Our Captain Danny was experimenting with making wallpaper for his iPhone, and he came up with this super-cool wallpaper that shows an artistic version of a photo of Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf that was taken in 1906, and he simply put his first name (HANS) below the image.
Captain Danny showed it to me and I was so impressed I asked if we could share it, and, of course, he said yes. So you can download the image below and put it on your iPhone or Smartphone.
Captain Danny never ceases to amaze me with his creativity as he constantly surprises me with great ideas. Speaking of great ideas, if you haven't had a chance, be sure to check out his Coron.et Rolex blog which is very cool.
Captain Danny's Coron.et blog is my favorite Rolex blog, beside Jake's Rolex World, as he always offers superb insight, and he typically does it in bite size pieces, with stories that take around a minute or so to enjoy.
Summertime is moving full speed ahead in the northern hemisphere so I thought it would be fun to hop in the Rolex Time Machine and travel back a half-century to examine one of the great aquatic adventure movies.
Peter Benchley's 1975 Jaws movie was directed by Steven Spielberg and it was a mega-hit. Jaws prompted a slew of underwater/aquatic adventure movies and TV shows. This include movies like The DEEP, and TV shows like The Man From Atlantis. I originally published this story many years ago, but today I am very excited to update it with much new information. Special thanks Nicolas @ Adpatina.com for providing the superb Submariner Rolex Magazine ad image below, as well as updated high-res for the Peter Benchley Rolex Ads.
This next photo shows Peter Benchley rocking his yellow gold Rolex Submariner (Reference 1680) in real life.
Nick Nolte wore a Stainless Steel Rolex Submariner as he costarred with Jacqueline Bisset from the movie "The Deep" from 1977, as seen below. I remember tripping on The DEEP when I was a kid. It was a great diving movie.
The DEEP featured an all-star cast including Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, as well as Robert Shaw, Louis Gossett Jr, and Eli Wallach. Robert Shaw (pictured below in center) also starred previously in Jaws in 1975. Robert Shaw had previously also starred in From Russia With Love (1963), A Man For All Seasons (1966), The Sting (1973), and Force 10 From Navarone in 1978. Eli Wallach is pictured below on the far right, with his back to the camera.
The DEEP was filmed in 1976 in Bermuda, and went on to become the top box office film, second only in popularity to Star Wars in 1977. This action/thriller diving movie was about treasure hunters who were searching for lost ampoules of morphine lost in a shipwreck named 'The Goliath' which sunk in 1943. They also discover lost Spanish gold treasure, which includes a bejeweled gold cross.
Peter Benchley is pictured below with Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset on the set of The Deep and notice Peter is rocking a Rolex Explorer II "Orange Hand" (Reference 1655).
Peter Benchley wrote Jaws and The DEEP, and he is featured below in the two Rolex Submariner ads from 1975.
1966 Asprey Rolex Ad Rolex Submariner Reference 5513
This 1966 Rolex Magazine Ad shows the rare 3-6-9 Explorer dial Rolex Submarinerbeing offered by Asprey which is located on Bond Street in England. One of the most interesting details in this add is that the Rolex Submariner was selling for 69 British Pounds, which in today's dollars would be $77. Today this same Rolex Submariner would be worth close to $200,000 in U.S. Dollars!!!
These are some interesting times we are living through, which I will get more into a little later in this article. The notion that a Rolex doesn't just tell time, but it tells history is profoundly true and on-point as we witness in this article.
This week the world witnessed the Republican National Convention which took place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Donald Trump Jr. gave a speech were he began by introducing his oldest daughter, Kai Madison Trump, and both of them were rocking Rolex watches. The younger Donald was rocking his GTM-Master, and his daughter, Kai was rocking a ladies two-tone Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet.
I wrote a super detailed article about the new GMT-Master with the black and grey bezel, just after it was introduced back in April of 2024 by Rolex at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Switzerland. This particular GMT-Master Rolex model which is pictured above on Donald Trump Jr.'s wrist is endowed with intentionally low-key characteristic as it doesn't pop nearly as much as its Pepsi or Batman bezel brethren versions.
This strikes me as profound as the two parties seem to have never been in greater polar opposition, but ironically then one thing their sons seem to agree upon is rocking a Rolex GMT-Master.
In the photo below we see President Biden giving his inaugural address, and we see him rocking his stainless steel Rolex Datejsut which his wife, Jill gave him as a congratulatory give after having won the election. This was discovered by Nick Gould.
Biden Resigns
What a whirlwind this past week has been? Among many of the outstanding events was President Biden announcing he would not be running for reelection in 2024. If I recall correctly, Biden is the first president to wear a Rolex in the Oval Office since, President Lyndon Johnson, although, I recall President Ronald Reagan also wore his stainless steel Rolex Datejust while in office.
Nick Gould discovered the amazing image below that shows President Biden whacking the time on his Rolex Datejust as he sits at the Resolute Desk on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House photo by Adam Shultz). After I originally posted this story Nick quipped to me "Still the best photo ever".
in the photo below we see a similar 41MM Rolex Datejust to President Biden's model. The only difference so far as I can tell is Biden's watch features a plain, non-fluted bezel.
Kai Madison Trump, who is Donald Trump Jr.'s gorgeous daughter, made her political debut when she gave a moving speech about her support for as well as her relationship with her grandfather, President Donald J. Trump. As Kai walked out on stage, we see she was rocking a ladies Rolex on a Jubilee bracelet.
Below we see the video footage from the 2024 Republican convention where Donald Trump Jr. introduces his daughter, Kai Madison Trump, before he makes his own speech. BTW, on a side note, I think it is likely Donald Trump Jr. will become a future President of the United States, which is just my prediction, but remember you read it here first. Also, when you watch the video below, notice both Donald Trump Jr, and his daughter, Kai Madison Trump are both rocking Rolex watches on Jubilee bracelets.
In the photo below, we see President Trump rocking his yellow gold Rolex President, before he was elected President of the United States. It is worth pointing out, the best scholarship suggests Donald Trump was the first and only U.S. President to rock a Rolex before he was elected President. So this means we witness three generations of Trump's rocking Rolex, which is interesting.
The Teflon Don Survives Assassination Attempt
To say we are living through some strange times would be an understatement, as last week the world witnessed President Trump getting shot in the ear while giving a speech in Pennsylvania as he ran for President. Just after being shot in the ear, Trump stood up in defiance to face the audience members at his speech event and pumped his fist while repeating "Fight!, Fight!, Fight!!!"
It's worth noting the similarities between Trumps assassination attempt and JFK's assassination. In particular, Trump was shot in the same area of his head that JFK was shot, which is just above the right ear, and they were both shot by supposed patsy lone gunmen that are commonly referred to with 3 word names: Lee Harvey Oswald (Age:24) and Thomas Matthew Crooks (Age: 20)...I imagine it's just another peculiar coincidence...
The harrowing footage below shows the assanaiton attempt on President Trump as well as the moments leading up to the shooting which begins at 8:55:
Next up we see President Trump as he gives his speech at the The Republican National Convention, in which he goes into detail on the assassination attempt:
In the photo below we see President Trump's two sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, admiringly looking at their father at the Republican National Convention early this week, and more than anything it looks like they are both staring at his white bandage covering his ear. At this point I would say there is a 99%++ likelihood Trump, at age 78 will again be the next president of the United States...
Last up, we see a moving speech given at the RNC by a World War II veteran.
In the 1970s and 1980s Rolex went crazy making all kinds of fascinatingly beautiful Rolex Day-Date and Datejust models with very colorful exotic dials, and the watch pictured below is no exception. The green Rolex dial is known as a Malachite dial, which is very cool looking.
Anthony Bourdain was one of the coolest guys to ever wear a Rolex watch. Our Captain Danny wrote this superb story about his love of Rolex.
American celebrity chef, author and travel documentarian, Anthony Bourdain passed away six years ago, in June of 2018, at the age of 61, and was survived by his then 11-year-old daughter (pictured below).
Bourdain and a CNN crew were preparing to film an episode on Alsatian food for the CNN hit show "Parts Unknown." I grew up and lived in Alsace, the beautiful and culinary-rich region of Northeast France.
For me, Alsatian food will always be the perfect combination of the clarity of flavor the French are known for, with the German heft and heartiness that leave you full and satisfied. We will never see Bourdain's episode on Alsatian food, but I'm sure he found it delicious.
Another kinship I've felt with Bourdain is our profession. As a pilot for a major airline,I know what it's like to discover new countries and new cultures, and partake of the local cuisines without fear or prejudice.
Bourdain has admitted he'd occasionally get sick from the local food. "I have to take one for the team," he'd say. As a pilot, I have to be careful that the food I eat is always fresh. Pro tip: When I go to a local restaurant abroad, I ask my waiter two questions: What is his/her favorite dish on the menu? And what do patrons order most?
I love Bourdain's blacked-out Rolex Milgauss. He is wearing it as he is preparing food for an episode with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
I read in an interview that Bourdain’s original pitch for the series was, roughly, “I travel around the world, eat a lot of sh*t, and basically do whatever the f*ck I want.” I'm sure glad he has a Rolex on his wrist while he does all that! Below, he meets former President Barack Obama outside a restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam.
“I’m a guy who needs a lot of projects,” Bourdain once said. “I would probably have been happy as an air-traffic controller.” He would have been happy in the cockpit of my jet as well.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is one of my favorite people in the world spoke on CNN about Anthony Bourdain's authenticity.
Anderson Cooper is featured below doing a special on Anthony Bourdain.
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.
