Johnny Carson is probably one of the most famous & beloved people that ever wore a Rolex—certainly in the United States. The photo below shows Johnny Carson sporting his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date back in 1979.
The photo above is screen-shot from The Tonight Show interview below where Johnny Carson interviews Bo Derek, just after her blockbuster movie, titled "10" was released back in 1979. The interview is really funny as we see Johnny drooling all over Bo...and he is flashing his Rolex President quite a bit...
So when it come to Hot, there is Hot, then there is Bo Derek HOT...Youch!!!! I remember seeing the original "10" movie back when I was 12 years old and it completely blew my mind. I remember it was the first Rated "R" movie I ever saw :-0
In the two photos below of Johnny Carson we see him wearing his Rolex Day-Date while hanging out with John DeLorean on February 8, 1981, at the launch event for the DeLorean DMC-12. Johnny Carson was just one of many Hollywood celebrities that invested in The DeLorean Motor Company...
My Grandfather, Jake Ehrlich Sr, was a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson back in 1964, and you can check out his interview below:
The eighties were the first time the world experienced "Peak Rolex", in the sense that Rolex really came into its own in the 1980s. In other words, Rolex really became the International Mark of Success in the early 1980s, and if you were a high ranking religious figure at the time, it would not have been surprising to see a Rolex on your wrist.
Ray Stevens
Live on The Tonight Show
February 3, 1988
Recording legend, Ray Stevens wrote and performed a really interesting song that asked the question of "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex" back in the late 1980s as performed below:
Jimmy Swaggart
Yellow Gold Datejust
The lyrics from the song "Would Jesus Wear A Rolex?" are pretty profound. In the 1980s Preachers on TV exploded in popularity, and many of the top ones wore gold Rolex watches as seen below with Jimmy Swaggart rocking a yellow gold Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee Bracelet.
Jim Bakker
Yellow Gold DAY-DATE
Next up we see Jim Bakker sporting a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date with a diamond bezel and dial.
Reverend Robert Tilton
Yellow Gold DAY-DATE
When I was in college, some friends of mine use to hang out late at night and talk, while watching the Reverend Robert Tilton on TV, which was a source of fascination and absolute entertainment, especially when he would pray in tongues, and I remember him wearing a Rolex Day-Date with a President bracelet as seen below.
Speaking of "Speaking in Tongues" or "Praying in Tongues", I figured I would share an example of the Reverend Robert Tilton demonstrating this skill. Ironically, when I was in college, I somehow put together the money to buy and wear a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date, so I was wearing it while I would watch him ask his viewers to send money into him.
For some reason, the Reverend Robert Tilton reminds me of the C.C. Capwell character on the 1980s Soap Opera named Santa Barbara :-) Somebody was so impressed with Reverend Robert Tilton speaking in tongues, they made this awesome music video:
L. Ron Hubbard
Gold GMT-Master
Speaking of religious leaders in the 1980s, below we see the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard wearing his gold Rolex GMT-Master in 1986.
Pope Paul III
Two Tone Rolex Datejust
In attempting to answer the question if Jesus would wear a Rolex, I don't know, but back in the eighties, even Pope Paul was wearing a Rolex two-tone Datejust as we see in the photo below.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is arguably the greatest hero that has ever worn a Rolex watch. Dr. King received his yellow gold Rolex Datejust as seen below on his wrist as part of his Nobel Peace Prize.
Religious leader who wore Rolex watches were not limited to only western men of the cloth, but to the East as well, which was the case with the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh who wore an extremely ornate bejeweled Rolex Day-Date as seen below.
The Return of Magnum P.I. got me in a nostalgic 1980s mood so I thought it would be fun to get in the Rolex time machine and go back to the early 1980s. This is a story about two John's. John DeLorean and Johnny Carson. It's also about a Rolex Day-Date and DeLorean DMC-12. John DeLorean pioneered the idea of being an iconoclastic celebrity business executive. In other words, a rebellious businessman living like a rock star who would market his last name as a lifestyle brand. Who could iconically better epitomize 1980s excess than John DeLorean? (Donald Trump :-)
Originally this story was going to be about the two photos below of Johnny Carson wearing his Rolex Day-Date while hanging out with John DeLorean on February 8, 1981, at the launch event for the DeLorean DMC-12. Johnny Carson was just one of many Hollywood celebrities that invested in The DeLorean Motor Company...
The more I researched this article the more curious I became about John DeLorean. All I really knew was DeLorean was kind of the Elon Musk of his time, but unlike Elon, DeLorean went down in flames. Interestingly, both DeLorean under John DeLorean and Tesla, under Elon Musk made their first models on Lotus platforms. Also, the Tesla Model X has somewhat similar Falcon Wing doors to the DeLorean's Gullwing doors which were inspired by the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe. All three of these models doors, cause people to stop and stare when in the open position. The comparison between Elon Musk and John DeLorean stops with the fact DeLorean never made it past his first roadster, but Elon Musk went far beyond with a Model S, Model X and Model 3, not to mention the upcoming Model Y, as well as Tesla Trucks. Also, Elon Musk created Space X which can land flown rockets back on earth. Elon also created The Boring Company, The Tesla Supercharger Network, Solar City, HyperLoop and NeuraLink.
John DeLorean was extremely charismatic, handsome and intelligent. In the video interview below you really get a sense of his personality.
The video documentaries below offer amazing insight into the fascinating career achievements of John DeLorean.
Back To The Future
The more I explore John DeLorean's career the more confused I get. Was he a victim of happenstance, or was he just too decadent—or both? One thing is for certain and that is that he had a great vision, but wasn't able to execute properly on it. As they say, "If you're a step ahead of everybody you are a genius. If you are two steps ahead of everybody you're a martyr." On a completely unrelated sidenote, the DeLorean always kind of reminded me of a Rolex Submariner or SEA-DWELLER as they both are made of brushed stainless steel...
I remember when the DeLorean cars debuted and being shocked by how cool looking and innovative they were. To my way of thinking it looked like somebody got in a time machine and went 25 years in the future and found the coolest car and brought it back to 1982. Over the years there was much speculation that suggested that DeLorean was framed in the FBI sting, which was being driven by the American automobile manufactures. The idea is that DeLorean was trying to make super high-quality cars that were built to last, which posed a big threat to the American car manufactures that specialized in making cars that had a tremendous amount of planned obsolescence built into them. The DMC-12 featured many innovative features and was made out of stainless steel, which would not corrode or rust over time. Also, you have to remember at the time, in the late 1970s and through the 1980s, American cars were complete junk, made out of cardboard. How many Ford Pintos or Chrysler Reliant-K cars do you see driving around on the road today? Zero. That is because they were not made to last. In other words, more than 70% of the 8650 DeLorean cars made in the early 1980s are still on the road, but the number of all American cars made at the time that are still on the road is likely less than 1%.
Mr. Detroit
John DeLorean began his career working for big American auto manufacturers as an automotive engineer. in his lifetime was granted more than 200 automotive patents. As a matter of fact, he was the youngest division lead in General Motors history.
John developed a number of very successful American cars, including what is considered to be the very first muscle car—the Pontiac GTO, which he is pictured below standing in front of.
The Pontiac GTO was a big success and received many accolades from customers as well as the automotive industry. In 1968 John Delorean accepted the Car of the year award from Motor Trend.
John DeLorean also developed the 1967 Pontiac Firebird which he is pictured standing in front of in the photo below.
In the video below we get to see just how sharp John DeLorean was back in 1967.
John DeLorean grew weary with the genuine lack of innovation in Detroit, and in 1973 decided to pursue his philosophical ideal by resigning from General Motors to start his own car company named The DeLorean Motor Company (DMC). In other words, he grew weary of living in the Matrix and decided to take the red pill so he could journey through wonderland.
It took John DeLorean 8 years to finally come out with his one and only DMC-12. DeLorean, being somewhat of a rebel as well as a man of his times is pictured below in his New York office in the 1970s. Notice he is wearing his watch on the outside of his cuff.
More than anything it is a shame that DeLorean did not get the critical traction required to succeed. Viewing all this eighties stuff makes me feel nostalgic so I thought I would share this Julio Iglesias video about Nostalgia from 1983 :-0
88 Miles Per Hour!!!
Speaking of 1980s Nostalgia and DeLorean, The DMC-12 most iconic roles was likely its appearance in Back To The Future which starred Michael Fox.
One More Thing
The video below features an electric DeLorean that has been modified by the current DeLorean company. Also, the reviewer is Matt Farah who is rockin' his original LV Submariner which is one of my favorite Rolex watches of all time.
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.
