The Time To Act Is Now

Dubai Watch Week above Image appears courtesy of Umar Muneer

The Time To Act Is Now

Below is a live broadcast that aired at 12AM PST, from Dubai Watch Week, which features a keynote discussion with Rolex CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, and Wei Koh, along with Abdul Hamied Seddiqui. They have a brilliant conversation about all things Rolex, and it's interesting as I believe this represents the first time I have heard Mr. Dufour speak English, which is fascinating...

ROLEX CEO Attends White House Meeting

ROLEX CEO

Attends White House Meeting with Swiss Business Leaders

Underscore Longstanding Economic Ties 

between Switzerland and the U.S. 

Hodinkee published an excellent article today titled "Business News: Rolex and Richemont Executives Among Swiss Business Leaders Meeting With Trump", and included this image that shows Rolex CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour in attendance. 

For the record, this is the first image I ever recall showing a Rolex CEO in the Oval Office with the President of the United States. This of course, is interesting when you take into consideration The Complete History of the Rolex President. I know former Rolex CEO, André-Jean Heiniger attended a function at the White House in 1977 with President Carter, but I have never seen any photos of him, or any other Rolex CEO in the Oval Office.

The Hodinkee article emphasized the nature of this Oval Office meeting and said:

Swiss business leaders, including the Chief Executive of Rolex, the Chairman of Richemont, and the co-founder of the private equity firm that controls Breitling, met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington this week to pledge support for ongoing trade talks between the two countries. The Swiss executive group, including Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour, said they met with the President at their own initiative to underscore the longstanding economic ties between Switzerland and the U.S. 

"While we gave our support to the ongoing negotiations between our two governments, we did not participate in any negotiations with the U.S. President. We expressed our belief that a bilateral trade agreement would further enhance economic collaboration in a manner beneficial to Switzerland and the United States," the private Swiss business group said in a joint statement.

President Trump posted the following on Truth Social on November 4, 2025 to commemorate and comment on his meeting with Swiss Executives:

To date, I haven’t discussed President Trump’s Swiss Tariffs, which make little sense to me. They appear to be an unfair and regressive tax on American consumers who fuel the $12 billion U.S. watch market. The 39% tariff would not be fair or equitable for either the Swiss watch industry or the American consumer. 

In an ironic twist of fate, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday, for 2.5 hours challenging President Trump's use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping tariffs.

Trump invoked IEEPA to declare national emergencies over fentanyl trafficking and trade deficits, issuing executive orders for "trafficking" tariffs (25% on Canada/Mexico, higher on China) and "reciprocal" or "Liberation Day" tariffs (10-50% on nearly all imports worldwide).

Challengers—educational toy makers Learning Resources and hand2mind, wine importer V.O.S. Selections, and 12 states led by Oregon—argued IEEPA's power to "regulate...importation" excludes tariffs (taxes reserved to Congress), no prior president used IEEPA this way, and it violates major questions doctrine and non-delegation principles.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer defended tariffs as traditional import regulation, citing Nixon-era precedent under IEEPA precursor.

Justices across ideological lines expressed skepticism: Chief Justice Roberts noted IEEPA's unprecedented tariff use; Justice Barrett questioned unlimited scope and refund logistics ("a mess"); conservatives like Gorsuch and Kavanaugh probed limits, invoking major questions.

Lower courts ruled against Trump; expedited SCOTUS review followed. The Supreme Courts decision is pending and they are expected to rule by January of 2026, which if they overrun President Trump would, potentially curb executive economic power.

It will be interesting to see how things play out, and if the Supreme Court overturns Trump, the 39% tariff will be dissolved, which I think is pretty likely. This would include overturning Trump's 47% Tariff on China.

U.S. Open President Trump with Rolex CEO...

U.S. Open

President Trump

with Rolex CEO

Trump and Dufour Hang Out 

I always seem to equate the U.S. Open finals with representing the end of summer, and this year will likely be certainly memorable. Rolex CEO, Jean-Frederic Dufour and President Donald Trump spent some time together today at the U.S. Open Tennis Finals as Trump was a guest in the Rolex suite during the Men's Finals today.

This is the latest high-profile athletic event Trump has attended after the Super Bowl in New Orleans, as well as the Daytona 500 in Florida, not to mention the UFC Fights in New Jersey, Newark and Miami.

What did the Rolex President say to the Rolex CEO?

I wonder if Dufuor and Trump discussed the ridiculously absurd American tariffs Trump imposed upon Switzerland at 39% for imported goods? Just one of the reasons such a tariff make no sense is it's greater than 2.5 times greater than the one imposed upon European Union goods exported to the U.S., and it's more than 4 times higher than than British exports to the United States. Hopefully they can sort this out, as Trump is a longtime wearer of Rolex as seen in the photos below.

Also in attendance today at Flushing Meadows, was "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen and he was rocking what appears to be a vintage Rolex Oyster Perpetual.

Below we see legendary NBA Basketball player, Stephen Curry praising Alvarez after making an amazing shot as they were making eye contact with each other.

Also, we see Jamaican musician Shaggy below, rocking his super cool Rainbow Rolex Daytona.

Today's match was between Number 1 Jannik Sinner and Number two ranked, Carlos Alcaraz, who are both Rolex Testimonies. Carlos Alcaraz (pronounced like Alcatraz, without a 't') won the match, and Rolex released the video below to showcase his win.

IF you didn't get a chance to watch the match live, you are in for a big treat as the recap below is excellent, and gives you the highlights of the AMAZING championship showdown. 

Rocking Roger Shows Up at U.S. Open Rocking Rare Rolex Daytona...

...Rolex Super Coolness...

Rocking Roger

Shows Up at U.S. Open

Rocking an Exclusive Yellow Gold

 'Le Mans' 100th Anniversary Daytona

First Time Rare Daytona Seen in Public

Man, I don't even know where to begin with this story!!! Roger Federer is not only the greatest tennis player in the history of professional tennis, but one of the coolest guys on the planet. Rocking Roger Federer in many ways is the living embodiment of Rolex, in the sense he was born and resides in Switzerland, and is a top Rolex brand ambassador, or to use fancy Rolex parlance, would be to say Roger is 'a Rolex Testimonee.'

So Roger Federer recently was seen at the U.S. Open with Rolex CEO, Jean-Frederic Dufour, (pictured above) who is also another really cool guy, with great style. Jean-Frederic Dufour has always kind of reminded me of Steve McQueen in that he looks like McQueen with his blond hair, and the way he wears his Rolex on his right wrist. 

As an example, we see Steve McQueen pictured above in the 1968 movie named Bullitt, where he is roaring through the streets of San Francisco in his Army Green Ford Mustang Fastback, and he is wearing a sports coat. If I told you the man driving the Mustang in the photo above was Rolex CEO, Jean-Frederic Dufour, and you didn't know otherwise, you could confuse them. Also, as I previously mentioned, Steve McQueen also famously wore his Rolex Submariner on his right wrist, as does Dufour. No, that's not Dufour pictured below, but Steve McQueen back in the day...

Back to the main story, I originally discovered the image below which is a crop from the first image in this story on Perpetual Passion's Instagram page, and Matthew Bega wrote a great story on PerpetualPassion.com titled "Roger Federer at the US Open with the new Rolex Daytona 'LeMans' in yellow gold, ref. 126528LN-0001". Also, our Captain Danny also wrote a story titled "Exclusive Rolex Daytona Seen in the Wild for the First Time".

The Rolex Daytona 126528LN-0001 was very quietly introduced "off catalog" by Rolex at Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Switzerland earlier this year, and it was almost identical to the original Rolex Daytona 100th Anniversary of Le Mans model with debuted in white gold earlier, but this one is yellow gold. 

Speaking of coolness factors, I will let you in on a Rolex strategic marketing strategy that most people probably are not aware of. Watch brands like to associate themselves with cool things. For instance, Omega wanted to associate themselves with the James Bond Franchise, and came out with watches that said "007" all over the dial which was an exercise is kitchy, campy goofiness. Rolex has always taken the opposite minimalist approach and the 100th Anniversary of Le Mans Daytona is a concrete example. 

Instead of plastering the name "Le Mans" all over the dial, Rolex ever so subtly added a red 100 on the bezel insert, as well as adding vintage Paul Neman Daytona Subdials, to set this beauty apart from all other Rolex Daytona models. For clarity sake, we see Paul Neman's actual Exotic White Dial Daytona pictured above, which sold at auction for more than $17 Million, and notice the three black subdials have markers that are shaped like a See's Candy Lollipop.

Matthew Bega from PerpeualPassion.com beautifully summarized the significance of Rocking Roger rocking this new Rolex model when he said:  

"This model features a yellow gold case with a black ceramic bezel and a dial with 'Paul Newman' style counters, a configuration very similar to the Daytona reference from the era of manual movements, the 6263/8.

The new Rolex Daytona 126528LN-0001 “LeMans” in yellow gold, unlike the references 126500 which mounts the caliber 4131, has a 24-hour totalizer thanks to the caliber 4132, a modified version of the caliber 4131 of the classic Daytona, making it perfectly suited to an endurance race such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

We could consider Roger Federer's appearance with the new Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 'LeMans' in yellow gold, as a real official launch. The most famous and recognized face among the Ambassadors of the Rolex family, with a new reference on his wrist that has found little space in the official communication of the brand.

What better communication strategy than having it worn by Roger Federer, the one who more than anyone else embodies the values ​​of the brand?"

Rolex Tool Watching: Middle East Rolex as a Political Tool Watch...

The Complete History of Rolex In The

Middle East

Rolex as a Political Tool Watch 

Rolex's amazing reputation precedes it, as arguably the most prestigious brand in history, and as a result remains The International Mark of Success throughout the world today. The Middle East is no exception and in the photo below we see current Rolex CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour with tennis legend, Roger Federer celebrating the opening of the world's largest Rolex Boutique which opened last year in Dubai.

Emkwan takes us an an AMAZING tour of the worlds largest Rolex Story in the video below.



Esquire Magazine also created a great overview of the Rolex Boutique in this superb video:



In this fascinating story we are going to hop in The Rolex Time Machine and travel back more than a half-century to the Middle East to learn how Rolex became THE CHOICE for Kings, Sultans, Politicians and military leaders in the Middle East. We begin with this photo of Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf in Egypt, on the Giza Plateau located on the West bank of the Nile. 

In the photo above on the far left we see the famous Egyptian Sphinx which depicted a man with the body of a lion. The Sphinx is the oldest documented monumental sculpture in Egypt as it dates back to more than 4500 years to around 2540 B.C. In the background we see an ancient Egyptian Pyramid at the Giza Pyramid Complex. Hans Wilsdorf (founder of Rolex) is pictured on the left in the horse drawn carriage sitting next to a man named Evelpides who was a Rolex watch dealer in Egypt. We also see Hans Wilsdorf' wife sitting on the camel.

This next image above of Hans Wilsdorf was taken in 1949 in the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain, which shows Hans Wilsdorf with Naj Murad, who founded Modern Art Studio in Bahrain, which remains a successful Rolex Authorized Dealer today. One thing is for sure and that is the fact Hans Wilsdorf loved traveling the world and kept in seemingly constant communication with the Rolex dealer network he built over more than half a century...

When we think of a Rolex tool watch, we typically think of a Submariner, GMT-Master or Daytona, but as we see in this story many powerful men used their Rolex Datejust and Day-Dates as tool watches as a symbol of leadership and integrity.

Rolex Tool Watching

In the photo below, discovered by Nick Gould, we see Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1965 rockin his Rolex Day-Date as he sits with his family while having a cup of tea near Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Zayad ruled Abu Dhabi for more than 30 years, and the photo below was taken just before he took over as the Ruler of UAE.

From Right to Left: HRH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Sheikh Sultan Biz Zayed Al Nayhan (His second eldest son), and Obaid Rin Rashid Al Mansoori.

Speaking of Sheikhs wearing Rolex Day-Date models, we see Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani pictured below shaking hands with the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Adile Sultan Palace in Instanbul in 2014. Notice Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is wearing a Platinum Rolex Day-Date. It's fascinating to note that despite the fact the Sheikh pictured above and below are not related (at least, not that I am award of) they look so similar even though the photos were taken a half-century apart from one another! This image was also discovered by Nick Gould.

Rolex watches have also been very popular in the free state of Israel as wee see in the photo below on the wrists of Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon during the Yom Kippur War which took place from October 6 through October 25, 1973. 

ISRAEL

Military & Political Leadership

Let's start with taking a look at Rolex in Israel. I remember when I was a kid growing up in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early 1970s watching cartoons on the weekend, and there were these really confusing TV commercials for a show named "In The News." The commercials used to say things like "In Lebanon today, Palestinian Gorillas (PLO) hijacked an Airplane, or Gorillas attacked the Sinai peninsula and Golan Heights, or in the Suez Canal, or on the Gaza Strip and West bank—In The News." Of course they were saying 'Guerrillas', but as a small child of four to seven years old I thought they meant that Gorillas (as in very large monkeys) were attacking people in a bank :-) Little Kid Logic (LKL) is always a funny thing...

Rolex on the Wrists of Israel's Security Men

Moshe Dyan and Ariel Sharon pictured above both wearing Rolex Datejust watches on October 1, 1973 in the Suez Canal. Israeli Army Southern Command, General Ariel Sharon with Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan during the Yom Kippur War on the western bank of the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Israel is located on the Mediterranean Sea, and it's considered to be the Biblical Holy land by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Despite having such a historically significant background, Israel was founded in 1948 making it one of the youngest countries in the world. This section story is focused around four military men who helped form Israel into the country it is today. Every Israeli citizen is required to serve in the Military, so basically all politicians have a military background.

Israeli Prime Minister Levy Eshkol with Defense Minister, Moshe Dyan visiting an Israeli army camp in the West Bank after the Six-Day War in 1967.

This group of four men has been referred to as "Israel's Security Men" by Thomas G. Mitchell who wrote a book with that title. Mitchell coined the term "Military Politicians" in his book to describe these four men.

Moshe Dayan

Moshe Dayan is pictured below wearing his signature eyepatch which he gained as a result of loosing his eye in a battle in 1941.

Moshe Dayan appeared on the Sunday Morning CBS News TV show "Face The Nation" on December 9, 1973 and was wearing his Rolex Datejust. It doesn't just tell time. It tells history...

In the photo below we see Israel Chief of Staff, Moshe Dayan (Third from left) standing next to Ariel Sharon (second from left) on October 28, 1955. The other men in the photo were commanders of a raid in Kunteila, Egypt. 

Ariel Sharon

Rolex Datejust

Ariel Sharon joined the Israeli army in 1948 at its inception, and began as a paratrooper during the Israeli War of Independence, and continued to play a key role in each of the following wars.

Ariel Sharon is pictured below on October 31, 1973 in the Sinai Dessert in Egypt. At the time Ariel Sharon was the Southern Command General and in this photo he is standing on the banks of the Suez Canal, which is located in the Sinai Desert during the Yom Kippur War. Notice he is wearing a Rolex Datejust.

Ariel Sharon is pictured below on August 29, 1982 on the CBS Sunday Morning TV show named "Face The Nation". In this photo then, Israeli Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon is reviewing a map of Israel and Lebanon. Notice his Rolex Datejust on his wrist.

Yitzchak Rabin

Rolex Datejust

Yitzchak Rabin was an Israeli General, politician and statesman. He served as the 5th Prime Minister of Isreal for two terms from 1974-1977, and again in 1992 until he was assassinated in 1995.

In the photo above and two photos below we see Yitzchak Rabin wearing his Rolex Datejust on an Oyster bracelet.

Ehud Barak

In the 2011 photo below we see Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak hugging Leon Panetta who was the U.S. Defense Secretary. Barak is wearing a two-tone Rolex GMT-Master.

King Hussein

1935-1999

King Hussein of Jordan is pictured below with his wife Queen Alia and their children. King Hussein was the King of Jordan from 1952 until he passed away in 1999, and during his tenure as King had an AMAZING collection of Rolex watches.

The photo below was discovered by Nick Gould and shows King Hussein wearing an unusual Rolex Day-Date in 1962 on a Jubilee Bracelet.

This next photo of King Hussein was taken in 1982 and it shows him wearing his "Mocha GMT" on a Jubilee Bracelet.

Muammar Gaddafi


1942-2011

The photo below shows Libyan revolutionary and General, Muammar Gaddafi when he was a younger man, and notice he is wearing his Rolex Datejust.

In this next photo we see Muammar Qaddafi wearing his Rolex Datejust as he chats with King Hussein of Jordan who is wearing his Rolex GMT-Master, and on the far right we see Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat. This photo was taken on September 30, 1970 just after former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser passed away.

Hosni Mubarak

1928-2020

Hosni Mubarak is a former Egyptian President (1981-2011), Prime Minister (1981-1982), Vice President (1975-1981) and military leader in the Egyptian Air Force where he served as a Commander from 1972-1975. He was born in 1928 and was ousted from office in 2011. In the photos below we see him wearing his two-tone Rolex GMT-Master on a Jubilee bracelet. I recall also seeing photos of him wearing a Rolex Dayt-Date which I will find and add to this story in the future.

Yassar Arafat

1929-2004

Yassar Arafat was the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 until he passed away in 2004, and as we see he wore a Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet.

Saddam Hussein


1937-2006

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is pictured below on January 20, 1999 spoking a cigar near Bagdad in Iraq, and we is wearing a Rolex Datejust. 

I decided to consolidate all my previous stories on Arabic Rolex watches below. Rolex used to make special Rolex watches with custom artwork for the Arab markets and many of these vintage Arabic Rolex watches are considered to be highly collectable and valuable today:

Originally Published: April 1, 2018

A Different Kind Of 

Rolex President

Hafez al-Assad Custom Arabic Rolex Explorer Dial

[Reference 16550]

Back in 2010, Sotheby's auctioned this one-of-a-kind custom dial Rolex Explorer which belonged to Hafaz al-Assad, who was the President of Syria. It is a vintage 1989 Rolex Explorer II, and it is a very early version of the Polar dial Explorer II with white gold indices and matching white gold hands.

Originally Published: June 7, 2014

...Auction Results...

Sultan of Oman Rolex Day-Date Models

Record Setting Price Results at Christies Auction

Christies recently auction off some amazing Rolex watches on May 12, 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland that were made for the Sultan of Oman, and this auction included a number of Rolex Day-Date "Presidential" models that shattered previous records. We begin with this platinum Rolex Day-Date made which was made in 1974, and features a blue dial with a red Omani crest, coupled with diamond dial markers and with matching diamonds running around the bezel. This watch was estimated to sell for between $51,000 and $79,000, and it ended up selling for more than four times the estimate at $352,119!!! Basically, vintage Rolex watches are going through the roof at auction!!!

The next watch pictured below which features baguette cut baton markers cut from rubies on a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date [Made in 1984 Reference 18038, Caliber 3055], as well as the Omani crest on the dial. This watch was estimated to sell from between $42,000 to $82,000 and it ended up selling for $182,287!!!

On a side note, watches that were made by Rolex that feature Arab logos on the dial are typically know as "Arabic Rolex Watches."

Next up we see another yellow gold Rolex Day-Date made for the Sultan Of Oman, and this one was made in 1979, and it sold also had an estimate selling price of between $42,000 and $68,000, but sold for more than double at $168,700.

Originally Published: January 4, 2014

...Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day...

Ryan's United Arab Emirates GMT

Very Rare Blueberry Bezel on a NATO

The watch below recently cause a bunch of controversy which you can learn more about by checking out my story on the GMT-Blueberry Myth.

Originally Published: March 1, 2012

Omani Rolex Daytona Models

Arab dial logo custom Rolex watches are really cool and highly collectable. Today we look at two different versions of the same Rolex Daytona [Reference 6263]. This first one is from Stefano Mazzariol.

This next Omani dial Rolex Daytona [Reference 6263], has a green Omani sword logo and it appears courtesy of Cortez Ramon.

Originally Published: Feb 6, 2012

...Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day...

An Omani Rolex Cosmograph

Some of these vintage Rolex Chronographs with Arab dials are so cool looking, like this Omani Cosmograph.

Originally Published: March 11, 2010

Wrist Shot Of The Day

United Arab Emirates Daytona

Stainless Steel Rolex Daytona 6263

Rolex used to make customized dials for watches or countries. The "Arab Dial" watches are very highly collectible since they look so unusual and cool. This stunning example of a Rolex Daytona [Reference 6263] belongs to NBTimes.

Originally Published: October 23, 2009

Amanico's GMT Master

From The United Arab Emirates

Amanico took this stunning photo of his vintage Rolex GMT Master that was made for the United Arab Emirates. The UAE Eagle logo looks really cool!!! I never noticed before, but it appears the UAE Eagle has a sailboat symbol on its chest.

Originally Published: June 9, 2009

Omani Sea-Dweller

The dial on this very interesting looking Rolex Sea-Dweller [Reference 1665] has the emblem of the Sultanate of Oman which is a sheath over two crossed swords. These very rare watches were made in 1972 and given to the SAS (Special Air Service) regiment soldiers from the Sultan of Oman.

Photo Credit: Cortez Ramon




Originally Published: June 21, 2009

Amir of Qatar Rolex

The portrait on the dial of this custom-made Rolex is of the former Amir of Qatar whose name is Sheikh. Khalifa Al Thani.

This photo is of a Rolex watch sold by Christie's Auction house.

I find this Rolex watch to have very interesting design language and I think it looks very, very cool.

One of the details I noticed on this watch is that under the Rolex Crown on the dial it says Rolex and then it says "Geneve." 

I think that would mean the "Geneve" seal which is the highest Swiss Certification a watch can have. I don't recall ever seeing the "Geneve" seal on a Rolex before? Most Patek Philippe's have the "Geneve" seal.