Arthur C. Clarke

...Rolex Super-Coolness...

Arthur C. Clarke

Science-Fiction Writer, Explorer & Futurist

1917-2008

Yellow Gold Rolex Submariner

Arthur C. Clarke is considered to be one of the top science-fiction writers, and futurists in history. During his brilliant career he wrote more than 100 books! Clarke is probably most famous for co-writing the screenplay for the movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is considered to be one of the most influential films of the 20th Century. Arthur C. Clarke is pictured below wearing his yellow gold Rolex Submariner, as he speaks with Prince Claus of The Netherlands, as he receives the Marconi International Fellowship in 1982.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is 

indistinguishable from magic."

 —Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke was British and is considered to be on of the "Big 3" of Science-Fiction, along with Issac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein. Arthur C. Clarke wore a Rolex Submariner as a serious tool-watch, as he was an early pioneer in the world of Scuba Diving. 

As a matter of fact, he moved from England to Sri Lanka is 1956, to pursue his fascination with scuba diving, as he discovered the underwater ruins of an ancient Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. He is pictured above and below in 1955 diving in Sri Lanka in Ceylon wearing a Rolex Submariner.

Brilliant Futurist

Arthur C. Clarke was a brilliant futurist, and in the photo below we see him pictured at home in Washington D.C. 1952, holding his book titled The Exploration Of Space. 

In the videos below from 1964 and 1974, Arthur C. Clarke predicts that in the future we will live in a highly computerized, and connected world.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." 

—Arthur C. Clarke 

Science Fiction Writer & Inventor of the Communication Satellite

The photo below of Arthur C. Clarke was taken in 1984 in his office in Sri Lanka and shows him in from of his Kaypro II computer he was using to send his script for 2010 to Hollywood. Notice his Rolex Submariner on his wrist.

2001 

A Space Odyssey 

2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968 and  is considered by many to be the ultimate science-fiction movie of all time. In the photo below we see Director, Stanley Kubrick on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Arthur C. Clark who co-wrote the scrips with Kubrick.

Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark picture above on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1967

I want to draw an analogy that keeps popping into my head as I write this story. I keep thinking about how similar Arthur C. Clarke was to Ian Fleming in the sense they were both born and raised in England, and both later fell in love with tropical worlds, and spent much of their later year writing in beautiful warm climates. 

Sean Connery and Ian Fleming pictured above on the set of Goldfinger in 1964

Arthur C. Clarke having moved to Sri Lanka in 1955, and Ian Fleming living in his Golden Eye villa in Jamaica. In the photo we see Ian Fleming on the set of Goldfinger, where he served as a consultant for making the movie. Of course, Ian Fleming and Arthur C. Clark both wore Rolex watches when they wrote their seminal books that were turned into blockbuster movies.

Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark picture above on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1967

In the photo below we see Arthur C. Clarke in Sri Lanka, posing with Stephen Spielberg, and Harrison Ford, who stopped by his home to see him in 1983, while they were filming Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom. Notice Arthur is wearing his Rolex Submariner.

The video below was shot in 1995 by the BBC and covers Arthur C. Clarke sharing his top Seven Wonders Of The World, and we see him wearing his yellow-gold Rolex Submariner.

Hunter S. Thompson Wearing His Trademark Coke GMT Master II

...Rolex Coolness... 

Hunter S. Thompson

Coke & Rootbeer GMT-Master Watches

I originally published this story back on February 23, 2011, which was 14 years ago, and I just updated it the video interviews from Conan (2/6/2003) and Letterman(11/15/1982), both of which shows Hunter rocking his Coke GMT-Master.

Hunter S. Thompson was a complete trip, and in this first photo we see him wearing two Rolex GMT-Master watches on the same wrist at the same time. He is wearing a Coke bezel GMT Master II and a Rootbeer GMT. And I thought Fidel Castro was the only person who wore two Rolex watches on one wrist at the same time!?!?

Back in 2008 my great pal Michael McClure sent in these great shots of Hunter S. Thompson wearing his trademark Rolex GMT II with the Red and Black "Coke" Dial.

Last month, back on February 3, 2025 I published an AMAZING story on Al Satterwhite, which included the section below on Hunter Thompson.

Hunter Thompson

Fear & Loathing in Cozumel 

Al Satterwhite took the photo below of Hunter S. Thompson in Cozumel, Mexico in 1974. Al and Hunter became fast-friends when they met in 1972 while covering the Republican National Convention for different publications. At the time, President Nixon was running for his second term, and would go on to win the U.S. Presidency by a landslide.

Playboy Magazine interviewed Hunter Thompson in Cozumel, Mexico and Hunter specially requested that Al Satterwhite take his photos for the Playboy story. After the interview was complete, Hunter convinced Al to stay a while longer so they could visit every bar and rage-like-rock-stars.

Hunter Thompson took the photo below of Al Satterwhite, which is titled "The Start of the Great Shark Hunt." It's interesting to note Al is wearing his Rolex Submariner in this photo, and not so long afterward, Hunter S. Thompson ended up wearing a Rolex GMT-Master.

The letter below was sent to Al Satterwhite by Hunter S. Thompson in 1974, after the Playboy interview ran. Hunter and Satterwhite remained pen pals and friends until Hunter's unfortunately passed away...

Rolex Coolness: Mark McCormack: 1986 Rolex President Ad...

Rolex Coolness: Mark McCormack

Another Rolex Myth Busted And Mystery Solved!!!

1986 Rolex President Ad

This is the quintessential 1980s Rolex ad. In 1986 Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States and Rolex was reaching new heights in status and popularity.

This cool vintage Rolex ad has a very interesting detail. One of the unanswered Rolex folklore questions (until today) always was:

Where did the term The Rolex President come from?

It has always been put forth that Rolex began referring to the bracelet on the Rolex Day-Date as "The President" bracelet (around 1967) but never referred to the the actual Day-Date as the Rolex President. It was believed that people just started refering to the Rolex Day-Date as The President, but that Rolex never specifically referred to it as such.

It turns out that was a false myth and for the first time, in 1986 we have direct evidence of Rolex specifically referring to a watch model named:

"The Rolex President Day-Date Chronometer. Available in 18kt. gold, with matching bracelet."

This ad was very popular in the 1980s and I believe it clearly proves it was indeed Rolex that specifically coined the term: The Rolex President.

Wow!!!!! Rolex appears to have briefly referred to the watch as The Rolex President, then they stopped, and went back to calling it just The Day-Date, but the term "The Rolex President"stuck, and once the cat was out of the bag, that was it!!!!! Another fascinating Rolex mystery solved!!!!!!

Mark McCormack

World's First Super-Agent To The Stars

Founder Of International Management Group (IMG)

Mark McCormack who is featured in the ad above was born in 1930 and passed away at the age of 73 in 2003. Mark was a attorney in the the Untied States and wrote many books. He also founded a was chairman of International Management Group (IMG) which is an international management company which pioneered managing the commercial affairs for sports figures, and celebrities.

Mark McCormack was a pioneer in sports celebrity management and in the early 1960s was the first person to really understand the potential of marketing sports personalities on TV. As a matter of fact, International Management Group's first client was Arnold Palmer, and he went on to sign and manage superstar sports figures Jackie Stewart, John-Claude Killy, Björn Borg, Rod Laver, Chris Evert-Lloyd, Greg Norman, Pete Sampras, Michael Schumacher, Derek Jeter, Charles Barkley, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh.

As I mentioned, Arnold Palmer was his first client and he got Arnold $500 to use his likeness in Heinz Ketchup ads for a year, and 45 years later he represented Tiger Woods and got him $80 Million in commercial endorsements in a year!!!

He was also hired to represent celebrities like Kate Moss, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II and even fashion super-model Kate Moss.

Mark McCormack published many famous books, including the New York Times best-seller, What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School.

Thomas Friedman: 3 Time Pulitzer Prize Author...

Thomas Friedman

New York Times Rolex

Thomas Freidman is a 3 time Pulitzer Prize Winning Author who is also a columnist for the New York Times. His New York Times column is published in over 700 newspapers worldwide. Thomas Freidman is picture below wearing his two-tone Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee band and he also wears a larger Rolex sport model on an Oyster band which you see in the Letterman video below.