Gavin Newsom
Governor of California
Rolex Submariner
Gavin Newsom has been in the news a lot lately as he has been defying President Trump in California. I’m always curious to learn about the trending stories on Jake’s Rolex World. It’s always fascinating to see when an article I published 17 years ago gains immense popularity. This is the case with this article, which I’m updating for an intriguing reason. When I first published this article on December 2, 2009, it was titled “Panerai Coolness: Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco.”
I published this article before I started PaneraiMagazine.com, but since then, I’ve discovered photos of Gavin wearing his Rolex Submariner that I never got around to publishing. Given the number of views this story has received in the last week, I decided to update it with these photos of Gavin rocking his Rolex Submariner.
This first image above was taken at Plumpjack on Fillmore Street, in San Francisco, which is a wine store that Gavin started with Billy Getty back in the early 1990s. This photo was taken before he was Mayor of San Francisco, and I think at the time he may have been a Supervisor in local San Francisco government. I remember seeing Gavin back then rocking his Rolex Submariner. Gavin and I were in the same class at Redwood High School, in Marin County, California, and many years later I worked on his campaign when he ran for Mayor of San Francisco. Gavin and I have never been close pals, but when we were younger we traveled in a lot of the same circles, and I've had a few great conversations with him in the past.
I remember one conversation I had one evening with Gavin when I was working on his campaign. We were hanging out, have a drink, one evening in his Balboa Cafe, also on Fillmore street, and he said, "What do you think Jake? Do you think I am going to win this race to be Mayor of San Francisco?"
I responded, "Of course! That goes without saying!" Gavin responded and simply asked "Why do you think that?" I said "I think you've got what it takes to be the President of the United States one day!" He smiled and asked, "Why do you say that?" I said, "You look like a Kennedy, and your natural speech skills are like Dr. Martin Luther King, so I think you are a natural". Gavin smiled and said, "Thanks for your vote of confidence pal. I don't know if you are right, but I appreciate your enthusiasm and confidence in me." It will be interesting in the future to see if Gavin become the President. Certainly stranger things have happened...
Below is the original story just as I originally posted it on RolexMagazine.com on December 9, 2009. If you are still wondering why I posted a Panerai story on RolexMagazine.com, it was because, Panerai design language for me is so strongly derivative of all the original watches which Rolex made for Panerai.
-----------------
Originally Published:
December 2, 2009
Panerai Coolness: Gavin Newsom
Mayor of San Francisco
The Greenest City In The World
I was born and raised in San Francisco and Marin County, which is on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. As a matter of fact, I went to Redwood High School in Larkspur, California with San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newson and we were in the same class. Gavin was on the Redwood baseball team and I was on the water polo team.
Recently I was watching a fascinating interview with Gavin and I noticed he was wearing a Panerai as pictured above and below. I am not certain which model Panerai watch Gavin wears, but it appears to be a 44mm PAM 104. I will ask him next time I see him. If you are not aware of the connection between Rolex and Panerai, you can learn about it by clicking here.
By the way, doesn't Gavin Newsom look like he is a Kennedy!?!
Update: David Worland from Australia wrote in to say:
"I'm pretty sure Gavin is wearing a Panerai 233. Domed crystal, with the power reserve tooth clearly visible. The tunnel black strap is also a feature of the that model. It has an in-house P2002 8 day movement. The 233 is manual wind. If it's an auto then it's a Pam 270. Same watch but with a rotor. Cheers...and contgrats to the Mayor for choosing such a fine in-house Panerai." –David
I was very impressed with Gavin Newsom's interview about the current and future state of San Francisco's green programs so I thought I would share it with you:
