I was just checking out Rolex's Instagram account an noticed this post on the new white gold Pepsi GMT-Master, which features a blue dial. For some reason, I am still getting used to the blue dial and I think it is growing on me...
Just for frame of reference I am including a side by side comparision image that shows the stainless steel Pepsi GMT-Master next to the white gold Pepsi GMT-Master:
Let's begin at the end. The screen grab below which we will see again later in the story was taken on board Apollo 14 on its way back to earth from its highly successful moon mission. You are looking at the first conclusive photographic evidence that NASA Apollo 14 Astronaut Stuart Roosa (pictured above) wore his Pepsi GMT-Master (pictured below) to the moon and back!!!
In the photo below we see the prime crew of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission. From left to right we see Commander Stuart Roosa, Alan Shepard Jr., and lunar module pilot Dr. Edgar Mitchell.
In the photo above we see Dr. Edgar Mitchell putting two Pepsi Rolex GMT-Master models on his wrists as he prepared to go to the moon.
In the photo below taken by Dr. Edgar Mitchell, we see Alan Shepard just after he stepped foot on the moon for the first time.
Years ago I published the three images below onboard the Command Service Model (CSM) Kitty Hawk.
In the photo above we see NASA Apollo 14 Astronaut Alan Shepard on the right. Alan Shepard in pictured below in between his fellow Apollo 14 crewmates, Dr. Edgar Mitchell (left) and Stuart Roosa (right) in front of the Apollo 14 at Cape Canaveral.
In the photo above and below we see Alan Shepard wearing his Pepsi GMT-Master.
In the photo below we see Dr. Edgar Mitchell on the left in the Apollo 14 command module on February 6, 1971, at 18:48:42 UT, and notice he is wearing his Pepsi GMT-Master on his right wrist.
In the next image, we see Dr. Edgar Mitchell reaching out to Alan Shepard to shake his hand.
The newly discovered screenshot below was originally filmed on February 7, 1971, as the CSM Kitty Hawk made its way back to earth. This photo shows Stuart Roosa wearing his Pepsi GMT-Master. It is a fact that all three Apollo 14 crew members wore Pepsi Rolex GMT-Master models, but this appears to be the first evidence that shows and confirms Roosa doing so!!!
In the video below titled "Apollo-14: heat flow and convection experiment." if you watch carefully at 0:29 seconds, you will see Stuart Roosa's GMT-Master. This video footage was shot in the Apollo 14 Command and Service module named "Kitty Hawk." We also know it is Stuart Roosa's wrist as he had much lighter skin that Mitchell or Shepard.
NASA Apollo 14 Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa is pictured below wearing his Pepsi GMT-Master on his right wrist. Despite the fact I had seen this footage before I was never able to make an up-close positive ID on his Pepsi, but now we have uneqivocal evidence that support this fact.
The video below that shows both Dr. Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa wearing their Pepsi GMT-Master models on board Kitty Hawk on their right wrists. So basically, they are wearing Omega Speedmasters on their left wrists and Pepsi GMT-Master models on their right wrists.
So there you have it! All three NASA Apollo 14 Astronauts wearing Pepsi GMT-Master models!!!
If you want to learn much more on the about the lineage of the GMT-Master, including its role in outer-space, be sure to check out my story titled, "The Complete History of The Rolex GMT-Master."
The history of the Single Red SEA-DWELLER models has always been a bit enigmatic. Original Single Red SEA-DWELLER models are extremely rare and some of them were made with helium release valves, and some were not. Bob Bradley's Single Red is pictured below and we see it lacks a helium release valve.
In the photo below we see Robert-Palmer Bradley standing next to the DEEPSTAR 4000 Submersible which was designed by the famous Rolex Submariner Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Notice the "NEL" logo on the Submersible which stood for the U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory. Today NEL has been renamed to "NUC" which stands for Naval Undersea Center.
In the photo below, taken in 1966, we see the complete crew of the Westinghouse DEEPSTAR 4000, posing with Walter Cronkite.
In the next photo, we see Bob Bradley wearing his Rolex Submariner while tracking DEEPSTAR 4000 form the ocean surface.
Jose and I have been working on the History Of The Rolex SEA-DWELLER timeline poster pictured below on the all-new 12.9 inch iPad. Jose recently updated the poster to add in the DEEPSTAR 4000 information.
This is where this story gets really profound. Jose, while doing research on the history of the Rolex Sea-Dweller discovered a Rolex brochure from 1975 that documented the fact that Rolex formally introduced the Sea-Dweller in 1971. This was four years after Robert-Palmer Bradley began testing the Single Red Sea-Dweller prototype.
Robert Palmer Bradley is pictured below earlier in his career when he was a U.S. Navy Fighter Pilot. He was staitioned on U.S. Navy Aircraft carriers and traveled all over the world.
Robert "Bob" Palmer Bradley developed a love of the sea and scuba diving while in the Navy, which led to his involvment with Jacques-Yves Cousteau and DEEPSTAR 4000. In the future I hope to share more insight into his career achiements.
There is a Confusious proverb that says, "A single conversation with a very wise man is worth more than ten years of study", and whenever I listen to Wek Koh, I know I am in for an amazingly deep intellectual conversation. In the interview below, Wei Koh interviews Geoffrey Hess who is the CEO of AnalogShift.com and they have a really deep conversation in the current state of collecting vintage watches.
In the video Geoffrey Hess says one of the most profound things I have ever heard on the subject of watch collection:
"The average vintage watch collector is searching for an equilibrium between passion and investment. Passion is what drives us to buy these watches. It’s what gets us excited. We make sense of the world through narrative; through stories; through objects and events that connect to our aspirations. That’s what passion is. That’s what keeps you up at night. That’s what drives you to buy a watch."
The 58th Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping is just around the corner and will run from December 6-9th in Geneva, Switzerland. So I thought it would be a great time to reflect back on Rolex 2018 aquestrian events so far. Enjoy the beatuiful footage!
There are two men I am completely obsessed with exploring on Jake's Rolex World. The first is Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex; and the second is the greatest explorer that ever lived, and that is Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Eleven years ago, when I began publishing Jake's Rolex World I was frustrated as there was so little meaningful history and content on the web regarding these men of such high achievement, so I was hellbent on sharing and showcasing thier stories. Today, my coverage of both men is far more extensive than anything else on the web!
This leads us to the image you are seeing below for the first time. On the far right we see Jacques-Yves cousteau, and he is talking to a man who looks a little bit like another lengendary Rolex Explorer to me and that is Jacques Piccard, but I assure you he is not Piccard.
Who is this mystery Rolex history man? It will soon be revealed to you by the team at Jake's Rolex World, in an upcoming Rolex history story. I will give you a clue: The story is about the life aquatic, and represents a MAJOR, MAJOR piece of largely undocumented Rolex history. Stay tunned for more...soon...
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Joe Rogan
Interviews MKBHD
Joe Rogan is one of the top podcasters in the world today. I had never heard ofJoe Rogan until recently when he interviewed Elon Musk, which was very contreversial as Joe Rogan fired up a joint and passed it to Elon Musk who took a toke off it. Ironically, just before they smoked out together they spoke about Rolex.
It turns out that Joe Rogan has been wearing Rolex watches for years, and in the photo below we see him wearing a Rolex DEEP-SEA during his recent interview with Marques Brownlee. Marques Brownlee A.K.A. MKBHD is the top tech reviewer in the world today, and he and Joe have a super profound conversation on high-tech.
Joe Rogan is also a famous comedian and he is also a top Mixed Martial Arts Color Commentator. In the photo below we see Joe Rogan wearing a white gold Rolex Daytona.
In this next image we see Joe Rogan wearing a stainless steel and platinum Rolex Yacht-Master.
The 37MM Tudor Submariner seen above and below appears courtesey of Heritage Auction house and shows the historic Tudor Submariner Oyster Prince Submariner [Reference 7924] which was manufactured in 1958. It features a luminous radium matte gilt dial, and the watch appears to be 100% original all the way down to possesing the original red-triangle bezel insert. When this watch was originally sold back in the late 1950s it probably sold for around $60!!!
The Tudor Submariner that was aucitoned is know as a Big Crown Submariner. What exactly is a "Big Crown" Submariner? Early Submariner models featured an unusually large 8MM BREVET Crown as seen above, and many famous Rolex historical figures wore this model including Chuck Yeager who is pictured below. Chuck Yeager is wearing a Rolex Submariner "Big Crown" Reference 6538, which also features the red upside down triangle on the bezel.
Hi Everybody! I would like to introduce you to Jason Burkholder who is not only a Formula 1 fan, but also will be covering racing events in the future for Jake's Rolex World. Jason is only 14 years old, but has been a huge racing fan for 5 years. Welcome on-board Jason!
Jake
...Driven by Performance & Precision...
The 2018 Formula 1
United States Grand Prix
Recap Austin, Texas. Oct 19-21
Formula 1 is MAGICAL! There, I said it. The first Formula 1 race I watched was in 2012 on Fox when I was 8 years old, and I have to say I have been completely obsessed with F1 racing ever since. Watching cars race around a track at speeds in excess of 200MPH is AMAZING! My Mother, who is super awesome took me this last week to see my first Formula 1 race in person and it completely blew my mind!
Formula 1 racing was founded in 1950 when a number of auto manufactures worked together to form the most elite racing series in the world.
Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas has hosted an F1 race every year since 2012, which was the first F1 Grand Prix to be held in America back in 2007. This year there were two drivers battling for the world drivers championship with just three races to go in the season; Sebastian Vettel driving for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton driving for Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1 series at Circuit of the America's four times in a row and was the favorite to win this race after being fastest in the first two practice sessions. Vettel was handed a penalty for not slowing down enough for a caution and would have to start the race three positions behind where he qualified.
Things changed in free practice three when Vettel was fastest. The stage was set for a exiting qualifying to set the starting order for Sunday’s race. It did not disappoint; Hamilton finished first by just six thousandths of a second over Vettel who would have to start fifth, and in third was Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen who also drives for Ferrari who would start second.
On Sunday, anticipation was high for a exiting race and the teams and drivers delivered! On the start Raikkonen got a great launch and overtook Hamilton for the lead which was crucial in the championship for his teammate Vettel. Meanwhile Vettel was side by side with another driver Daniel Ricciardo batling for forth when he misjudged the breaking for turn thirteen and made contact which sent his car sideways. Now, in fifteenth, a determined Vettel was making up position after position.
Hamilton made an early pit stop and in doing so took a big risk by changing his tires early. If his tires were to wear too fast he would have to stop again for new tires and lose a lot of time, which ended up happening.
Raikkonen and Vettel made their stops both coming out far behind Hamilton. On lap 38 of 56 Hamilton made a pit stop and came out behind Raikkonen. For the next 18 laps Raikkonen controled the race and came across the line for his first victory in 2044 days. The former world champion became the oldest driver to win at 39 and spoiled Hamilton’s hopes of winning the championship in Austin.
Vettel fought hard to make up places and finished fourth which kept the championship going to the next round in Mexico City this weekend on October 27th, 2018. I am including a preview video for you to check out.
Historically Rolex has always been extremely secretive and discreet, and no journalists in the past have ever been invited "INSIDE ROLEX" to explore and report on all four Rolex Manufacturing faclities in Switzerland.
In November 2013, this changed when Rolex invited Jake to take an unprecdented journey into the heart of Rolex to learn and report on everything he witnessed and learned.
This Super-Detailed 3 Part Story is a "MUST READ" story for anybody who wants to understand what really makes Rolex tick.
