Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Happy Halloween!!!!



Happy Halloween!!!!!

Rolex Around The World

Halloween has really become an international event as it is celebrated around the world—particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. Morton Olesen from Denmark sent in this great Halloween Lume shot showing his Rolex GMT-Master on a Rolex box, with a pumpkin jack-o-lantern in the background.



John Goldberger from Italy sent in the great Halloween photo seen below to share with you. It features a very rare and unusual one of-a-kind pink gold Rolex Datejust with a beautiful blue lapis dial from 1974 [Reference 1601].


Thanks for sharing John & Morton!!!!! Happy Halloween!!!!

Monday, October 30, 2023

  

...Studio Shot of the Day...


DATEJUST 41

Oyster Bracelet, Oystersteel and White Gold

I can't stop thinking about this super cool Rolex model launched at Watches & Wonders 2022. This beauty came and went with major fanfare and its the 41MM Datejust with a Bright Blue Fluted Motif dial, with a fluted white gold bezelI LOVE this new 41MM with the crazy-beautiful blue dial!!!! What a Magnificent design Rolex!




Sunday, October 29, 2023

Ali MacGraw 1968 Cartier Boutique Rolex Ad



...Vintage Rolex Hotness...


Ali MacGraw

1968 Cartier Boutique Rolex Ad

There is nothing cooler in the world of Rolex spotting than discovering a famous person in a vintage Rolex ad rocking a Rolex that you have never seen before. It's rare, but it happens. Nicolas from Adpatina.com discovered this AMAZING Cartier Boutique Rolex ad from 1968 which features a young Ali MacGraw clad in Bill Blass while sporting her ladies Rolex Oyster in Stainless Steel. Adpatina.com specializes in selling original vintage Rolex magazine advertisements both framed and unframed! 


We know vintage Rolex watches are very popular with collectors, and many people like owning vintage ads, which are far less expensive, but will likely continue going up in price over the upcoming years.

The ad above which features Ali MacGraw when she was a model in 1968. Not so long after, she became a famous actress and started dating fellow actor, Steve McQueen who she is pictured with below in 1972. 



In an ironic twist of fate Steve is wearing the same Rolex Submariner [Reference 5512] model seen in the ad sans the Cartier logo and he married Ali! 





Nick Gould discovered the photo below of Ali MacGraw wearing her two-tone ladies Rolex Datejust.


Saturday, October 28, 2023

Rolex Coolness: James Gandolfini Rocking his Rolex Presidential as Tony Soprano...






...Rolex Coolness...

James Gandolfini

1961-2013


Tony Soprano

Ay'der!?! What'r you lookin at!?! hugh!?!

Rolex Presidential


It is hard to believe James Gandolfini is not only no longer with us, but stepped back into infinity ten years ago on June 19, 2013. Young James was only 51 years of age, James Gandolfini when he died. 

James Gandolfini was best know for his highly ironic role as Tony Soprano on the HBO megahit, Sopranos. James Gandolfini won 3 Emmy awards on a total of six nominations. He passed away in Italy while on vacation and his reported cause of death was a heart attack. 

James Gandolfini is arguably one of the best character actors that ever lived, and in his role as Tony Soprano, he may very well have been the greatest character actor. So good, in fact, that he kind of typecast himself in that role as he played it so believably well...so much so, James Gandolfini was Tony Soprano...


"Even a broken clock is right twice a day." 

–Anthony "Tony" Soprano [1999]



The Sopranos originally aired on HBO, and completely changed TV. The Sopranos was a hyper-immesive show, and probably the greatest TV show that ever was filmed. It certainly was also one of the most financially successful TV franchises as well. It is likely it never would have been nearly as successful if it was not for James Gandolfini doing such a convincing job of Playing Tony Soprano.





In the famous and now iconic Sopranos intro you can see Tony Soprano wearing his trademark Rolex Day-Date. Watching this now sends shivers down my spine, is a DejaVu kind of way...














Despite the fact The 
Sopranos was an over-the-top violent show, James Gandolfini's character Tony Soprano in many ways symbolized the aggressive alpha-male, almost in a raw, caveman kind of way, which is what made the fact Tony Soprano wore a Rolex President quite fitting. If the Rolex Day-Date is the International Mark Of Success, then it perfectly symbolized Tony Soprano's disposition.




The Sopranos was such a highly addicting show. I remember I used to jones to see the next episode. It has been many years now since I watched an episode of the Sopranos, but in the future I am excited to do a Sopranofest, where I watch all six seasons, back to back to back, and of course, I will document all the different Rolex models worn in the show...







The Sopranos Rolex Watches

The HBO his series, The Sopranos was created by David Chase and is the most financially successful cable series in television history. 

The Sopranos probably featured more Rolex watches per actor than any other TV show or movie in history. Tony is pictured below wearing his trademark yellow gold Day-Date and his wife, Carmella is wearing her trademark ladies two-tone datejust on a Jubilee bracelet.














As I mentioned earlier in this article, James Gandolfini was arguably one of the greatest characters actors in history. I remember after years of enjoying watching the Sopranos, hearing James Gandolfini speak with his real voice and I was shocked!!??!! 

In real life he was completely antithetical to the Tony Soprano character  In real life he was a gentle, soft-spoke giant, kind-of-like Mike Tyson, in the sense that if you just saw Mike Tyson box, the first time you heard him speak, it was shocking because his voice did not match his presence. 





...Rolex Super-Hotness...

Jamie Lynn Sigler
Sopranos Daytona

Jamie Lynn Sigler played Medow Soprano on the HBO Blockbuster hit who was Tony Sopranos' daughter. In her private life she wears several Rolex Daytona watches. In this first photo we see Jamie Lynn Sigler wearing her stainless steel Rolex Daytona.





Thursday, October 26, 2023

Daytona Paul Newman 6263 Tropical Dial 'Oyster Sotto'

 





'OYSTER SOTTO'



DREAMTIME DAYTONA


By Danny Crivello

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Paul Newman “Oyster Sotto” 6263 is, without a doubt, a dream watch and a legend among the collectors’ community. 

Fewer than 20 examples have appeared at auctions, underscoring how incredibly rare these Paul Newmans are. And look at that tropical dial!

By the way, the names “RCO” and “Oyster Sotto” (meaning “Oyster Underneath” in Italian) were bestowed by collectors due to the fact that rather than the familiar “Rolex”—“Oyster”—“Cosmograph” layout that is seen on the classic variant of these rare exotic black dials, the text is displayed as “Rolex”—“Cosmograph”—“Oyster.”




The reason for the "Oyster Sotto" or "RCO" is that the dials were originally intended for the non-waterproof references such as 6262 and 6264 which are signed “Rolex Cosmograph Daytona” only. 

When the new water-resistant “Oyster” case was introduced for the reference 6263, around 1969, it is believed certain customers must have specifically requested their watch should have an exotic dial of the type now known by collectors as the “Paul Newman.”

Of course, no such dials existed specifically for the water-resistant Oyster model and therefore a small number of the already printed current non-Oyster dials were adapted with the addition of the word “Oyster” in plain font. As the dials were already preprinted, there was no option but to place the word “Oyster” below the words “Rolex Cosmograph”. And thus an anomaly was created that exists in so few examples.



This fresh-to-the-market 6263 with a tropical dial was sold for 1,796,000 euros at Monaco Legends Auction this week, on the higher end of its 1-million to 2-million estimate. It had only been pre-owned twice in its history. 

What a magnificent example of a vintage Rolex Daytona! These vintage Rolexes are just pure art, in my opinion, and really no different than a Monnet or Van Gogh. Please forgive me as I turn the beautiful picture of the "Oyster Sotto" above into Starry Night. Dreamy! 




Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Rolex and National Geographic Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition: Atop the Andes Mountains


Rolex and National Geographic 

Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition

Atop the Andes Mountains

With support from Rolex and the National Geographic Society, climate scientists and Explorers Baker Perry (whom Danny profiled two years ago in these pages) and Tom Matthews endured snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures to install a state-of-the-art weather station on the summit of one of Peru’s highest mountains. As well as providing a source of water for millions of people, the Vilcanota mountain range forms a key part of the complex water cycle of the wider Amazon River basin. 


Today, that system is under threat from a brutal combination of climate change and deforestation, but to accurately predict how it will respond to these challenges in the future, scientists must better understand the current weather in the high mountains. With data now flowing in from the weather station on the summit of Nevado Ausangate, they might just be able to do so.



Sunday, October 22, 2023

Rolex Coolness: Dr. George Bass




The Complete History Of
The Rolex Submariner & SEA-DWELLER
Rolex's Conquest Of The Ocean


Part 12: Professor George Bass
The Father of Underwater Archeology


"Each successive discovery is a tiny window to the past. If you have enough of these windows, the picture of antiquity that the ship reveals is extraordinary." –George Bass

2023 represents the 61sh anniversary of Dr. George Bass' historic excavation of a total shipwreck which was the first time in history this was achieved. This brilliant achievement heralded a whole new era of underwater archaeology that significantly changed mankind's understanding of the ocean's and history.

There is nothing more fascinating on Jake's Rolex World than to actually "explore the explorer" by meeting and speaking with famous history-changing Rolex Ambassadors which have appeared in Rolex ads in the past.

It is one thing to see them on a paper ad, and quite another to hear them share their own story, in their own words, in their own voice. On Jake's Rolex World we bring real Rolex history to life and go on a journey of substantial achievement with the actual explorers themselves.

A dozen years ago I had the opportunity to sit down and do a podcast interview with Dr. George Bass who appears in the vintage Rolex ad below.



Professor Bass and I had an amazing conversation and at some time in the future I will likely publish it. In the podcast Dr. Bass takes us from his childhood dream up to present.


Dr. George Bass is considered to be the Father Of Underwater Archeology and in his interview we will learn the story of his fascinating personal oddyssey through his life.


Dr. Bass is a world-class scientist and explorer. He is also a man of amazing achievement and as we see in the photo below taken in 1977 he is wearing his trademark Rolex Submariner.


In the next photo of Professor George Bass, he is examining weights from an 11th Century Byzantine Merchant Shipwreck Excavation. Notice he is wearing his two-tone Rolex Submariner.


Return To The Titanic Dive in 2003

For any DEEP-SEA diver and certainly for The Father Of Underwater Archeology, going down to explore the Titanic in its water-grave has to be a super-career-highlight and that is exactly what Dr. George Bass completed in 2003.


In 2003 Dr. George Bass participated on an expedition to return to explore the RMS Titanic. In photos I have seen of the Titanic expeditions I have seen it is amazing how many of the explorer's are wearing Rolex sport watches–everything from GMT Master, to Daytona to Submariner models.

In the photo below we see Dr. George Bass on the far left with Victor Nischeta from the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology who is the Mir submersible pilot. Of course the Mir submersible is behind them in the photo. On the far right, we see Captain Craig McLean, who was the Director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office Of Ocean Exploration.

In the photo below we see, from left to right, Larry Murphy, U.S. National Park Service, Submerged Cultural Resources Unit, with Captain Craig McLean, who was the Director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office Of Ocean Exploration, and Dr. George Bass on the far right. Notice that Captain Craig McLean is wearing his Rolex Submariner.

In the podcast I completed with Dr. Bass he spoke about his trip down to the Titanic and he mentioned this photo that was taken of him reading Clive Cussler's Raise The Titanic which was taken just feet away from the actual RMS Titanic on the ocean floor.

By saying "just a few feet away" I mean Dr. Bass is in a submersible 12,000 Feet or 2.5 miles (4km) below the ocean surface off the coast of Newfoundland. By the way, you can't see it in this photo but Dr. Bass told me he was wearing his Rolex Submariner when this photo was taken.

The photo below is basically what Dr. George Bass would see if he was looking out the window of the Mir Submersible when this photo was taken. What we see below is a photo of railing on the Titanic.

Dr. Bass is an amazing gentle man with an unbelievable set of career achievements.



Former Rolex executive and oceanographic consultant, T. Walker Lloyd used to dive with George Bass.



Update: National Geographic just published a fascinating retrospective named "Fifty Years of Shipwreck Excavation Opens New Windows On History," which explores Dr. Bass' amazing career achievements.

In the future, as time permits, I will be significantly extending this article with more photos as well as my podcast interview with Dr. Bass.











The Complete History Of
The Rolex Submariner & SEA-DWELLER
Rolex's Conquest Of The Ocean

Table Of Contents