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: John Huston Stainless Steel Rolex Oyster Quartz Datejust

...Academy Award Winning Director...

...Rolex Coolness...

John Huston

Apple Think Different Poster

Stainless Steel Rolex Oyster Quartz Datejust

Movie directing legend, John Huston is pictured below in a vintage Apple "Think Different" Poster, sporting his stainless steel Rolex Oyster Quartz. This vintage Apple poster may become ironically prescient in several weeks, when Apple CEO, Tim Cook will likely showcase their iWatch smartphone platform at the WWDC Keynote in San Francisco, at the Moscone Center.

You also have to wonder what role Rolex may or may not play in smart watches in the future. The supreme irony in this poster is that John Huston appears in an Apple "Think Different" poster, and he is wearing a Rolex OysterQuartz, and of course Rolex and the entire Swiss watch industry was caught way off guard in the last major round of smart watch history, when the Swiss watch consortium that included Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Omega developed quartz watch technology in Switzerland, under the Beta 21 program, and then failed to take implementation action. 

The Japanese watch industry ended up wreaking havoc on the Swiss Watch industry. So it appears the Swiss watch industry is slated to undergo another major revolution with this newest round of smart watches, so one can't help but wonder how Rolex will redact this time around. As they say, time will tell. 

John Huston's career achievements were amazing and he directed many movies which are now considered classic, like, The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), Moby Dick (1956), The Misfits (1960), The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and Prizzi's Honor (1985). 

Vintage 1986 Fred Forsyth Rolex Ad...

Jake's Definitive Rolex Series: The Origins of The James Bond Stainless Rolex Submariner...

It all started with Ian Flemming who was a big Rolex Fan and the creator of the action-adventure figure, James Bond.  You can see Ian Flemming wearing his Rolex in these photos...

"a gentleman's choice of timepiece says as much about him as does his Saville Row suit"  –Ian Flemming