (rare) examples of Rolex watches with the crown on the left: 

 

Jake's Take

Danny's idea to write a story about left handed Rolex watches took me by surprise and is a BRILLIANT idea. 

You probably noticed Danny showed a left-handed Rolex owned by legendary comedian, Charlie Chaplin. This is kind of profound if you think about it, as Chaplin in real life was a man who was extremely debonair and elegant, yet his on-screen identity/persona was the opposite. 

Chaplin's onscreen persona was very entertaining, expressive and outstanding, and that is what Rolex's Green Lefty GMT-Master reminds me of. In other words, the regular GMT-Master models are Charlie in real life, and the Sprite/Green Hornet/Riddler GMT is Chaplin on screen.

As you may be aware, I tend to associate stories with songs, and the second song that came to my mind when I first saw the left-handed GMT-Master showcased at Watches & Wonders this year was Foreigner's Double Vision: