It's funny how life works. I seem to have this uncanny ability to recall and remember vintage Rolex ads from many decades ago, and the one below is one of my favorites. I grew up in San Francisco, and in the 1980s Rolex was all the rage. I remember seeing this vintage Rolex Ad back in 1989 for Sidney Mobell which was located in the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco.
I have many fond memories of The Fairmont Hotel, especially around the holiday Christmas season, as I can still recall how magnificently elegant the Fairmont Hotel Lobby was and how it positively reached of pine Christmas trees. I also remember dining late night at the hyper elegant Brasserie Restaurant which was located in the bottom of the Fairmont on California Street after many evenings of partying. This Sydney Mobell Rolex ad completely Deja Vu's me out in a positive way...and reminds me of Barbara Streisand's song, "The Way We Were", which has the great line "Can it be that it was all so simple then, or has time re-written every line?"
Peter Fonda passed away in August of 2019 at age 79 and left behind quite a legacy. Peter Fonda co-starred with Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider, and Peter Fonda wore a yellow gold Rolex GMT Master in the movie. Easy Rider is considered to be one of the seminal films that defined a generation.
Below is a screen grab of Peter Fonda's Rolex GMT-Master that appeared in the 1969 movie, Easy Rider.
"I'm Hip About Time. I Just Gotta Go." – Peter Fonda
In the photo above and below you see Peter Fonda in Easy Rider rolling his own and you see clear shots of his yellow gold Rolex GMT Master.
"Dude means nice guy. Dude means regular sort of person." –Peter Fonda
Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda are pictured below on the set of Easy Rider and in this shot you again see Peter Fonda's GMT-Master on his wrist.
You can actually see the yellow gold Rolex GMT-Master pictured above on Peter Fonda's wrist in the famous 1969 Easy Rider opening scene it appears briefly on-screen 47 seconds in to the video below.
The Hippy movement, which stemmed from the 1968 San Francisco Summer Of Love was blossoming across America, and the world. For better or worse, things would never be the same again...
Peter Fonda Tells The Story of
The Origins Of The Easy Rider Rolex
"Every Rolex Tells A Story"
Interesting video of Peter Fonda discussing the origins of his Yellow Gold Rolex Prototype GMT he wore in Easy Rider.
Born To Be Wild
Here is the scene that Peter talks about where he throws away his watch that is not the Rolex
The photo below is of Peter Fonda's actual yellow gold Rolex GMT Master he wore in Easy Rider.
Nick Gould discovered the photo below taken in 1992 that shows Peter Fonda wearing his yellow gold Rolex GMT-Master, and we see his famous sister, Jane Fonda standing next to him.
Sister Jane Fonda
As Barbarella
It is ironic, at the time Peter Fonda was filming Easy Rider, his sister Jane Fonda was filming Barbaralla which was also considered to be a slightly rebellious, counter-culture movie. Jane and Peter's father was the extremely famous movie star, Henry Fonda.
Henry Fonda is pictured below with his son Peter Fonda, and his daughter, Jane Fonda
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.
