Rolex Macro Shot Of The Day: Jocke's Rolex GMT Master Close Up

...Rolex Macro Shot Of The Day...

Jocke's Rolex GMT Master Close Up

[Reference 1675]

Duran Duran Legendary 1980s Band Keeping Time With Rolex

I first reported on a member of Duran Duran wearing a Rolex back in 2008, with an early post on Simon Le Bon. This new story goes much more into detail on Simon Le Bon and other members of Duran Duran wearing Rolex.

Duran Duran Rio Album Artwork by ultra-talented 1980s Minamalist Pop Artist & Illustrator Patrick Nagel

Duran Duran

Legendary 1980s Band

Keeping Time With Rolex

In many ways, Duran Duran represents the ultimate 1980s band. The big hair, coupled with amazing songs, and of course they wore Rolex watches. In the photo below we see Duran Duran band members, drummer Roger Taylor, bassist John Taylor, and lead vocals Simon Le Bon. In this photo we see drummer, Roger Taylor and John Taylor both wearing two-tone Rolex Datejust models.

Duran Duran was founded in Birmingham, England in the United Kingdom in 1978, and were a major player in what is known as the Second British Invasion, which took place in the early 1980s, and included bands like, The Police, The Human League, ABC, Adam Ant, Bananarama, Bow Wow Wow, Culture Club, Thomas Dolby, The English Beat, The Fixx, Haircut 100, Heavan 17, Howard Jones, Madness, Modern English, Soft Cell, Spandau Ballet, Depeche Mode, The Style Council, Thompson Twins, Wham, The Kinks, Denys Midnight Runners, The Alarm, Flock of Seagulls, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, Billy Idol, The Pretenders, Gary Numan, The Cure, The Clash, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, Robert Palmer and New Order.

Roger Taylor

Bass Player

In the photo below we see Roger Taylor from Duran Duran wearing his two-tone Rolex Datejust.

John Taylor
Bass Player

In the next set of photos below we see John Taylor, the bass player in Duran Duran wearing his Rolex Datjust on a Jubilee bracelet, back in the 1980s.

In this next photo we see Duran Duran's bass player, John Taylor in 2015 sporting a Rolex Milgauss, on an Oyster Bracelet. John Taylor's wife, Gela Nash-Taylor was the cofounder of the famous Juicy Couture women's clothing line that originated in Los Angeles.

Simon Le Bon
Lead Vocals

In the photo below we see Duran Duran Lead Singer, Simon Le Bon in 1983 with band keyboardist, Nick Rhodes. Notice Simon Le Bon is wearing a stainless steel Rolex Datejust with a white dial on a Rolex Jubilee bracelet.

In the photo below we again see Simon Pictured below in 1983 wearing his Rolex Datejust, and notice his friend Claire is wearing a matching Rolex Lady-Date.

The photo below shows Simon Le Bon with his beautiful wife Yasmin Le Bon in 1985 wearing a Rolex Explorer on a Rolex Oyster bracelet. Yasmin Le Bon is a super-model and she has a really cool Yasmin Le Bon Blog she publishes.

Simon Le Bon is pictured below in a recent photo wearing a GV Rolex Milgauss, which has a green crystal...

Duran Duran has stayed together since 1978, and is currently on tour in the United States. The photo below shows Simon Le Bon in 2015 sporting a two-tone Rolex Submariner, with a blue bezel and dial. The photos of Simon Le Bon show him first wearing a Rolex in 1983, and span to today, which means he has been wearing Rolex for four decades!!!

2015 Duran Duran Concert

1962 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Coca-Cola 25 Years Of Service

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

1962 Rolex Oyster Perpetual

Coca-Cola 25 Years Of Service

Sotheby's Auction House recently sold this very interesting 1962 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Reference 6085. It is so interesting to see two super iconic names next to each other, like ROLEX and Coca Cola. One of the coolest details on the watch is that it has the older ROLEX dial designation which uses a raised, applied Rolex logo that uses the old san-serif typeface.

BaselWorld 2016 Reflections

BaselWorld 2016 Reflections

Rolex An Enormous Success 

Another BaselWorld has come and gone, and I would say this has been one of the most exciting and successful for Rolex. There were so many new and interesting models introduced, along with other iconic models that received significant upgrades. Rolex's history of timeless design which is constantly improved through a strong iterative process continues. During this BaselWorld we learned that The Reputation Institute awarded Rolex its highest honor by sharing the results of its 2016 Survey that concluded Rolex is the #1 Most Reputable Company On Earth!!!

2016 also represents the 90th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster model, as well as the 60th anniversary of The Rolex Day-Date. Also during BaselWorld, we got to celebrate the 135th Birthday anniversary of Rolex's founder, Hans Wilsdorf. BaselWorld 2017 should also be fascinating, and I already can't wait...

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

New Yacht-Master Color Combination

Sky Blue Second Hand and Dial Designation.

37MM & 40MM Models. Reference 116622

At BaselWorld 2016, Rolex introduced two new Yacht-Master models. This includes the all-new RootBeer Yacht-Master model I covered recently, as well as the model seen below which comes in a 37MM model, as well as a 40MM model. This steel and platinum model features a dark silver sunburst dial, with a sky-blue second hand, with a matching blue YACHT-MASTER dial designation.

The Rolex Yacht-Master has a fascinating history, as it was originally designed to be an alternative to the Rolex Submariner. You can learn all about the history of the Rolex Yacht-Master on Jake's Rolex World.

Jocke from Sweden took the photo below of the new 40MM Rolex Yacht-Master next to the 37MM model.

New Gold Rolex Daytona Models Very Cool New Color Dials

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

New Gold Rolex Daytona Models

Very Cool New Color Dials 

At BaselWorld 2016, Rolex showed off two new gold models. The first is in white gold and it has a cobalt blue sunburst dial with red 5 minute micro markers, with matching red inner sundial rings that match the Red DAYTONA Dial designation.

Rolex also showed off a yellow gold Daytona with a dark kelly green dial with red details as seen below. Both these watches are so great looking!!!! I could not help but notice the yellow gold Daytona has longer lugs than the white gold model...I have never been able to figure out why Rolex does this? Also, I am a big fan of colored dials. Not that there is anything wrong with a black or white dial. I just think these shades of blue and green are timeless and charismatic cool...

Jocke is a famous Rolex fanatic from Sweden and he attends BaselWorld every year. He took the photos below of the new Rolex models.

Rolex Rated #1 Most Reputable Company On Earth!!!

ROLEX Rated #1 

Most Reputable Company On Earth!!!

Reputation Institue Most Prestigious Award

This is a mind-blowing story, which at the same time is not surprising. Forbes Magazine just broke the news that The Reputation Institute ranked Rolex as the Number 1 Most Reputable Company On Earth. This accolade was based upon polling of close to a quarter million people in 15 countries around the globe according to the Reputation Institutes Annual 2016 Survey. This study is the largest global reputation study.

The following list shows the top 25 Most Reputable Companies On Earth:

1. Rolex

2. Disney

3. Google

4. BMW

5. Daimler (Owner of Mercedes-Benz)

6. Lego

7. Microsoft

8. Canon

9. Sony

10. Apple

11. Intel

12. Adidas

13. Nike

14. Rolls-Royce

15. Michelin

16. Johnson & Johnson

17. Samsung

18. Ferrero (Maker of Nutella:-)

19. Nintendo

20. Levi's

21. Amazon

22. Nestle

23. Philips Electronics

24. L'Oréal

25. Bosch

So what does this mean exactly? It's hard to say, but I will point out that to the best of my knowledge that out of the top 25 most reputable companies on earth, not only is Rolex ranked #1, but it is the only privately held company in this outstanding group.

The following comes from the Reputation Institute web page:

Reputation Institute is the world's leading research and advisory firm for reputation. We provide senior communications and marketing executives at global companies the single-best way to measure, communicate and manage reputation performance. With this insight, companies can protect their reputations, analyze risks and drive competitive advantage. We serve clients in more than 400 of the top Global 1,000 companies.

Our founders Charles Fombrun and Cees van Riel started the discipline of reputation management more than two decades ago. Groundbreaking professors specializing in business and corporate communications, they founded Reputation Institute in 1997. Founder Charles Fombrun created the original academic models for measuring reputation — refining them with the launch of Reputation Institute and RepTrak®.

Reputation Institute’s RepTrak® model is the gold standard for reputation measurement, providing a one-of-a-kind appraisal of how the general public views the world’s best-known companies. The RepTrak® database examines 15 stakeholders in more than 25 industries and more than 40 countries for more than 7,000 companies.

Reputation Institute’s research is considered the authoritative source for Corporate Reputation Management by the world’s leading publications, including The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Bloomberg, Information Week, NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. Our industry leaders are regularly sought out and appear in the news and on the radio, for example on NPR, CNBC, Fox Business News, BBC, and CNN.

Rolex "President" Day-Date 60TH Anniversary

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

Rolex "President" Day-Date

60TH Anniversary Reference 118348 

40MM EverRose Gold 

Rolex is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster which debuted in 1926. 2016 also represents the 60th anniversary of the Rolex Day-Date which was introduced in 1956. Rolex created a special 60th anniversary model with a green dial to commemorate this anniversary, and it comes with a green dial as seen below. Rolex is offering this model in EverRose Gold as seen below, as well as in White Gold, and both feature the new movement Caliber 3255. You can learn much more about this beauty on the Rolex Microsite dedicated to this model.

Happy Birthday 135th Birthday!!!! Hans Wilsdorf Founder Of Rolex...

...Rolex Ultra Super-Coolness...

Happy 135th Birthday!!!!

Hans Wilsdorf

Founder Of Rolex

1881-1960

Today is Hans Wilsdorf's 135th Birthday!!! It is beyond amazing to me that he left such an amazing legacy. I just updated his story on Jake's Rolex World named, "The Complete History Of Rolex Leadership. Part 1: The Hans Wilsdorf Years", which I highly recommend checking out if you have not already had the chance to. Happy Birthday Old Boy!!!!!! P.S. Notice how big those cups of coffee are :-)

Hans Wilsdorf in 1942 watching (no pun intended :-) his watchmakers work in Rolex workshop in Geneva, Switzerland

Happy 90th Birthday!!!!

Rolex Oyster

2016 represents the 90th Anniversary of the Rolex Oyster wristwatch, which was the first waterproof watch. The Rolex Oyster was the first of many, many, many innovations under the leadership of Rolex Founder, Hans Wilsdorf...

BaselWorld 2016 Introduction... The Return of The Rolex Air King

...BaselWorld 2016 Introduction...

The Return Of 

The Rolex Air King

40MM Stainless Steel: Reference 116900

Rolex seems to have really done well with all the Amazing watches introduced at BaselWorld 2016. Everybody thought Rolex had permanently discontinued the Air-King, several years ago, when they stopped making it, but sure enough, like with many other Rolex watches it has returned—and arguably for the better. Michael Bublé is pictured below sporting the all-new Rolex Air King model.

So let's take a closer look at the all-new Rolex Air King. It has a number of interesting details. For one, it is kind of retro-futuristic in the sense Rolex decided to re-use their "Air-King" typeface logo from the 1950s version of the same watch. This model also represents the first time Rolex has made a watch that is available to the public with the green and gold Rolex logo combo on the dial, but NOT the first time it has used it to keep time. More on that at the end of this article :-)

The Air King was originally introduced in 1945 as the Rolex Reference 4925 which used a Caliber 10.5' movement. The Rolex Air-King evolved from a previous Rolex named the Speed-King. At one time in the 1940s Rolex had many Airplane themed models including the Rolex Air-Lion, Air-Tiger, and Air Giant. 

The Rolex Speed-King was based upon Sir Malcom Campbell, who thought the 1920s and 1930s set one world land speed record after another, all while wearing Rolex watches.

On April 3, 1933 The Royal Air Force Squadron was the first to fly over Mount Everest. Pictured below is Flight Lieutenant David McIntyre who, with his squadron members flew into history as first men to fly over Mt. Everest, with their trusted Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches keeping their time.

The photograph below is the first photograph ever taken from above Mount Everest, from the 1933 Royal Air Force expedition that was famously equipped with Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches.

Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf was obsessed with achievement and supported many teams of explorers who tried to push the envelope.

So at this point, you are probably wondering what all this has to do with the all-new Rolex Air King!? 

The user-interface for the new Rolex Air-King was inspired by the Bespoke Rolex Clock Rolex made for the Bloodhound SSC, which you see in the cockpit photo below on the right.

What exactly is the Bloodhound SSC? It is a special vehicle designed to set break the all-time speed record and set a new speed record by driving faster than the speed of sound!!! And Rolex is not only custom made the speedometer and clock, but is also a sponsor of the Bloodhound project.

In conclusion the all-new Rolex Air-King looks like it is on its way to becoming a mega-hit. I say this because everybody I have talked to loves it, both women and men alike. A female friend of mine saw it and said "Wow!!! That's a really cool looking watch! I love the colors. Is it for woman?" 

Another friend of mine who is a hardcore watch nut said he loved it and can't wait to get one, and he is a serious watch snob. He also said that he really liked the dial because it reminded him of the The Rolex California dial. He said, "There is just something about that dial that is so cool, and I can't quite place it? It has to do with the contrast between the  large and bold 3, 6, and 9 markers, in juxtaposition with the digital looking other typeface. And I LOVE how Rolex setup the Rolex coronet and 'ROLEX' logo in the colors of their brand print logo. It just looks so instantly iconic and cool. I also love how it is bigger than the Rolex Explorer at 40MM v. 39MM, but its also 2MM thicker, so it is kind of like a Rolex Explorer on steroids."