From The Archives...

From The Archives

I was just going through the archives and I came across these cool images so I thought I would share them with you. This first image shows Air France's Concorde in 1988 flying over Djibouti which is located in the horn of Africa, with the President of France, François Mitterand on board.

This next image show legendary Olympic Ski Champion, Jean-Claude Killy chatting with fellow Rolex enthusiast and beloved American Actor, Ernest Borgnine back in the 1970s.

50th Anniversary Of Moon Landing

Apollo 11 Astronaut


Michael Collins





1969 Rolex Day-Date

This is such epic news, I had to borrow Hodinkee's Breaking News moniker again for this story!!! I just discovered that NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut wore a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date for 34 years, which is pictured below. The watch was recently auctioned by Sotheby's, and in the description Michael Collins mentioned he wore it for 34 years. This is such an apropos discovery as we are now celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing!!!

The photo above and below are of Michael Collins Rolex Day-Date and we see he had an engraving of his initials. Notice the band has a "69" engraving, which means it was made in 1969.

Below is a fascinating list of NASA Astronauts & Test Pilots I have discovered and documented wearing Rolex watches over the past decade:

• Chuck Yeager of Edwards Air Force Base was first to break sound barrier in 1947 while wearing a Rolex Perpetual Oyster.
• William Knight of Edwards Air Force Base Fastest manned flight of Mach 6.7 (4,250 Miles Per Hour ins X-15 which is nearly 7 times the speed of sound) in 1967.
• John Glenn of Mercury 7.
• Scott Carpenter of Mercury 7.
• Walter Schirra of Mercury 8, Gemini 6A & Apollo 7.
• Frank Borman of Gemini 7 and Apollo 8.
• Michael Collins of Gemini 10 & Apollo 11.
• Pete Conrad of of Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 2 (Discovered by Nick Gould).
• Richard Gordon Jr. of Gemini 11 and Apollo 12. (Discovered by Nick Gould).
• Jack Swigert of Apollo 13 (Wore to Moon).
• James Lovell was a U.S. Navy Test Pilot and went onto NASA to participate in Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 & Apollo 13 (Pictured Above).
• Stuart Roosa of Apollo 14 (Wore to Moon).
• Dr. Edgar Mitchell of Apollo 14 (Wore to Moon).
• Alan Sheppard of Mercury 3 & Apollo 14 (Worn On Cape Canaveral & Possibly To The Moon).
• Ronald Evans of Apollo 17 (Wore to Moon).
• Eugene Cernan of Gemini 9A, Apollo 10 & Apollo 17 (Worn Outside Space Suit and Possible To The Moon).
• Lloyd Blaine Hammond of 1991 Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-39, and 1994 Space Shuttle Discover STS-94.
• Dr. Leroy Chaio (Wore on 3 Space Shuttle Missions and while Commander of the International Space Station Expedition 10).

The story below was originally published on July 22, 2014:

45th Moon Landing Anniversary Celebration

Michael Collins
Apollo 11

First Documented Rolex On NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut

Rolex Turn-O-Graph

The EAGLE Has Landed!

This week celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Moon Landing and exploration, which remains one of mankind's greatest achievements. In 2008, on Jake's Rolex World, I first began documenting the fact that many NASA Apollo Astronauts wore Rolex watches, and many of them wore their Rolex watches to the moon and back. Prior to this discovery, the common believe was that Apollo Astronauts only wore Omega watches, but over the past seven years I have busted that false myth.

Michael Collins is pictured below at NASA on April 16, 1969 during centrifuge training for Apollo 11. Three short months later he would fly into the history books as part of the first team to land on the Moon and return safely to earth. In the photo below NASA Astronaut Michael Collins is wearing a Rolex Turno-graph.




Michael Collins' Rolex Turn-O-Graph was an early model, which had a gilt dial, and it is interesting to note that these first generation Rolex Turn-O-Graph models looked and functioned similarly to a Rolex Submariner.

In the close-up photo below of Michael Collins' Rolex Turn-O-Graph, we not only see the gilt dial and hands, but also the early models of the Turn-O-Graph featured all 60 second markers on the black bezel insert. This design feature predated the Rolex Reference 5517 Milsub, as well as the Rolex DEEP-SEA, which also have this feature.

Years ago, I published lower resolution versions of the images above, and today I am publishing for the first time, the image below of Michael Collins, which shows him as he prepares minutes before the photo above was taken. This photo below is obviously black and white, but he is wearing the orange jumpsuit as pictured above, and you can see him holding his headset in his hands below, that he is wearing in the photo pictured above.

NASA Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins Wearing Rolex Watch, April 1969 

Pictured above and below are the prime crew of Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Left to right are Neil Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot and Edwin "Buzz" Aldren Jr., Lunar Module Pilot (May 1, 1969). Notice in the photo above that Michael Collins is wearing his Rolex on his right wrist as he posses with his fellow crew members, in front of the Saturn V at the Kennedy Space Center that would soon take them to the moon and back.

The Rolex Turn-O-Graph Michael Collins is wearing looks remarkably similar to the Rolex Submariner, but its slightly smaller.

Michael Collins was a U.S. Air Force test pilot prior to becoming a NASA Astronaut. So the obvious question, is wether or not Michael Collins wore his Rolex to the moon and back? Michael Collins official Apollo 11 NASA portrait is pictured below and if you look carefully, you can see he is wearing his Rolex Turn-O-Graph!!!

We can tell Michael Collins is wearing his Rolex Turn-O-Graph in his official Apollo 11 portrait (pictured above and below since we can see the grooves/notches on the side of the bezel, which allows the user to spin the bezel. 

Michael Collins is pictured below as he suits-up to leave for the Moon on Apollo 11.

Michael Collins is pictured below (second in line) as he and his Apollo 11 team members leave for the Moon.

The photo below shows Apollo 11 taking off to head for the moon.

...The Rolex President...

U.S. President Lyndon Johnson

Apollo 11 Lift-off

Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date

In this next photo we see U.S. President Lyndon Johnson wearing his trademark yellow gold "Rolex President" Day-Date as he watches Apollo 11 take-off for the moon on July 16, 1969 at 9:32am EDT. U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew is pictured on Johnson's right and Lady Bird is on his left.

Historical Note: The photo above of U.S. President Johnson is a bit ironic because he was no longer President when this photo was taken. At the time Richard Nixon was the President of The United States and he did not attend since he was paranoid the launch might fail. Instead he watched the launch live on TV from the Oval Office.

Another irony, regarding the photo above is that Lyndon Johnson was able to witness first hand, what he had helped develop at the beginning of the Kennedy administration back in 1960, when he served at the Vice President Of The United States. 

President John F. Kennedy

The Moon Speech 

September 12, 1962

The video below of JFK giving his famous September 12, 1962 Moon Speech is deeply profound, as it set the course for the amazing achievement of Apollo 11.

"Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." –U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962

...The Greatest Newsman In History...

Walter Cronkite

The Most Trusted Man In America

Two-Tone Rolex Datejust

Apollo 11 Moon Touchdown Coverage

The image below is of major historical significance. We see Walter Cronkite on July 20, 1969 as he keeps his eyes glued to his monitor as NASA's Apollo 11 Mission touches down on the Moon for the fist time, and notice that Walter Cronkite is wearing his trademark two tone Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee Bracelet.

In the photo below that was taken on July 20, 2009, we see the three Apollo 11 NASA Astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong in the Oval Office with President Obama.

U.S. President Obama met with the two surviving Apollo 11 Astronauts, today in the Oval Office to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Moon Landing. Unfortunately Neil Armstrong passed away recently, but Michael Collins was there! It is a trip to see how similar, yet different Collins looks today from the way he looked in 1969.

PBS American Experience SEALAB Documentary

Note: I plan to keep working on this story until I feel it is complete at which time I will remove this notice.

Jake

PBS American Experience Documentary

SEALAB

The full-length PBS American Experience Documentary aired last night at 9PM PST in the United States. This documentary was really special for me as I was interviewed for it and contributed my research knowledge including photos. From what I understand this documentary is only viewable online if you are located in the United States, so if you can't watch it, I will do my best to share the Rolex relevant details. If you are located in the U.S. hit the play button and enjoy!!!

I thought the documentary was GREAT!!! It was extremely immersive and offered tremendous context, and as I have said so many times, "Context gives context meaning." I am already in my second decade of researching the SEALAB story and the PBS Documentary made many things clearer—particularly with timeframes. I intend to make this article my Definitive SEALAB article that puts many of the final puzzle pieces in place. I realize this is probably going to take me weeks, if not months to complete as I have so much information to add to this story.



SEALAB 2
Scott Carpenter was one of the Aquanauts involved in the SEALAB 2 Mission, and in the photo below we see Scott in 1970 wearing his Rolex SEA-DWELLER. If you look closely you will notice Scott wore his Submariner and SEA-DWELLER on a black diving strap which included a depth-gauge, as was customary for many of the SEALAB divers.

 "The Rolex Submariner & Rolex SEA-DWELLER have a cachet that is unmatched by any other watch. The Rolex brand is the most highly respected in my book. The Rolex Submariner was the preferred diving watch for U.S. NAVY SEALAB Divers." –Scott Carpenter

U.S. Navy SEA-LAB Aquanauts: Bob Barth, Wilbur Eaton & Scott Carpenter

Team 1 Preparing To Dive Down To SEA-LAB 2 Habitat [August 28, 1965]

Below we see a 1967 Rolex Submariner magazine ad which was published during the U.S. Navy SEALAB program. This is the closest vintage magazine ad I am aware of Rolex advertising the Submariner in relation to a Submarine Captain. Notice the text in the ad reads:

"You're looking at the Rolex Submariner. For many years, it's been standard gear for SUBMARINERS, frogmen and all who make their living on the seas."

SEALAB 3
This next set of images is really interesting to me. This footage shows Walt Mazzone welcoming the SEALAB 3 team members as they leave the decompression bell after the mission ended. 

I interviewed Walt Mazzone in 2010 and he mentioned he had a single red Rolex Submariner 1680, which this could be. If its not a Rolex Submariner Reference 1680 it would likely be a 5512 or 5513. I just went through my archives and found my interviews with Walt Mazzone which I plan to publish soon :-)

Rolex developed the SEA-DWELLER with SEALAB Aquanaut Bob Barth who is pictured below at the first Aquanaut to come out of the decompression chamber and we know he was wearing a Single Red SEA-DWELLER Prototype which you can see on his wrist.

The second Aquanaut who is behind Barth is also wearing a Rolex SEA-DWLLER from what I can see of the photo as it features all the tell-tale characteristics.

The third aquanaut to leave the chamber is Blackburn who also appears to be wearing a Rolex SEA-DWELLER.

The next image below was taken in the SEALAB 3 Habitat and shows Bob Barth on the right and Barry Cannon on the left checking his Rolex Submariner, or more presumably his prototype Rolex SEA-DWELLER. This image was taken hours before the accidental and terribly tragic death of Barry Cannon.

The image below is from the SEALAB Documentary and shows a SEALAB underwater photographer wearing a Submariner. There are no cyclops lenses on any of these watches as Rolex did not add the date to the Submariner until the Submariner Date was released in 1969.

The photo below is from Bob Barth's personal collection, and we see Bob located in the back row in the center, standing up with the tattoos on his arms. Notice Bob Barth and Barry Cannon (front row on far left) are wearing Rolex SEA-DWELLER prototypes in the photo. Blackburn, Myers, Reaves and Heller are wearing Doxa Diver models.

The Cousteau Connection

The only thing I didn't like about the SEALAB Documentary was I thought the it could have easily been two hours long. Also, it really glossed over Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his son, Philippe Cousteau's contribution to SEALAB, as well as Dr. Bond's contribution to CONSHELF. In this story I hope to clarify and put those final pieces of the SEALAB puzzle together. Ironically, it was Jacques-Yves Cousteau who first turned Scott Carpenter on to the U.S. Navy SEALAB program while Scott was still at NASA.

Let's take a look at the three high-res screen grabs below from the SEALAB documentary which show footage from Jacques-Yves Cousteau's 1966 Academy Award winning Documentary named "World Without Sun." The first thing we see is that Jacques-Yves is wearing what has all the telltale signs of being a Rolex Submariner 5512 or 5513 as seen in the three pictures below.

Cousteau wearing this Submariner is something I first documented a decade ago in 2009, but with these new images we can see more detail, which is great.

I would not call this evidence unequivocal, but I would say there is a 99%+ chance it is a 5512 or 5513.

It is an established fact Jacques-Yves Cousteau wore a prototype Rolex Submariner in 1953 which his Calypso team tested for Rolex and we see Commander Cousteau in the image below wearing his Submariner in 1953. This photo was taken 13 years before the photos above, so I doubt it is the same Submariner model.

The close up photo above of Jacques-Yves Cousteau shows him wearing an early Rolex Submariner with pencil hands that looks like the similar vintage model seen below.

The document below confirms Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his team were testing Rolex Submariner prototypes in early 1953.

The letter below is from Jacques-Yves Cousteau to William Culpepper regarding the design of the SEALAB II habitat with recommendations from J.Y.C.

The drawing below shows Jaques-Yves Cousteau's recommendation for the layout of the SEALAB II habitat. Special thanks to my right hand man, Jose from Perezcope.com for providing these historically significant images which he got when he traveled to Panama City in Florida to the SEALAB Museum.

In the next image below we again see Philippe wearing his Rolex SEA-DWELLER.

 The photo below, is of Jacques-Yves Cousteau's son, Philippe Cousteau, and it was taken while he was preparing for a dive during SEALAB III. 

Notice the dive assistant pictured on the left is wearing a Rolex Submariner.

Philippe Cousteau's Double Red Patent-Pending SEA-DWELLER is pictured below in a recent photo from an Antiquorum Auction. The caseback on this watch has an interior date stamp from the fourth quarter of 1967 that reads IV.67, with the serial number of 1,602,920. Philippe Cousteau's Rolex SEA-DWELLER sold on September 30, 2014 for $183,750 @ Antiquorum Auction House in New York. It is believed, based upon its serial number, this watch likely began its life as a Single Red-Sea-Dweller that ended up getting its dial replaced with a double red device dial.

In this next photo from the PBS Documentary we see another SEALAB Topside team and we see Morey wearing a Submariner.

The Special Thanks screenshot below is from the end of the SEALAB Documentary and you will notice my name on the list which is really cool as I shared everything I could with their production team.