The 2019 Australian Open

The 2019 Australian Open

Rolex is the Official Timekeeper of the Australian Open and they just released this really cool video as The tennis tournament begins its first round. 

The "Barbara Daytona" "I'm Going To Be A Fighter Pilot"

...Rolex Hotness...

The "Barbara Daytona"



"I'm Going To Be A Fighter Pilot"

They say that "Every Rolex Tells A Story", and this exotic dial Rolex Daytona is not only magnificent, but it comes with an AMAZING Rolex story! This is the story of Barbara Goetz who was and amazing airplane pilot...and after all, what's sexier than a woman wearing a man's Rolex!?!!

Jacek from H.Q. Milton told her story on Instagram under his watchand handle:

"This is not a Paul Newman Daytona this is a Barbara Daytona. Let me tell you about Barbara. When she was asked by her principle as a student conference meeting what she wanted to do she said, “I’m going to be a fighter pilot”... 

Jacek continues: "Her mom who was embarrassed apologized but Barbara never did. She went on to race planes around the world, become an airplane mechanic, work in air search and rescue, work on the Polaris A-2 Missile program tactical thrust vector control system... basically she shattered any box anyone put her in. “Sometimes on solo flights I would fly 20-30 feet above the ocean and push the plane as fast as possible, let go of the controls, and scream at the top of my lungs!” - Barbara (while wearing the exotic Dial Rolex Daytona)

Jacek is pictured below with Barbara at H.Q. Milton headquarters in San Francisco. Jacek is a top-notch vintage Rolex dealer that I have know for a long time.

I am currently working on an update to my story titled, "The Complete History Of The Rolex GMT-Master" and for some reason this vintage Rolex ad from 1969 reminded my of Barbara's story.

 Female aviators wearing men's Rolex tool watches

The history of female aviators wearing men's Rolex tool watches is fascinating. This story of a radical real-life female pilot also reminds me of Honor Blackman wearing a man's Rolex GMT-Master in Goldfinger, which can be seen in my story titled, "How Women Began Wearing Men's Rolex Watches".

1960

Sheila Scott

It is interesting to note that Pussy Galore's character was actually based on Sheila Scott, who broke over 100 aviation records in her lifetime of flying airplanes. She was the first person to fly over the North Pole in a small aircraft. Sheila began was a British Actress who learned became an airplane pilot. This 1960 Rolex GMT-MASTER magazine ad is probably how Rolex adroitly first got women to wear men's Rolex watches.

In 1966 Sheila Scott set an world aviation record when she set a new record for her solo flight around the world in a light aircraft. She took off from Heathrow Airport in London, England and flew eastward to become the very first person to circumvent the globe in a solo flight. Sheila had some unusual habits when she flew. For instance she primarily flew barefoot, which she said helped her feel the airplane vibrations. 

Sheila Scott is pictured in the Rolex ad two images above, and in the photo above, we see her sporting her Rolex GMT-Master. I think it is very likely that Sheila Scott was the archetype for the Pussy Galore character in the 1964 James Bond movie, Goldfinger. The image below is a screen grab taken from the end of Goldfinger and is shows Honor Blackman, who plays Pussy Galore, sporting a Coke GMT-Master.

Another Piece Of The Steve McQueen /Loren Janes Submariner Story Discovered...

Another Piece Of The

Steve McQueen 

Loren Janes Submariner 


Story Discovered

Nick Gould is an AMAZING researcher and he recently discovered a significant new piece of the Steve McQueen/Loren Janes Submariner mystery puzzle which we will be exploring in this story. What is cooler than Steve McQueen rockin' one of his stainless steel Rolex Submariner watches? Not much, which is one of the reasons I continue to find this story to be fascinating.

If you are new to this story, I will offer you a brief overview of how this story unfolded last year. Let's begin by looking at the photo below of Steve McQueen and Loren Janes taken in Hong Kong in 1966 on the set of Sand Pebbles.

Last year Loren Janes Rolex Submariner came up for auction and it featured an engraving from Steve McQueen as seen below. Keep in mind this is no ordinary Rolex, but one that has been to hell and back...They say "Every Rolex Tells A Story" and the back story on this watch is beyond epic and should be made into a movie...To understand the controversy behind this Rolex be sure to check out my story titled, "...Final Conclusions & Analysis...Did Steve McQueen give Loren Janes His Submariner?"

As I mentioned earlier, Nick Gould is an amazing researcher and he recently discovered and shared the following reproduction with me of a story Loren Janes wrote back in 1982 about his experience with getting bitten by a snake in 1966 while shooting on the set of Sand Pebbles in Hong Kong. I will remind you that Doc Duhame, who is a leading Stuntman and Stunt Coordinator for the Showtime hit, Ray Donovan told me a story about how Steve McQueen confirmed to him in front of Loren Janes that he gave Steve McQueen the Rolex pictured above. 

Steve McQueen said to Doc Duhame, "Trust me, Loren earned this Rolex Submariner when we worked together on the set of Sand Pebbles!" Steve was specifically talking about the Hellish experience Loren went through while shooting on the set. So let's hop in the Rolex Time Machine and head back to 1982  to get the story directly from Loren Janes:

Special Thanks to Nick Gould for sharing his research findings with us. Nick and I are still investigating this story and I am aware of a lot of details I have not published yet. I would say that this story is far from over, but as they say, time will tell :-)

Sir Malcolm Campbell Set's 300MPH Speed Record on Daytona Beach 1935

...Rolex Speed Kings...

Sir Malcolm Campbell

Set's 300MPH Speed Record on Bonneville Salt Flats 1935

I was just tripping on this Sir Malcom Campbell Rolex ad from 1935, which is part of my story named "The Complete History Of The Rolex Daytona Cosmograph." 

Chuck Yeager

First Person To Break The Speed Of Sound Barrier

More than a decade before Chuck Yeager set the all-time speed record for level flight, when he broke through the sound barrier in 1947, Sir Malcolm was breaking one land-speed record after another, and one thing both men had in common, was they both depended on their trusted Rolex Oyster watches to keep their time. Does Campbell's Bluebird look like the modern Bat-mobile or what?

Both Chuck Yeager and Sir Malcolm Campbell depended on their Rolex watches as pure tool watches. 

Stan Barrett

First Person to Drive Faster Than The Speed of Sound

44 years later, in 1979, Stan Barrett broke the speed of sound barrier on land when he drove his Budweiser rocket car into the history books @ Edwards Air Force Base, where 32 years earlier, Chuck Yeager broke the speed of sound barrier in his X-1 Airplane. 3 Men. 3 Speed Kings. 3 World Records. 3 Rolex watches.

Bark & Jack: All About The Batman...

Bark & Jack 

I Finally Got The Batman!!!

Adrian from Bark & Jack is a Rolex fanatic—4 Sure! The next two videos are fascinating as Adrian documents not only acquiring his first Rolex from an AD, but a Batman nonetheless. 

In the second video, Adrian does a review and makes some interesting points regarding his new Batman. I recently published a story refuting the story that said Rolex was discontinuing the Night & Day GMT-Master, which is named: "FAKE NEWS!!! BATMAN DIDN'T DIE"

Man This Looks Good!!!

Man This Looks Good!!!

I noticed this unusual strap on Instagram from rolex_lover and I have to say I think it looks great!

View this post on Instagram

Rolex Submariner On: @everestbands By: @mo_watches #Rolex #Mondani #Rolexero #wwatches #DeRelojes #TheWatchesClub #RolexWrist #Horology #Menstyle #instawatch #Watches #Watchgeek #Wristgame #Wristshot #Dapper #Timepiece

A post shared by Watch Lover ⌚️♛ (@rolex_lover) on Dec 26, 2018 at 9:27am PST

Lloyd Blaine Hammond The Earlist Rolex Aboard A Space Shuttle Mission

Earliest Documented Rolex GMT-Master 

Aboard a NASA Space Shuttle Mission




Lloyd Blaine Hammond

1991 Space Shuttle DISCOVERY Mission STS-39 

Pepsi-GMT-Master

As we head into 2019, I am really excited to share this superb story with you of the first Rolex aboard a Space Shuttle Mission which was STS-39 Discovery, and the Pepsi GMT-Master was space worn by Lloyd Blaine Hammond as seen below in his official NASA portrait.

Lloyd Blaine Hammond pictured above in 1984 wearing his Pepsi GMT-Master

The photo above shows Lloyd Blaine Hammond 35 years ago—in 1984—sporting his Pepsi GMT-Master. Hammond is a Gulfstream test pilot and former US Air Force officer and former NASA Astronaut who flew on two Space Shuttle Missions. 

The photo above and below show Hammond taking-off aboard Space Shuttle Mission STS-39 on April 28, 1991 from Kennedy Space Center on Launch Complex LC-39A at 11:33:14 UTC.

The photo below shows the prime crew of Space Shuttle STS-39 and we see Hammond pictured third from the right where you see his GMT-Master peaking out of his NASA space-suit.

The photo below shows Hammond aboard Space Shuttle STS-39 in 1991, and he is pictured in the back row in the center wearing his Rolex GMT-Master. STS-39 was the twelfth Space Shuttle Mission of Shuttle Discovery

This story is obviously a very exiting revelation in putting together pieces of the Rolex In Space puzzle and it comes with a superb twist. I have been communicating with Philip who is the administrator of the Moon Watch Universe MWU-blog which focuses on space-flown wrist watches. 

Philip is working on a new article which will be published in the BIS monthly magazine Spaceflight, and his upcoming article is named "Shake Rattle & Rolex." This exciting new article will add many new puzzle pieces to the space-flown Rolex story and feature many never before published photos that document the history of Rolex in space. The photo above and below of Hammond wearing his Pepsi GMT-Master in this story appear courtesy of Philip. Philip worked for 35 years as an officer in the NATO Integrated Air Defense System.  To learn more about Philip you can check out this fascinating interview on MoonwatchOnly.com.

The photo below above and video below show Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-39 successfully landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The photo below shows the crew of STS-39 standing in front of the Space Shuttle after landing. You can learn more about Rolex aboard Space Shuttle in my story on Dr. Leroy Chiao.

 Space Shuttle DISCOVERY 

1994 STS-64

Lloyd Blaine Hammond was the pilot of the 1994 Space Shuttle Mission and we see him wiping his glasses with his Pepsi GMT-Master front and center. In between STS-39 and STS-64 Hammond's personal Rolex GMT-Master stayed 19 days and 6 hours in space!!!

STS-64 was an unusual mission that tested Lidar-In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE) which studied cloud formations and Earth's atmosphere with laser beams. 

STS-64 was also the first untethered space walk in a decade. STS-64 also studied the sun's corona and solar wind with a Spartan satellite that was deployed and later retrieved by the Space Shuttle.

The photo below shows STS-64 touching down at Edwards Air Force Base in Califorina by pilot, Lloyd Blaine Hammond in 1994.

The photo below shows STS-64 Discovery riding piggyback on a 747-SCA as it takes off from Edwards Air-Force Base in California on its ferry flight ride back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Wei Koh Explores Ron K's Paul Newman Daytona Collection

Wei Koh Explores Ron K's
Paul Newman Daytona Collection
Wei Koh from Revolution Watch Magazine just published this AMAZING video where he interviews Ron K in Singapore and they discuss Ron's INCREDIBLE Paul Newman Daytona Collection. By watching this video it's incredible how much you can learn from Wei about the history of Paul Newman Daytona models. The history of Paul Newman's Daytona of course is intertwined with the The History of The Rolex Daytona Chronograph in many ways.

I am a HUGE fan of Wei Koh who is EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGABLE and his level of Rolex scholarship blows my mind!!! I love listening to Wei wax poetic as his wisdom is Buddha-like profound! I am also including this extra video that not only features Wei Koh, but also features another absolute favorite watch scholar, Aurel Bacs from Phillips Auction House. In this video they discuss—among other things—how collectable wrist watches have become the last bastion of male peacockery :-0
"Style and a love for watches are completely aligned... Style is a manifestation of the universe hidden to others—but visible to you." —Wei Koh

Why Is Rolex So Expensive?

Why Is Rolex So Expensive?
I stumbled onto this fascinating video that attempts to answer the question of why Rolex watches are so expensive. Ironically, the video points out that the Rolex depreciation curve over a short period of time can actually result in being an appreciation curve. 

On a personal note, it's alway interesting to me how other people perceive and communicate Rolex value-proposition ethos. Some of the details in this video are an oversimplification, but the overall message and conclusion seem to be accurate and on-point...

Robert Maron Happy Holidays Card..

Robert Maron

Happy Holidays Card

I've seen some interesting Holiday Cards in my time, and I have to say this Snowman made out of three vintage Rolex Daytona exotic dials in the Red, White and Black which just appeared in my inbox is really creative! Bob Maron has been one of the top vintage Rolex and Patek Phillippe dealers in the world. He is located in Southern California and his website is www.RobertMaron.com. Thanks for the superb Holiday card Bob!!!