Friday, January 31, 2025

In a year's time, this will be a Rolex 1972 Rolex Magazine Ad

 

In a year's time, this will be a Rolex

Vintage 1972 Rolex Magazine Ad

This Rolex Gold brick Rolex Day-Date ad is one of my absolute favorite of all time: Just for the record, when I was a kid, when I would eat cereal, I would read everything on the cereal box several times...

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Errol Musk Rocking Rolex SEA-DWELLER...


  Weekend Watching

Elon Musk's Father...

Errol Musk 
 
Rocking Rolex SEA-DWELLER

Like Father Like Son

The World's Most Interesting Man?


Back in May of 2023 I published an article where I discovered photos of Elon Musk wearing his Rolex Datejust Reference 16200 (pictured below the video), so it's interesting to note just a few days ago, I was Rolex Spotting and noticed Elon Musk's father, Errol Musk in a recent interview rocking a SEA-DWELLER! At first I assumed Errol was wearing a Submariner, but upon closer inspection I realize he's rocking a SEA-DWELLER, as there is no cyclops lens. I can't help but wonder why he chose a SEA-DWELLER over a Submariner?

Update: Friday, January 31 @ 1:45PM PST:

A reader sent in the following astute observation:

Hey Jake, thank you so much for Rolex Magazine. I’ve been a regular reader for years. Vintage watch obsessed collector. I don’t know if you noticed but Errol’s Sea Dweller needs a service. It is stopped at like 5:10. Maybe he is pulling the Andy Warhol thing and doesn’t care if it runs, who knows.
Have a great weekend
John R.

The interview below of Elon Musk's father, Errol Musk is beyond fascinating as it covers so much ground. Basically the interviewer asked him all kinds of crazy questions, most people would not, but he answered all of them as if he had drunk a gallon of truth serum before the interview. Also, we learn where Elon got his funny laugh from, as well as his charm and a lot of his charisma. I think Errol Flynn (Freudian Slip ;-) Musk has got to be THE MOST INTERESTING MAN ALIVE TODAY, and if not, certainly one of them!!! I think if you watch the video interview of Elon Musk's father seen below, you will agree the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...



Elon Musk 
 
Rocking His Rolex Datejust

The World's Second Most Interesting Man?

Elon Musk is not only the wealthiest man alive today, but is on his way to soon becoming the first Trillionaire in history. Elon's positive impact on humanity is unparalleled in history, from Tesla to, SPACE X, to Starlink, to heading The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the U.S Government, and way beyond! It's funny as I say, "The World's Second Most Interesting Man?", when the reality nobody, including Elon's father could be as interesting and intriguing as Elon, yet his father Errol remains equally fascinating to me on many levels...


The recent image seen above, is a screen grab from video footage of President Trump watching in complete awe at Space X, while Elon is attempting his second attempt at catching Space X Starship with chopsticks...The body language in this image is beyond priceless!!!!


Although the photo below of Elon Musk may not be the best, it is the only photo I have been able to locate that clearly shows the details of his 36MM Rolex Datejust he wears on a Rolex Oyster...Both these photos were taken close to a quarter century ago, when Elon used to wear a wristwatch, but in recent years he seemed to have stopped wearing a wristwatch altogether...It's interesting to note, Elon's father, Errol still wears his Rolex on a daily basis...It also appears Elon is aging backwards as he looked older 23 years ago than he does today, especially with his hairline :-0




Maye Musk 
 
Rocking Tudor Black Bay

Elon's Mother

While I was working on researching this article, since I am a Rolex watch-spotting nut, decided to see if I could find a photo of Elon Musk's beautiful mother wearing a Rolex. While I was not able to find a photo of Maye Musk wearing a Rolex,  I found the photo below from a fashion photo shoot of her wearing a Tudor Black Bay.


Elon's mother, Maye Musk has been a fashion model her whole adult life, and we see her pictured below when she was 20 years old.

...Studio Shot Of The Day... Elmar's Rolex Milgauss


...Studio Shot Of The Day...

Elmar's Rolex Milgauss

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Rolex DEEPSEA SEA-DWELLER D-BLUE Dial


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

Rolex DEEPSEA

SEA-DWELLER

D-BLUE Dial

The Rolex DEEPSEA SEA-DWELLER D-Blue Dial is one of the coolest looking Rolex watches ever made. It is waterproof to a depth of 12,800 feet (3900 Meters). The unusual two-color gradient dial commemorates James Cameron's historic solo dive down to the Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench, off the coast of Guam.

1932 Rolex Fishbowl Oyster Ad


1932 Rolex Fishbowl Oyster Ad

After Rolex revolutionized the world or wristwatches by introducing the waterproof Rolex Oyster, they would showcase their watches in fishbowls with a goldfish. The sight of this in the late 1920s and early 1930s would shock people.


Monday, January 27, 2025

...Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day... Grahame's Rolex Milsub


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

Grahame's Rolex Milsub


Sunday, January 26, 2025

100th Birthday Celebration of Paul Newman...


  100th Birthday  

Paul Newman 
 
Celebration of a Rolex Icon

Paul Newman is widely recognized as being a high priest in Rolex history and folklore. Not only was he an extremely charismatic and handsome man, but also an extremely talented actor, philanthropist and motorsport racer and enthusiast. Paul Newman was born 100 years ago today, on January 26, 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio and he went on to leave an amazing legacy of achievement.

Paul Newman is most famous in the world of Rolex for having rocked his trademark exotic dial Rolex Daytona which his wife, Joanne Woodward gave him in 1971 as a gift. Paul's actual Rolex Daytona pictured above in the image on his wrist is also pictured below in real life. This watch famously sold at auction by Philipps Auction house for over $17 Million dollars.

Paul Newman famously wore this model from 1972 until 1985, when he gave it to his daughter's boyfriend, and it then disappeared into antiquity for decades, but images of him wearing it remained.

As part of the 100 year celebration of Paul Newman's life and times, I will be sharing a great deal of invaluable insight into both his career and his Rolex watches.

Sometime in the next few weeks, I plan to share an amazing brand new story with some fascinating Paul Newman content so be sure to stay tuned...

Saturday, January 25, 2025

President Trump Speaks @ Davos 2025 at the World Economic Forum

  Weekend Watching

President Trump 
 
Trump Speaks @ Davos

If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World you likely saw my extensive coverage recently of President Trump's inauguration earlier this week, and suffice it to say, my head is still spinning just trying to keep up to date on the all the amazing progress that has been made in such a short period of time. The article I published on Monday of this past week, was all about Rolex watches as I showcased a great deal of modern Rolex watch history. This story is also about Rolex watches, but as you will soon read, on a different level.


Trump gave a stunning speech on Trade at Davos in Switzerland a few days ago, and seems to have completely freaked out everybody with his amazingly aggressive trajectory toward his complete overhaul of the United States. In his speech he said some shocking things like: 

"We have accomplished more in the past 4 days...than other administrations have accomplish in 4 years—and we're just getting started." 


Regardless of ones political leaning, and I personally am politically agnostic, in the sense I have no political affiliation. My ONLY criteria throughout my life has been to ask what is best for my fellow human beings and Mother Earth. Yes, I have always been proud to be an American, but I consider having been highly fortunate to have been born in the United States to be more akin to winning the lottery than some kind of manifest destiny.

Boy, that was a mouthful to lead up to what I am about to say, but it appears clear to me that President Trump is on a hardcore tear, and is hellbent on leaving behind a world-class legacy. Think about it for a moment. He can't run again, so he really has nothing to lose, and he is going petal-to-the-metal, full speed ahead.

For the second part of this story, I am doing something a little bit unusual. I am republishing the story below in it's entirety that I originally published on RolexMagazine.com back on January 26, 2018, as I believe it's fascinating to compare and contrast President Trump's most recent 2025 Davos speech covered above, with his last Davos speech I covered:


World Economic Forum 

Davos, Switzerland

When most people think about Switzerland it conjures up watches, chocolate, fondue, great skiing, but Switzerland is one of the most important diplomatic hubs in the world, and as I write this the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is currently underway in Davos, Switzerland. U.S. President Donald Trump is the first U.S. President since Bill Clinton to attend the World Economic Forum and is scheduled to give the keynote speech. The Daily Mail has great coverage of this event if you are interested in learning more.

There is something so majestic and almost hypnotic about watching such a big bird descend and touch-down...


During the Obama administration, I ran a story that showed a great photo of Air Force One as it prepared to land in Cuba, but that story didn't have any video so I am making up for it now.  


It's a trip to watch Air Force One touching down in Switzerland at the Zurich Airport (@4:50). What's most interesting is to see the fleet of U.S. Military helicopters in the air, escorting Marine One, which looks like a scene out of Apocolypse Now (@1:40). Later in the video, we see the fleet of helicopters taking-off to escort Marine One to Davos.






If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World, you might also be aware that I publish another online magazine named, "Jake's Presidential World", since I have always been fascinated with the trappings of the U.S. Presidency. Below is a video of President Trump Meeting with some of the most successful business leaders in the world.



The video below is of President Trump's speech that addressed the World Economic Forum.



If You Were Negotiating Here Tomorrow 
You'd Wear A Rolex
Geneva's Palais des Nations

This vintage Rolex ad showcases what is now referred to as UNOG, which stands for The United Nations Office At Geneva. The "Palace Of Nations" was built in Geneva between 1929 and 1936 as the headquarters for the League of Nations, which later evolved into the Geneva headquarters for the United Nations in 1946. Today, The United Nations In Geneva is busier than ever with international diplomats, and it primarily deals with social issues around the world.

Vintage Rolex Ad Appears Courtesy of The Concannon Collection


Conclusion 

What Does President Trump's 2025 Davos Speech Have To Do With Rolex?

The answer is simple: Everything and nothing. The fact the World Economic Forum is headquartered in Switzerland is—of course—fascinating, but most importantly, Rolex is a shining example of a company that has always endured and prospered through-thick-and-thin. The United States market has always been Rolex's bread-and-butter market in the sense, to the best of my knowledge, it has always remained Rolex's largest most stable marketplace. Rolex prospered and has been the ultimate beneficiary over the past decade on many fronts, from the advent of the Apple Watch, through the COVID-19 Crisis.

Let me be specific, for the sake of clarity: To the best of my knowledge, Rolex and Apple are the two largest watch companies on earth today by gross sales. Apple owns the lower price-point of the watch market based upon their much lower average selling price of somewhere around $1000 per watch (having sold somewhere around 37 million watches in 2024 for around $37 Billion at the retail price point). 

NOTE: I have no inside information for actual watch sales number or financial information for Apple or Rolex. I simply used Grok AI, and asked it for answers, (which I included in parentheses above and below for Frame-of-reference).

Rolex is the opposite in the sense they don't sell nearly as many watches in quantity, but have an average price-point of around $14,000 per watch. (having sold somewhere around 1.25 million watches in 2024 for around $17.2 Billion at the retail price point). 

Just to break this data down a step further, would be to recognize that Apple sells 37 million watches per year at retail, whereas Rolex sells 1.25 Million watches at retail. So Apple sells close to 30 times more watches that Rolex, but Rolex is likely more profitable on a per unit basis. This is speculation on my behalf, but either way, the numbers tell a fascinating story. Also, it is important to consider Apple Watches are really computers on the wrist, where Rolex watches are actual highly mechanical masterpieces.

It's profoundly ironic to consider that when Apple originally launched the Apple Watch they offered a $10,000 yellow gold variant, which was almost immediately discontinued as nobody wanted to invest that much money in watch that could not stand the test of time, and maintain it's value proposition.

I would argue the Apple Watch is probably one of the best things that ever happened to Rolex because it caused a whole new generation of people to pay attention to the wrist, which is highly ironic as Apple was the one that was initially caused people to stop wearing watches, as they would just use their omnipresent iPhone to tell time.

So through the COVID crisis, many people were stuck at home and paid a lot of attention to the watch market, and many people grew weary of the Apple Watch as it was relatively high-maintenance in the sense it has to be charged every night, or it wouldn't work. In other words, many people wanted something more, and it a world were suddenly Apple Watches were omnipresent, customers wanted to differentiate themselves with a different wrist watch, but in particular one that ideally would potentially appreciate as an asset, as apposed to depreciate as Apple Watches regularly do as Apple introduces new models every year that do and offer more.

For the record, I am a fan of both the Apple Watch and I have long self-declared myself as the President of the Rolex fan club. This is a little bit unusual, as most people prefer one or the other. When I wear an Apple Watch, ironically I wear it like a Rolex in the sense that I wear it for at a glance timekeeping only. In other words, I keep all the highly annoying notifications turned off, and I don't use it for keeping track of my health, as I highly agree with Roger Federer that I don't need a watch or phone to tell me if I am getting enough exercise or not.

So what does my stroll down memory lane in the Rolex Time Machine and all my watch psychoanalysis have to do with President Tump's Davos Speech??? If Trump makes it halfway, or even a quarter of the way to where he is trying to take the U.S. economy, we are going to witness potentially the single largest economic boom in history!!! Regardless of whether you like or dislike President Trump, you cannot help but notice his leadership is providing a stone-cold-sober, supercharged upper financial trajectory, and that, as previously mentioned, if it succeeds only partway, could radically benefit future Rolex sale in the United State and abroad.

Below is a fascinating short video interview of David Sacks, which President Trump appointed as his AI and Crypto Czar, and David is not only extremely intelligent and charismatic, but wicked-smart and insightful. If what has occurred in less than a week is any kind of indication of what is to come, they I say watch out for flying brick!!!!!

Roger Moore James Bond Live & Let Die


James Bond

Roger Moore

Live & Let Die

This is a really funny photo of Roger Moore on the set of the James Bond Movie, Live and Let Die which was shot in the early 1970s. Notice Roger is wearing his Rolex Submariner...When you were young and your heart was an open book, you used to say, live and let live...


Friday, January 24, 2025

1972 Rolex 'Commando' Abercrombie & Fitch Ad


...A Rare & Mysterious Rolex Model...

1969 Rolex

'Commando'

Throughout its history, Rolex has experimented like crazy with different models that were not long-lived, like the mysterious Rolex Space-Dweller. The Rolex Commando was 33MM and featured a manual movement and a Rolex Reference of 6429.

Rolex Oyster Commando Appears Courtesy of Rolex Passion Report


Abercrombie & Fitch

I recently saw a thread on VintageRolex Forums asking if the Rolex Commando was an actual model, and as we see here Abercrombie & Fitch offered it in 1972. 



I heard from @Watches2.8 who said:

Hi Jake,

I think the correct date is actually 1969 as the only serial I came across for all the correct Rolex COMMANDO models is around the 2075xxx range.

As far as I know the Abercrombie & Fitch sale was to get rid of the inventory that did not sell on U.S. Military bases in 1969/70. 

I actually own two of these Rolex models and I only know of 2 others in the world of the same quality. Ironically it went from a budget-priced $108 to being worth around $50K today! Probably rarer than a Paul Newman Daytona!

Best,

Teddy




Thursday, January 23, 2025

Pele: The Greatest Soccer Player In History...



...The Greatest Soccer Player In History...

Rolex Super-Coolness


Pelé
The King Of Football

1940-2022

Got A Kick Out Of 5 Decades Of Wearing Rolex

Soccer legend, Pelé passed away on December 29, 2022 at age 81 but left behind an incredible legacy and record of amazing achievement. He remains to date the only soccer player that won the World Cup three times! 


In the world of Sports, there are players who are considered to be the best in history. In basketball we have Michael Jordan, who has also been a lifetime Rolex man; and in the world of soccer, Pelé is considered to be the all-time best. Pele first wore a yellow gold Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet, then went on to were his trademark yellow-gold Rolex Day-Date for decades.


Pelé was born Edison "Edson" Arantes so Nascimento in October of 1940 in Brazil. During his amazing career which ran from 1956 to 1974 he scored 760 official goals, and 541 in league championships, thus, making him the top scorer of all time!!! In his career Pelé scored a total of 1281 goals in 1363 games. Pelé began playing for Santos Futebol Clube in 1956, and stayed with them for almost two decades. In 1958, at 17 years of age, Pelé helped Brazil win its first World Cup. 


Pelé is widely considered to be not only the most famous soccer/football player in history, but also the best. To this day, Pelé is the winningest soccer player in FIFA World Cup history remaining the only player to have won 3 Wold Cup Winners' Medals (1958, 1962 and 1970). Pelé was also received a special recognition award from the FIFA World Cup for the title of "FIFA Player Of The Century."


Pelé is pictured below with David Beckham who is considered to be another one of the great soccer player in history. David Beckham has also been wearing Rolex for a long time and also a Tudor Brand Ambassador.




Pelé's Amazing Career

Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil on October 21, 1940. Pelé's father was a soccer player and named oldest son after Thomas Edison. Edson was nicknamed Pelé when he was a young man, which was based upon his favorite soccer players name, whose nickname was Bilé. Pelé was a young soccer prodigy and went on to become the greatest soccer player of the 20th Century!



Pelé Rolex and Brazil '66

48 years ago in 1966, in the vintage photos below, we see world-wide soccer superstar, Pelé rocking his Rolex Datejust. Pelé is most famous for wearing his trademark yellow gold Rolex Day-Date, but before he wore his Day-Date he wore a Rolex Datejust as seen in the two photos below.


In the photo below of Pelé we see him in the London Airport as he prepares to return home after winning the 1966 World Cup.


For historical reference, it is interesting to note the Rolex watch
Pelé is wearing is the same model Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wore in that same time in history. Bill Cosby was also wearing his Pepsi GMT Master, this same year on I Spy.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Senator Edward Kennedy August 8, 1966 (AP Photo)


Pelé's Trademark Bicycle Kick

In the photo below we see Pelé executing his famous trademark "Bicycle-Kick."





In this next photo we see Pele with Muhammad Ali in 1977 in New York. What a photo!!!


In the next two recent photos we see Pele sporting his Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date that he typically wears.

In the next photo below, we see the visible clasp on the back of the Rolex "President" bracelet, which likely means Pelé acquired and has been wearing this Rolex Day-Date since sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s!!!



Stainless Steel Rolex Datejust

In this next photo below, we see Pele wearing a stainless steel Rolex that appears to be a Datejust on an Oyster Bracelet.