Sidney Mobell
Designer and Creator of Fine Jewelry
1989 Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco
It's funny how life works. I seem to have this uncanny ability to recall and remember vintage Rolex ads from many decades ago, and the one below is one of my favorites. I grew up in San Francisco, and in the 1980s Rolex was all the rage. I remember seeing this vintage Rolex Ad back in 1989 for Sidney Mobell which was located in the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco.
I have many fond memories of The Fairmont Hotel, especially around the holiday Christmas season, as I can still recall how magnificently elegant the Fairmont Hotel Lobby was and how it positively smelled of pine Christmas trees. I also remember dining late night at the hyper elegant Brasserie Restaurant which was located in the bottom of the Fairmont on California Street after many evenings of partying.
This Sydney Mobell Rolex ad completely Deja Vu's me out in a positive way...and reminds me of Barbara Streisand's song, "The Way We Were", which has the great line "Can it be that it was all so simple then, or has time re-written every line?"
Rolex Desk Clock
In The Oval Office
Featured on 60 Minutes
"Time Flies, and waits for no one,
and once lost, is never found.
Yet still we try to keep time and measure it."
I originally published this story back on December 4th, and am bringing it back up as the top story, as CBS's 60 Minutes TV Magazine show not only ran this fascinating story on the Swiss Watch industry, but also featured a close-up of the Rolex desk clock Rolex gifted to the American people though President Trump."
"must then, by means of buttons on the receiver - which functions as a calculating machine - bring the two points one on top of the other until they form only one in the form of a vertical line. At this point, he will note where on the scale this line is. He will obtain a number that he will find on a special map and corresponding to one of the arcs of a circle whose center is the main transmitter.He will carry out a similar operation with a group of transmitters located, for example, on the coast of Greenland or Iceland. The place where the plane is located will then be determined by the place where the two lines intersect, corresponding to the two numbers noted on the scale of the cathode ray screen.WATCHES ON BOARDAs it has been possible to judge from this simplified description of two essential elements of a transatlantic flight, the flight plan and navigation, the measurement of time is an absolute necessity on board an aircraft. This is why it is equipped with several watches or chronographs. In addition to his pocket chronograph, the navigator also has a fixed watch among the flight instruments at his disposal,"
Cerachrom Bezel Insert
Up Close Pepsi Ceramic
When Rolex first mastered the production of the iconic Pepsi ceramic bezel insert, the excitement was palpable. They began with 'Cerachrom,' Rolex’s proprietary term for their high-tech ceramic bezels, initially crafting them in sleek black. Creating the vibrant red and blue combination, however, posed a formidable challenge, demanding innovative techniques to achieve the perfect color fidelity and durability. Through relentless ingenuity, Rolex triumphed, delivering the stunning two-tone Cerachrom bezel that has since become a hallmark of their GMT-MASTER craftsmanship.
