My amazing researcher Alan from Hong Kong just surprised me when he sent in this amazing Japanese Tudor Submariner ad that features a Porsche 906. Very Cool!!! Ironically, the Porsche 906 was designed by Ferdinand Piëch, who was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche.
The photo below is from 1969 and shows Japanese racecar driver Tomohiko Tsutsumi who was a member of the Tudor Watch Racing Team, and notice he is rocking a Tudor Submariner in this photo.
The box below is from 1968 and features the same Porsche 906. If you look carefully you will notice on the front hood of the car there is a 'ROLEX' logo just below the steering wheel, as well as a 'TUDOR' logo at the front of the hood.
This next image below shows Tomohiko Tsutsumi is the same Tudor branded car in 1969 and notice the Rolex logo has been removed from the front hood of the car.
The Rolex 6236 Triple-Date Chronometer is a beautifully designed complicated Rolex. The thing that surprised me when I first saw one in person was how small it was!!! I was expecting it to me like a modern Rolex Daytona at 40mm but it could not have been more than 36mm. If Rolex were to bring this beauty back to life and add a moon phase, that would be one really cool watch!!!
When I was a small child, I lived with my paternal grandparents, and I spent a TREMENDOUS amount of time watching TV, and I was a big fan of westerns. One of my favorite western TV shows was The Lone Ranger, which stared Clayton Moore. Of course, the westerns I watched then were primarily repeats, but I loved watching them anyway.
One of the things I remember was hearing all the time was the introduction to the Lone Ranger which said: A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver! The Lone Ranger! ... With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early western United States! Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice! Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear! From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again! The video below is basically the 1949 TV pilot for the ABC show titled The Lone Ranger.
By the way, when I was around 9 years old, I also used to listen to radio episodes of The Lone Ranger that were originally aired back in the early 1930s.
Clayton Moore is pictured below later in his career wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.
Clayton Moore is pictured again below wearing his Rolex Day-Date, which was a Reference 1803.
Clayton Moore is pictured below with his sidekick, Tonto (played by Jay Silverheels), who used to commonly refer to The Lone Ranger as "Kemosabe."
Clayton Moore was quite an accomplished western horseback rider as we see in the photo below from 1956.
It's really interesting to see—just for frame of reference—the 1967 Explorer Rolex Magazine ad pictured below, from the same year.
Robert Mitchum wore Rolex watches for many years of his life. The photo below is from 1958, and shows Robert Mitchum rocking a Rolex his Rolex Datejust on an Oyster Bracelet, and the Cyclops magnifier window is clearly visible.
In 1962 he starred in the movie Cape Fear, and as we see below, he was wearing his Rolex Datejust. Steve McQueen is known for being the King Of Cool, and some would argue that Robert Mitchum was also the King Of Cool.
Robert Mitchum returned in the 1991 remake of Cape Fear, and in the photo below we see him wearing a stainless steel Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee Bracelet. Robert Mitchum co-starred in the remake with Nick Nolte and Robert De Niro.
In the photo below we see Robert Mitchum wearing the same Rolex Datejust with a white dial on a Jubilee bracelet when he was younger.
Robert Mitchum is pictured below wearing a stainless steel Rolex Explorer.
Robert Mitchum's enjoyed an amazing career and starred in may famous movies. He is pictured below with Marylyn Monroe.
The video interview below features Robert Mitchum being interviewed by Dick Cavett in 1971, and if you look closely you see Robert Mitchum sporing his Rolex Explorer. I highly recommend watching this complete interview which is amazing!!!
Eagle-eyed Horological Investigator Nick Gould recently stumbled upon a fascinating clue that sheds light on the potential inspiration behind the design language of the Rolex King Midas Watch Model.
One of my greatest passions is unraveling the creative forces that have propelled Rolex to become a master of horological artistry over the centuries. This particular Rolex watch, as depicted in the image below, was meticulously crafted and hand-finished by Suzanne Rohr, a renowned watch painter who later achieved fame in the field.
There is so much we don't know about the watch pictured above, but what he do know is that it's an original design made by Rolex of Geneva, and features blue enamel on 18ct. gold. Suzanne Rohr, the renowned Swiss enameler (born 1939) won the Hans Wilsdorf Prize at the annual competition at the Geneva School of Decorative Arts in 1959 for this design the year she graduated. Suzanne Rohr is regarded as one of the greatest enamelers of the 20th and 21st centeruries, and went on to hand enamel watches for Patek Philippe for decades, which often took here 1-2 years to complete, many of which can be seen today in the amazing Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, Switzerland.
1962 Rolex King Midas Debut
The watch Rolex made in 1959 that is pictured above shares the same silhouette, and overall shape as the Rolex King Midas which is pictured below in a Rolex Magazine ad from 1962 introducing this new family of Rolex models which included the King Midas, Queen Midas, and Princess Midas.
Kings and Queens
Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf, and his right-hand-man and Rolex marketing director, René-Paul Jeanneret were seemingly obsessed with Royalty and all things regal. Rolex introduced the Rolex Datejust in 1945, which remains arguably the greatest Rolex archetype, and a decade later, in 1955, transcended its design by introducing the Rolex Day-Date.
Overall, both the Datejust and Day-Date were grand slam hits, and René-Paul Jeanneret wanted to top it, and thus in 1962 Rolex introduced the King Midas Collection, which began as a limited edition series, which is pictured below. The King Midas was the heaviest Rolex gold watch ever made to date, and its design language featured a late art-deco style know as populuxe.
Elvis Presley
The King of Rock n' Roll
While the King Midas was popular and successful and served as the genesis for Rolex's later Cellini line, it didn't really transcend time, and was later discontinued, but there were a number of famous people who wore them, including Elvis Presley, who is pictured below holding his Rolex King Midas. Legendary cowboy actor, John Wayne, also rocked a Rolex King Midas.
The exclusive image below was taken at Graceland of Elvis Presley's King Midas, and I published it decades ago.
Ella Fitzgerald
The First Lady of Song
& Queen of Jazz
Legendary singer, Ella Fitzgerald wore a Queen Midas which is pictured below on her wrist. Lady Ella arguably has the most beautiful female singing voice ever recorded.
Ella Fitzgerald can be seen below in her full concert recorded live at Montreux in 1969, rocking her Rolex Queen Midas:
Speaking of beautiful female voices and singers, since it's Valentines Day today, and despite the fact that I'm not big on Hallmark holidays, I figured I would wander off the reservation and share some really beautiful songs with you, starting with this more recent edition of Joni Mitchell classic late 1960s song titled, Both Sides Now:
Lorenzo Belliini took this superb photo of his incredibly cool vintage Rolex Submariner [Reference 5508]. This fantastic and rare 5508 has four lines and a shiny gilt dial. So Cool!!!
Speaking of Submariner being the watch for Super Bowl Champions I recently discovered this 1982 Rolex Magazine Super Bowl Submariner ad, which is very cool and interesting. So while it's true history doesn't repeat itself, it sure does rhyme. For some reason the term "The Breakfast of Champions" keeps popping into my mind, which makes be think of saying "The Watch of Champions"...
1982 49ers Super Bowl Submariner Rolex Magazine ad
At a record of 520 metres deep, the Sea-Dweller is still in its element
At a record of 520 metres deep, the Sea-Dweller is still in its element.
The Comex divers have once more forced forward the frontiers of the impossible. Diving off Marseilles, a six-man team spent eight days performing complex underwater tasks at the unprecedented depth of 520 metres.
An astonishing breathing mixture, hydraliox, made it possible for them to live and operate at such inhuman depths. Hydraliox is a combination of hydrogen, helium and oxygen. It gives divers complete freedom of movement with minds unimpaired by pressure effects.
The Comex operation, known as Hydra VIII, is a world record, comparable in its own way to man's first moon landing. It has created huge possibilities for research.
Tomorrow, thanks to the divers' determination and skill, men will descend even deeper, to repair oil rigs and explore the ocean floor.
Beneath the pressure of over 500 metres of water, there is a ceaseless need for precision. At such astonishing depths divers must depend on something rather more than a mere watch. They need a veritable measuring instrument: the Rolex Sea-Dweller.
Like Comex divers themselves, the Sea-Dweller is strong, precise and reliable. Guaranteed water-proof to 1,200 metres, it withstands the enormous pressures as well as decompression upon surfacing. This is ensured by a patented Rolex invention.
Men still have another 680 metres to descend before they rival the Rolex Sea-Dweller. But then, divers–even the most skilled–are always in an alien element. The Sea-Dweller is not.
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.
