Crowning Achievement
Her Royal Majesty
Queen Elizabeth ll
Belongs To The Ages
1926-2022
Like so many people, Queen Elizabeth's passing marks a touchstone moment. For me, being born and raised in San Francisco, California, The Queen was a permanent fixture in my life. In other words, when I was a small child, I would see Princess Elizabeth on TV, and despite being American, she seemed like my queen.
But is was not just me that came of age under Queen Elizabeth, as Rolex did as well. You see, Rolex really hit its stride in the early 1950s with the advent of their tool watches, and 1953 was a particularly momentous year for Rolex as they developed the Submariner, Turn-O-Graph, and Explorer. The following Rolex Magazine ad for a Rolex Explorer is from my upcoming 12 Volume set of books I am preparing to publish on Rolex History, and I thought it would be fitting to share it with you today. This add heralds "The New Elizabethan Age", which began in 1953, the same year the Rolex Explorer was launched. Basically, in a nutshell, Rolex tool watches were born and came of age just as Queen Elizabeth was coronated more than 70 years ago. The following Rolex Explorer Ad brilliantly encapsulates and epitomizes this transcendental zeitgeist...
A Rolex King