President Lyndon Johnson Quote

Quote of the day 

President Lyndon Johnson

I recently stumbled onto this fascinating quote and photo of President Johnson that offers a clear shot of him rocking his Rolex "President" Day-Date model. You can learn a great deal more in my 18-part series titled "The Complete History of the Rolex President"

Gamal Abdel Nasser: An Egyptian Rolex President

 ...Rolex Leadership...

Gamal Abdel Nasser

An Egyptian Rolex President

Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected as the second President of Egypt in 1954, and he owned and wore one of the coolest Rolex Day-Date Presidential models during his presidency. 

Nasser's Rolex Day-Date recently came to auction at Sotheby's Auction House and it completely shattered Sotheby's Estimate of between $30,000 - $60,000 USD, as it sold for $840,000 USD. The dial on President Nasser's Rolex is described as being a champagne 'Claw' dial. Sotheby's wrote a fascinating overview of Nasser's Rolex Day-Date.

There are so many details that make this Rolex a magnificent masterpiece of horology. I would begin by pointing out the Arabic writing in the Day and Date windows, then I would point out the almost dauphine-like sword hands, coupled with the stunning "claw" indices. This model remains classic yet exotic at the same time, which is an awesome combination.

Below we see the included provenance letter that accompanied President Nasser's Rolex, which was written by his grandson.

In the photo below we see Egyptian President Nasser with United States, President Eisenhower, who was also famous for wearing a yellow gold Rolex.

President Eisenhower famously wore a yellow gold Rolex  Datejust, on a matching yellow gold Rolex Jubilee bracelet as pictured on his wrist below.

President Eisenhower really set the standard for world leaders to wear Rolex Political Dress "Tool" watches, and we see his actual Rolex pictured below.

The Rolex Magazine ad pictured below was published in 1964, and features Rolex's brilliant "Men who guide the destinies of the world wear Rolex watches" slogan which was developed by Rolex Marketing Director, René-Paul Jeanneret.

In the photo below we see the Arabic caseback engraving on President Nasser's watch which reads "Mr. Anwar El Sadat 26-9-1963" 

Condition Report

As Detailed by Sotheby's Auction House

Case: The case is in overall very good condition and has surface scratches and nicks throughout visible to the naked eye commensurate with normal wear and age. The case and case back have developed an even patina. The buckle is in commensurate condition. There is wear on the number engravings in between the lugs and a dent at 6 o’clock under the engravings in between the lugs. There are some light scratches on the back of the lugs from the spring bars being removed in the past. 

The case back is engraved Mr. Anwar El Sadat 26-9-1963 in Arabic is crisp. The inside case back has a service mark. Gold mark is clear and crisp behind the lugs. The buckle is engraved ‘PLAQUEG’ and is signed Rolex S.A. Please note that the spring bar on the buckle is generic and is not plated. Please note that the strap is not signed Rolex.

Dial: The dial is in overall very good condition. There is a small, light mark from oxidation above the ‘Y’ of ‘OYSTER’ and another near the date window. There is partial loss of luminous material at 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 o’clock, and full loss at 4 o’clock. However, the dial still has a Geiger counter reading. Some of the luminous material has detached from the plots and is present on the dial’s surface. 

Movement: The movement is running at the time of cataloging. The movement was not tested for the accuracy of time or duration of the power reserve and may need service at the buyer’s discretion. Please note that Sotheby’s does not guarantee the future working of the movement.

President Trump Receives A Rolex President...

President Trump

Receives a Rolex President 

+ A Wrapped Tesla CyberTruck

A few weeks ago, I ran a story on Rolex Spotting @ The 2024 Republican Convention, and today we witness yet another potentially inevitable Rolex Presidential historical puzzle piece being unveiled. 

It's been said reality-is-stranger-than-fiction, and President Trump recently appeared on Adin Ross's, Adin Livecast on YouTube, and the interview was filled with MANY YOUUUGE surprises, including Adin gifting President Trump with a new EverRose 40MM Rolex Day-Date which is commonly referred to as a "Rolex President". 

As we see, Adin gifted President Trump with an 18 kt Rolex Day-Date 40, in EverRose Gold, with an Olive Green Dial, featuring raised rose gold Roman numerals. Adin Asked President Trump if he liked Rolex, and Trump responded:

    "That's a beautiful watch. That's a great watch company. They're (Rolex) a good company. They like Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player and Arnold Palmer—all the golf guys, and all the other guys. This is beautiful. Thank You! Don't they have nice boxes? WoW!!!"

 

—President, Donald J. Trump

President Trump is no stranger to rocking a Rolex President, as he has been wearing a Rolex Day-Date for decades.

Golf's Big 3

President Trump mentioned in his solilaquie to Adin, which I quoted above, golf legends, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Arnold Palmer, who are commonly referred to as Golf's Big Three. 

Trump specially offered his assessment or opinion on Rolex being The International Mark of Success, as he waxed poetic, by apparent way of an unrehearsed, off-hand-remark, that seemed more like a stream of consciousness flow—kind of like a scat singer, or jazz musician who was simply riffing on Rolex: 

"They (Rolex) like Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player and Arnold Palmer—all the golf guys, and all the other guys." —U.S. President, Donald J. Trump 

Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have all been Rolex brand ambassadors, which Rolex refers to as Testimonies.

Golf's Big Three are featured below in a vintage Rolex Magazine ad.

The screen capture below appeared on Rolex a few decades ago, and featured The Big Three.

Golf legend, Arnold Palmer was the first major Rolex brand ambassador in modern history.

Speaking of firsts, President Eisenhower was the first U.S. President to publicly rock a Rolex, as we see in the photo below, Eisenhower is wearing his trademark yellow gold Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet back in the 1950s while serving as the President of the United States. This may be what Trump was referring to when he quipped, offering his off-hand-remark, when he said "all the golf guys, and all the other guys." 

In other words, it's safe to assume Adin caught President Trump off-guard, and truly surprised him with gifting him a Rolex President, something that Trump is intimately familiar with the symbolism and power of. It was fascinating watching Adin gift Trump the Rolex, as Trump responded like a small child getting his first Big Wheel, or BB gun, or G.I. Joe—with a Kung Fu grip. 

I mean, what could you possibly give a man who is a billionaire and seemingly already owns everything money could buy!?!! Yet, when you examine Trumps response, his eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree, when he received the Rolex "President" as a gift. You see, for Trump, it's not the gift per se, but recognition of the symbolism of the surprise gift that emotionally charged him so much. 

It's also interesting to note, and yes I am going deep in my psychological evaluation of The Teflon Don, that Trump with his rudimentary prose, offered the world his first and only verbal evaluation of Rolex being The International Mark of Success. 

I mean wearing a Rolex President, as a political tool watch is one thing, but actually expressing or articulating in words, is quite a different thing, and I found "The Donald's" verbiage to be fascinating. As a matter of fact, I believe this might be the first time a President of the United States has actually offered up their specific opinion of the Rolex brands symbolism and what it means in its broader context!?!!

President Nixon

The Summer of 74

Speaking of The Rolex President, and Arnold Palmer, we see him pictured below in the Oval Office hanging out with President Nixon and Palmer is rocking his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date. It's interesting to note today marks precisely the 50th Anniversary of Nixon's resignation of the U.S. Presidency. 

Ironically, when I was a young child, I was 7 years old, and I was at summer camp in Northern California, at a magnificently beautiful summer camp named "Forest Farms", which was located north of Marin County, in Northern California—and I will never forget how the camp counselors quickly rounded us up late on the afternoon of August 8, 1974, and brought us to the owners residence on the camp grounds, and sat us down to watch President Nixon resign the presidency. I remember watching Nixon's resignation speech as seen below.

I specifically remember all the Forest Farm Camp counselors were all freaking out, saying "this is the first time in American history an American President has resigned". I added the photo of me, pictured below, at Forest Farms with my camp counselor, Tom, which was taken when I was 7 years old. I was too young, obviously to be wearing a Rolex, but I was rocking my favorite, gold Hang-Ten T-Shirt with the two feet logo, with my Levi's jeans, and Jack Purcell, low-top Converse All-Star sneakers.

As a very confused 7-year old, I had no idea or interest really of what was going on with President Nixon's resignation. For all intents an purposes, at the time, I was far more interested in The Easter Bunny, and the tooth fairy, who might leave some money under my pillow if I devoured enough watermelon, cherry, or grape Jolly Rancher bars.

Presidential CyberTruck

ONE MORE THANG!

Adin also presented President Trump with a Tesla CyberTruck with an over-the top-custom vehicle wrap graphic which is seen below with its American Flag wrap design with a highly symbolic image of Trump fist-pumping the crowd with blood on his face, after he overcame the recent alleged assassination attempt on his life in Pennsylvania.

 

I publish TeslaMagazine.org, so I am quite familiar with the CyberTruck and have written about it extensively on RolexMagazine, as well as on TeslaMagazine. I also published a story about Elon Musk rocking his Rolex Datejust in the past, as well as Tesla's lead designer, Franz von Holzhausen, who wears a Black dial Rolex Paul Neman Daytona [Reference 6263]. 

Since we are on the subject of Paul Newman's Daytona #2, it strikes me there is a good chance that Franz von Holzhausen may very well be wearing Paul Newman's actual "Big Red" Rolex Daytona #2, which he may have purchased at auction back in 2017.

So what exactly is the symbolism of this fascinatingly bizarre and exotic CyberTruck gift from Adin Ross to President Trump? I almost can't believe what I am seeing when I look at the wrap design of this CyberTruck. Also, it's worth drawing an analogy between the two gifts Adin Ross gave President Trump, being a Rolex President and a CyberTruck. 

Both gifts are hardcore masculine symbols of over-the-top, alpha-male status symbols. Yes, the Rolex President watch model has been around since the mid 1950s, and the CyberTruck is much newer, but they are both extreme symbols of cutting edge, avante-garde, modern technology designed for masculine men.

One could argue, the Rolex President it no longer modern, but complexity classic today, and that the CyberTruck is not classic, but completely modern, to which I would respond: everything today that is considered classic, was once considered to be modern. 

If you really think about it, the 40MM version of the Rolex Day-Date that Adin Ross gifted President Trump, represents Rolex's brilliantly and flawlessly executed attempt to modernize their timeless and classic 36MM version of the Rolex Day-Date.

You can watch the entire Adin Ross, President Trump interview below.

 

Every great story deserves to have it's own soundtrack, and in this case, Trump be like:

Rolex Spotting @ The 2024 Republican Convention

Rolex Spotting

@ The 2024 Republican Convention

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.

Last month, just after the Presidential debate between President Trump and President Biden, I published a story, and included the photo below of President Biden with his son, Hunter Biden who is pictured wearing his stainless steel Batman Rolex GMT-Master on an Oyster bracelet, and in the photo above we see Donald Trump Jr. rocking the newly introduced black and gray ceramic bezel insert GMT-Master on a Jubilee bracelet. My takeaway is, how ironic is it both sons of the leading U.S. Presidential candidates from both the Republican and Democrat parties both wear Rolex GMT-Master watches!?!!

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. 

Rolex President v Datejust

Rolex President's Debate 
Rolex President v. Datejust

Incase you missed the most recent U.S. Presidential debate, you can watch it below.

Ironically, both Present Trump and President Biden both wear Rolex watches. In the photo below we see the Teflon Don, rocking his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date 'Presidential' before he ascended to the U.S. Presidency.

So just like President Eisenhower (pictured below), Trump wore a Rolex President before being elected, but Eisenhower wore a Rolex Datejust. Both the Rolex Datejust and Day-Date models have been considered Rolex political tool watches for many decades. 

Speaking of Rolex President's rocking Rolex watches, President Biden showed up at his inauguration rocking a stainless steel Rolex Datejust that his wife gave him as a congratulatory gift, as seen below in his wrist during his inauguration swearing in ceremony and speech.

Image above of Joe Biden's inaugural address. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images. 

Also, speaking of President Biden rocking Rolex, the photo below of him, taken in the Oval Office in the White House, is definitively the most presidential looking Rolex image I have seen to date.

Image above of Joe Biden's first day in Oval Office. Photo: Jim Watson/Getty Images. 

Speaking of Rolex Presidential looking images, the 1966 Rolex Magazine ad comes to mind. 

There is a fascinating backstory behind the Rolex Magazine ad pictured above for 'The president's watch', which I cover in my upcoming Rolex History book series, which has to do with President Johnson, who is pictured below.

Like Father, Like Son

Speaking of U.S. President's rocking Rolex, it's interesting to see some of their sons also rocking Rolex. In the photo below we see President Eisenhower's son, John Eisenhower rocking his yellow gold Rolex Datejust just like his father's Rolex model.

Below we see Hunter Biden posing with his father, while rocking his Batman GMT-Master.