1963 Rolex GMT-Master Ad

...Retro Rolex Coolness...

1963 German Rolex GMT-Master Ad

This is such a cool retro Rolex GMT-Master Ad that features a Reference 1675. It reads:

"Today in London—tomorrow in Paris—and next week in Tokyo! And he always keeps his appointments on time.  

Because the Rolex GMT-Master specifies - after your own choice - the exact time of two different places on earth. 

The Rolex GMT Master is naturally waterproof, automatic and also displays the date. It reminds you of meetings and can also be used as a chronograph.

Do it like the PAA pilots and like this successful businessman: Wear a Rolex!

We are happy to show you the latest models without obligation."

Allemann

Speaking of Retro Cool, the "London, Paris, Tokyo" in the ad above reminds me of the super catchy lyrics from the New WAVE Pop Muzik song from 1979, which goes: "New York, London, Paris, Munich!!" M-Pop Muzik was one of the first songs that launched the New Wave genre in the 1980s

Pop Pop Pop Musik 

Pop Pop Pop Musik 

Pop Pop Pop Musik 

Pop Pop Pop Musik 

Radio, video 

Boogie with a suitcase 

Your livin' in a disco 

Forget about the rat race 

Let's do the milkshake, sellin' like a hotcake 

Try some buy some fee-fi-fo-fum 

Talk about, pop musik 

Talk about, pop musik 

Shoobie doobie do wop 

I wanna dedicate this 

Pop pop shoo wop 

Everybody made it 

Shoobie doobie do wop 

Infiltrate it 

Pop pop shoo wop 

Activate it 

New York, London, Paris, Munich 

Everybody talk about pop musik 

Talk about, pop musik 

Talk about, pop musik 

Pop pop pop musik

Pop pop pop musik  

Singing in the subway 

Shuffle with a shoe shine 

Fix me a molotov 

I'm on the headline 

VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR

Okay, I am wandering off the reservation again, but hey, that's what makes it Jake's Rolex World, but Pop Muzik reminded me of this other great, upbeat, dreamy New Age song which was the very first music video that was ever played on MTV when in launched back on January 8, 1980. You gotta love this song, and you gotta love the 80s!!! 

1983 Cristal Champagne Rolex Magazine Ad

 

1983 Cristal Champagne 

Rolex Magazine Ad

Rolex rarely publishes ads that use other companies product to analogize Rolex products, but this is a rare example from 1983 when they featured Cristal Champagne. 

If you are not familiar with Cristal it really is considered to be the Rolex of Champagne. Cristal is widely regarded by many people to be the first Prestige Cuvée.

Cristal was originally created in 1876 for Czar Alexander who was the Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand duke of Finland from March 1855 until he was assassinated in 1881.

Rolex 'Orange Hand' Explorer II Polo Ad

Rolex 'Orange Hand' 

1983 Explorer II Polo Ad 

[Reference 1655]

1938 Rolex Magazine Locomotive Ad from Europa Star

 1938

Rolex Magazine Locomotive Ad 

This 1938 Rolex Magazine ad originally appeared in the Europa Star Magazine and the caption reads: "The locomotive and the Oyster Perpetual are hailed as "two masterpieces of technology". Typical of Rolex advertisements from the first half of the century, the text adopts an almost didactic tone, explaining the automatic movement offers exceptional regularity and that the Oyster case is water resistant to 6 atmospheres.

Sidney Mobell Designer and Creator of Fine Jewelry

Sidney Mobell

Designer and Creator of Fine Jewelry

1989 Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco

It's funny how life works. I seem to have this uncanny ability to recall and remember vintage Rolex ads from many decades ago, and the one below is one of my favorites. I grew up in San Francisco, and in the 1980s Rolex was all the rage. I remember seeing this vintage Rolex Ad back in 1989 for Sidney Mobell which was located in the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco. 

I have many fond memories of The Fairmont Hotel, especially around the holiday Christmas season, as I can still recall how magnificently elegant the Fairmont Hotel Lobby was and how it positively smelled of pine Christmas trees. I also remember dining late night at the hyper elegant Brasserie Restaurant which was located in the bottom of the Fairmont on California Street after many evenings of partying. 

This Sydney Mobell Rolex ad completely Deja Vu's me out in a positive way...and reminds me of Barbara Streisand's song, "The Way We Were", which has the great line "Can it be that it was all so simple then, or has time re-written every line?"

1960 Rolex Submariner Ad

1960 Rolex Submariner Ad

Pierre-Jean who is researcher for Jake's Rolex World sent me this French Rolex Submariner ad from 1960 which is AMAZING!!!

1951 ROLEX Magazine Datejust Ad...

1951 ROLEX Magazine Datejust Ad

BLUEPRINT OF Supremacy

1974 Rolex Watchmaker Ad

1974 Rolex Watchmaker Ad

If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World you know I am fasciated with vintage Rolex ads, and the story in this one is superb as it tells the story of a Rolex Watchmaker who worked for 50 years...

Clyde Beatty 1964 Datejust Ad

Clyde Beatty

1964 Datejust Ad 

Circus Impresario 

Lion Tamer with Two Tiger Cubs

One of my absolute favorite aspects of journaling Rolex history is discovering brilliant vintage ads that had previously disappeared into the abyss. In other words, I think vintage Rolex ads are often times even more interesting than the Rolex watches featured in them. Every so often I discover a vintage Rolex ad that takes my breath away and this beauty from 1964 is one of them. 

There is something so cool about the overall composition of this ad I recently acquired that makes it so cool looking. As I have mentioned before, I perceive these vintage ads as being high-art in-and-of-themselves.

1964 Clyde Beatty Rolex Datejust Magazine Ad

Another one of my favorite things to do when exploring vintage Rolex ads is to do a deep dive into the backstory behind the person featured in the ad, which often times offers me a fascinating history lesson and this ad is no exception. Let's begin by examining a photo that Nick Gould discovered that features Clyde Beatty wearing his Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee Bracelet. In the photo below we see Clyde Beatty with Prince Rainier of Monaco along with his son, daughter and beautiful wife, Princess Grace of Monaco with Clyde Beatty pictured on the far right rocking his Datejust which is featured in the 1964 Rolex ad seen above.

What can be said of a man long after he has departed the living world? That he left the world having made it a better place than when he entered it? That he made a significant contribution to mankind's understanding of the world we still share? Or, as Saroyan brilliantly said:

"In the time of our life, live—so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it." 

—William Saroyan 

(Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote: The Time of Your Life, 1939)

Clyde Beatty was born in 1903 in Bainbridge, Ohio and passed away at age 62 in 1965 in Ventura, California. Clyde was a famed animal trainer, actor, circus mogul, and zoo owner. 

Clyde Beatty stood 5 foot 6 inches and was nicknamed  'Scrap-Iron Shorty' was the first lion tamer to be featured in a circus and was best known for his 'fighting Act' where he would enter the cage only equipped with a chair, whip, pistol on his hip and a tremendous amount of courage and confidence. 

I was not familiar with Clyde Beatty until I saw his really cool 1964 Rolex ad featured toward the top of this story, but researching and sharing his career achievements has been fascinating. My takeaway from this story is that he personally exhibited many of the characteristics that make a Rolex a Rolex which are strength, value, competent, timelessness, elegance and precision.

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race – Challenging sailors to their very core

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
Challenging sailors to their very core

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race enjoys a reputation as one of yachting’s most demanding tests of physical and mental resilience. The 78th edition of this offshore classic certainly lived up to that status, with the fleet of 103 yachts facing some of the most unpredictable conditions seen in recent years along the 628-nautical mile course. 

Christian Beck’s LawConnect took line honours in a thrilling fight to the finish between the 100-foot (30.5 metres) Maxi yachts, edging out Andoo Comanche by 51 seconds, the second closest finish in race history. 

Tasmanian boat Alive, owned by Phillip Turner, claimed overall victory on corrected time to claim the Tattersall Cup; in doing so, it joined the select few with two overall wins in the nearly eight decades of competition, having also triumphed in 2018. Organized by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), in conjunction with the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, Rolex has partnered this iconic event since 2002 as part of the brand’s near 70-year relationship with yachting. 

The Swiss watchmaker naturally gravitated towards the elite world of yachting six decades ago and the brand’s enduring partnership now encompasses the most prestigious clubs, races and regattas, as well as towering figures in the sport, including ground-breaking round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester and the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Sir Ben Ainslie. 

Today, Rolex is Title Sponsor of 15 major international events – from leading offshore races such as the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race, to grand prix competition at the Rolex TP52 World Championship and spectacular gatherings at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup. It also supports the exciting SailGP global championship in which national teams race identical supercharged F50 catamarans on some of the world’s most famous harbours. Rolex’s partnerships with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Royal Ocean Racing Club, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Yacht Club Italiano, New York Yacht Club and Royal Yacht Squadron, among others, are the foundation of its enduring relationship with this dynamic sport.

Be The Girl From SMASH

...Rolex Hotness...

Be The Girl From SMASH

Sideways GMT-Master

1966 

Just when I thought I had seen it all, I can across this amazingly cool Rolex Magazine ad that is very salty and Austin Powersesque. Groovy Baby, YEAH!!! That being said, there is one really screwy Rolex related detail on the models GMT-Master and if you look closely, her dial and crystal have somehow been rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Hmmnnn!?!!

To be completely transparent, I am still trying to wrap me head around the whole "BE THE GIRL FROM SMASH (smart, mean, and sassy he-hunters :-): AND DARE TO GET YOUR MAN, with the dangerous shades of Angel Face. "he-hunters", those must be her pronouns...

Greenland Sledge Patrol 1989 GMT-Master Ad...

Greenland Sledge Patrol 

1989 GMT-Master Ad

1967 Rolex Explorer AD

1967 Rolex Explorer AD

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Design Language Mystery Solved!!

 

2020 Rolex Oyster Perpetual 

Design Language Mystery Solved!!!

History doesn't repeat itself, but is sure does rhyme!?!!

Watches & Wonders is right around the corner, and the rumor mill is heating up! I can't help but wonder if Rolex might surprise us with some more new Stella style colored dials on the Oyster Perpetual models, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring this story back.

When Rolex introduced their all-new Oyster Perpetual models back in 2020 I remember thinking there was something really familiar about them, and like most people I assumed it was the Stella dial look.

1956 Rolex Oyster Perpetual 

Reference 6565

I was looking through my unpublished archives back on December 18, 2020 and discovered this 1956 Rolex ad and instantly I recognized the dual baton marker indices design language incorporated on the 15, 30 and 45 markers which is pictured below!!! As I have said so many times before, Rolex's future is in their past...

        “The vision recurs; the eastern sun has a second rise; history repeats her tale unconsciously, and goes off into a mystic rhyme; ages are prototypes of other ages, and the winding course of time brings us round to the same spot again.”  

—Mystic Rhyme 1845

Mysterious 1967 Rolex Daytona Ad

Mysterious 1967 Rolex Daytona Ad

Nick from Adpatina.com sent in this 1967 Rolex Daytona ad which features a mystery that Nick Gould first pointed out to me. The mysterious detail is that the Rolex chronograph in the ad lacks a tachymeter scale on the bezel or dial, which contradicts the text description which reads:

"The Rolex Daytona Chronograph is for pinning down your lap time to a fifth of a second. It has second, minute and hour stop-recorders as well as a small continuous second hand and tachometer engraving on the bezel." 

I reached out to vintage Rolex Dealer Eric Ku from 10pastten.com on this mystery. Eric Ku is like an 10th degree black-belt when it comes to Rolex knowledge.

Eric Ku said: 


"It's NOT a mistake. There is a batch of late Rolex Reference 6238 models with that same configuration. Late production 6238 cases that were well into production range of 6239 (1.2 Million or later Reference 6238 sometimes come like this).

Jake's Take: I have never seen one of these really rare Daytona models before which appears to have been some kind of transitional model. I have seen Pre-Daytona models that featured the scale on the dial as seen on George Lazenby below, but never one without a scale. I have seen other chronographs in the past that lacked any kind of scale and I thought they looked clean and interesting, as does this model. My best guess is Rolex experimented with this clean design and concluded the watch would look sportier or be more useful if it had a tachymeter scale.

George Lazenby

Rolex Pre-Daytona Chronograph

George Lazenby wore two different Rolex watches when he played James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Lazenby wore a Rolex Submariner as well as a Rolex Pre-Daytona Chronograph which we see in the photo below taken in 1968 by Heinz Baumann.

In the photo above of George Lazenby we see him flipping through his Louis Vuitton notepad which is a classic as the Pre-Daytona Rolex Chronograph he wore which is pictured below. The photo below is of the actual Rolex Chronograph pictured above on Lazenby's wrist. Lazenby's Rolex Pre-Daytona was originally sold by Bucherer in Interlaken, Switzerland and was purchased by Eon Productions on October 23, 1968. The original Bucherer receipt was made out to Mr. David Middlemas, Eon Production LT, with the price tag of 790 CHF.  This watch unique as it was the only Pre-Daytona Chronograph 6238 with a red hand. It featured a Caliber 722 which was produced by Rolex between 1965 and 1968. 

At the end of the film shoot, Eon productions decided to sell the wardrobe and accessories, as well as the watch. The accountant of the production bought the watch and later auctioned it with Christie's in December of 2003 in an auction in Kensington. The watch was offered for auction in by Artcurial Auction House in 2016 and the bidding reached €300,000, which was below the reserve price, so it did not sell.

In Search Of Hans Wilsdorf...

In Search Of 

Hans Wilsdorf

What an amazing week it has been in the world of Rolex. Seeing Rolex's founding father, Hans Wilsdorf almost come back to life on Rolex.org is so heartwarming and interesting! As a leading Rolex historian I have been in pursuit of unearthing and sharing Hans Wilsdorf's story for over a decade. Why? Because Hans Wilsdorf is one of the most successful and interesting entrepreneurs in the history of the world.

Hans Wilsdorf, Founder of Rolex in 1952

When I started Jake's Rolex World 11 years ago, there was almost zero information available anywhere on Hans Wilsdorf—and this frustrated me to no end. More than anything, it make me dig that much faster and deeper, and the result of all my research can be seen in my story titled, "The Complete History Of Rolex Leadership. Part 1: Founder Of Rolex—The Hans Wilsdorf Story, "Ghost In The Machine." 

Now Rolex seems to be more committed than ever to documenting his amazing story, and I hope they continue to share more details on what made him tick! In the coming years I hope to put even more puzzle pieces in place to complete my biography of Hans Wilsdorf!!! The single most inspirational detail about this endeavor is that I have only been able to put together so much detail based upon so many of my incredible international readers who constantly send in Hans Wilsdorf puzzle pieces.

As a matter of fact, the photo above just seemed to magically appear in my inbox minutes ago, and it came from a dedicated reader of mine named Alan who lives in Hong Kong, and is an AMAZING researcher!!! I have never seen the photo above of Hans Wilsdorf before today, and I am certain there is much more rich Wilsdorf content out there, and together we will find it and share it with the world!!!

LIEDL Jewelers

Linz, Austria

Founded in 1830

The source of this amazing Hans Wilsdorf photo is from the leading Rolex Authorized Dealer in Austria named LIEDL, which has been around since 1830. From what I understand, like with many of the Rolex authorized dealers in existence today, Hans Wilsdorf personally granted LIEDL their Rolex dealership, which made them the very first Rolex Authorized Dealer in Austria. LIEDL is the oldest jeweler in Linz and has was founded in 1830. As a matter of fact, Claudio Fallerini who was the chief architect of Rolex first took a look at the old LIEDL shop on Landstrasse, he said, "This can be really nice!"

LIEDL is pictured above in a recent photo and is located on Linzer Landstrasse. LIEDL has been offering high-quality mechanical watches for 188 years! Maximillian Carmann is the master watchmaker at LIEDL and has been a watchmaker for a quarter century. Maximillian is the only qualified master watchmaker in Upper Austria with all Rolex special training.

As an added bonus to this story I am including the only known video footage of Hans Wilsdorf which was filmed in 1959—one year before he passed away. Hans Wilsdorf speaks French in this interview and even if you don't speak French you get a good idea of his personality.

World Economic Forum Underway in Davos, Switzerland

World Economic Forum 

Davos, Switzerland

When most people think about Switzerland it conjures up watches, chocolate, fondue, great skiing, but Switzerland is one of the most important diplomatic hubs in the world, and as I write this the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is currently underway in Davos, Switzerland. U.S. President Donald Trump is the first U.S. President since Bill Clinton to attend the World Economic Forum and is scheduled to give the keynote speech. The Daily Mail has great coverage of this event if you are interested in learning more.

There is something so majestic and almost hypnotic about watching such a big bird descend and touch-down...


During the Obama administration, I ran a story that showed a great photo of Air Force One as it prepared to land in Cuba, but that story didn't have any video so I am making up for it now.  

It's a trip to watch Air Force One touching down in Switzerland at the Zurich Airport (@4:50). What's most interesting is to see the fleet of U.S. Military helicopters in the air, escorting Marine One, which looks like a scene out of Apocolypse Now (@1:40). Later in the video, we see the fleet of helicopters taking-off to escort the Marine One to Davos.

If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World, you might also be aware that I publish another online magazine named, "Jake's Presidential World", since I have always been fascinated with the trappings of the U.S. Presidency. Below is a video of President Trump Meeting with some of the most successful business leaders in the world.

The video below is of President Trump's speech that addressed the World Economic Forum.

If You Were Negotiating Here Tomorrow 

You'd Wear A Rolex

Geneva's Palais des Nations

This vintage Rolex ad showcases what is now referred to as UNOG, which stands for The United Nations Office At Geneva. The "Palace Of Nations" was built in Geneva between 1929 and 1936 as the headquarters for the League of Nations, which later evolved into the Geneva headquarters for the United Nations in 1946. Today, The United Nations In Geneva is busier than ever with international diplomats, and it primarily deals with social issues around the world.

Vintage Rolex Ad Appears Courtesy of The Concannon Collection