The World of Rolex

 

The WORLD of ROLEX

     

 "History may not repeat itself, 

but it sure does rhyme."

I was recently having a conversation with a friend of mine who asked me about how and why I started Jake's Rolex World @RolexMagazine.com? 

Earlier JAKE'S ROLEX WORLD @RolexMagazine.com Header pictured above

I will share the story with you: 15 years ago, when I started blogging about Rolex I needed a name, so I came up with "JAKE'S ROLEX WORLD" as I had so many fascinating anecdotes I wanted to share about my experiences with the Rolex brand. It's funny, because I almost didn't start my Rolex blog, as I thought to myself: "I LOVE Rolex, but I'm worried I might quickly run out of content as Rolex really only makes 5-6 trademark models!?!!" Thankfully I threw caution to the wind and started blogging like a mad man.

I created the slogan of "Exploring the Wonderful World of Rolex", and in retrospect I think it kind of reminded me of "The Wonderful World of Disney", which I remember from my childhood. Today my slogan reads: "Exploring The Perpetual World Behind The Crown", which to my way of thinking is a bit more Rolexy...

Speaking of funny, I am 56 years old today, and I mentioned to my friend that if somehow we were able to go back in time 20 years ago, when I was 36 years old, and bring me to today and show me, 'here you are in 2022 going on 2023, and you started a website named Jake's Rolex World @ RolexMagazine.com', I probably would have responded and said something like: "Are you Sure????!!!!! I think you must have the wrong Jake..." 

In my craziest dreams I don't think I ever would have thought I would go on to become the world's leading Rolex historian, but that is the way it's worked out, and the truth is that I am still madly in love with capturing and sharing my insight on Rolex with my readers...And I can assure you that the BEST IS YET TO COME...

Reality is Stranger Than Fiction

Another supreme Irony is Rolex used to publish a precursor to The Rolex Magazine named "The World of Rolex", and we see the title cover of the front page pictured above from an issue published in 1995. For the record—to the best of my recollection—I never knew this publication existed, and only discovered it several years ago, and I was like 'Wow!!! What an amazing coincidence!?!!' It turns out it is a small world after all...

One of my favorite quotes sums it up perfectly:

        “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

One More ROLEX WORLD

The precursor to the publication mentioned above was another Rolex Magazine named ROLEX WORLD, and we see the cover of the April 1975, which was No 4.

Paper v. Digital

When I look at the pages from the Rolex World Magazine from 1975, I can't help but think about how back then it was a paper only world, and despite this fact Rolex still prints a biannual The Rolex Magazine which is paper, I publish Jake's Rolex World online only 365 days a year, only digitally on the web...

When a man has a WORLD in his hands,

you expect to see a Rolex on his wrist...

From 1966 to 1968 Rolex featured an ad campaign that had a slogan that read "When a man has a world in his hands, you expect to see a Rolex on his wrist", and if you look at the Rolex Magazine ad below you see that slogan at the bottom.

The Very First Rolex Day-Date

Rolex Day-Date Genesis Patent Discovered!!!

I have some stunning news to share with you about a discovery I recently made. How stunning is this news you ask? So stunning, I had to borrow Hodinkee's "BREAKING NEWS" Moniker again, as seen above!!

Very little was known about the origins of the Rolex Day-Date until today. Questions like, who designed the movement, and what inspired Rolex to come out with such a watch have never been answered or even addressed? Today, that changes...

Below is one of the most remarkable pieces of Rolex history I have uncovered. You are looking at a patent application which was originally filed in Switzerland in February of 1950 for what would become the Rolex Day-Date. This patent application is significant as it predates the original 1955 Rolex Day-Date patent application by five years!!!!

This patent, which credits Marc Huguenin as being the inventor, shows Rolex's first attempt at creating a watch that displayed both the Day & Date on the watch dial. Rolex never brought this actual watch design to market, but I am certain it was the precursor to the Rolex Day-Date.

I published the story below last week, and am including it with this breaking news as the Patent Application from July 23, 1955, also credits Marc Huguenin as the inventor of the Rolex Day-Date.

1955

The Very First Rolex Day-Date

It never ceases to amaze me how timeless Rolex watches are, and in this photo, we see the very first Rolex Day-Date model which was patented by Rolex in 1955 and introduced at Basel Fair in Switzerland in 1956, which is 62 years ago!!! I love the red date wheel along with the red Day-Date designation on the dial. The Rolex Day-Date is commonly referred to as  The Rolex President, which is a fascinating story in and of itself.

My old friend, John Goldberger wrote in and included the photo below and said:

Dear Jake,

This is the first Day-Date with its original dial! The Day-Date showed today in your blog came from the Rolex collection but its dial is redone like many other dials in the Rolex Geneva collection!

Ciao John

It is worth noting that the Rolex Day-Date pictured above [36MM: Case Number: 134636, Caliber 1055] is the earliest know Day-Date in existence. It was manufactured in 1956 and sold in Italy, and the all details on the watch are original including the dial. The original hands on this watch are dauphine hands and the baton markers are pointed. Rolex later updated the hands and baton marker to make them all rectangular. 

I actually prefer the old-school style dauphine hands and markers which are late art-deco, which was a mid-century design known as Populuxe, which is reminiscent of 1959 Cadillac tailfin. Also, notice the date wheel was red, and in the photo below from Mondani Editore, we see an early Rolex Day-Date point of sale display which is showcasing a Reference 6511.

This is kind of a Rolex Mythbuster of sorts in the sense that the very first Rolex Day-Date models [Reference 6511 and 6510] came ONLY with Jubilee bracelets as seen in the photo above as well as the Rolex magazine ad below. When Rolex introduced the Day-Date at Basel Fair in 1956 it only came in 18Kt pink or yellow gold on a Jubilee bracelet. 

1956 Basel Fair Rolex Ad introducing the Rolex Day-Date Model

On July 23, 1955, Marc Huguenin from Rolex in Geneva filed a patent application #323982 (pictured below), which featured a seven toothed star wheel which sat on top of a 31 tooth calendar wheel. Both wheels were ratcheted once ever twenty-four hours at midnight.

The "President" bracelet would be added a year later in 1957 with the introduction of the Rolex Reference 6611, which featured an improved caliber 1055 that had a new free sprung Micro-Stella balance. This new model was also the first to feature the "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified" designation on the dial. Notice the original Day-Date model pictured above has a dial designation that reads, "Superlative Chronometer by Official Test."

A few years ago I wrote an article for Rolex's paper magazine about the Rolex Day-Date, also known as the Rolex President, and I decided to share it below as part of this amazing Rolex history:

THE ROLEX MAGAZINE

ISSUE NUMBER 4

THE ROLEX PRECEDENT

BY

JAKE EHRLICH

Rolex asked me to write an article about the Rolex Day-Date, A.K.A., The Rolex President for their print Magazine, in Issue Number 4. 

I decided to title the story as "The Rolex Precedent", which is obviously a play on "The Rolex President." I hope you enjoy reading my article as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Tip: The way to read the story is to click on the first magazine page below, which should make it larger in your browser, then you can use the right and left keys on your keyboard to navigate through the pages.

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE ROLEX PRESIDENT

Table Of Contents

Part 1: Genesis

Part 2: Reclamation

Part 3: Ike Likes Rolex

Part 4: Mamie, We Are Not In Kansas Any More (Rolex Loves Ike) Ike Likes Rolex

Part 5: President Eisenhower's Rolex

Part 6: The Podcast (With the owner of President Eisenhower's Rolex)

Part 7: Heaven

Part 8: The Eisenhower Legacy

Part 9: They Mystery of the JFK Rolex President 

Part 10: Everybody Wants To Rule The World-LBJ's Rolex President

Part 11: President Gerald Ford Gets His Rolex President

Part 12: President Ronald Reagan and his Rolex Datejust

Part 13: President Bill Clinton and his Rolex Day-Date 

Part 14: Dick Cheney-The Rolex Vice-President

Part 15: President Obama and his Rolex Cellini

Part 16: President Trump - The Newest Rolex

Part 17: Origins Of "The Rolex President" Watch Name

Part 18: The Rolex Precedent by Jake Ehrlich