...The Greatest Cyclist In History... Rolex Coolness: Lance Armstrong

...The Greatest Cyclist In History...

Rolex Coolness: Lance Armstrong

Cover of May 2011 Bicycling Magazine

Pepsi Rolex GMT Master

This is a pretty iconic photo if you think about it. Lance Armstrong wearing his trademark ARMSTRONG Band on one wrist with his Pepsi GMT Master on the other wrist.

New Rolex CEO Appointed: Gian Riccardo Marini

...The Rolex Torch Has Been Passed...

New Rolex CEO Appointed

Rolex Coolness: Gian Riccardo Marini

Rolex Geneva announced today the appointment of a new CEO to replace Bruno Meier. Gian Riccardo Marini is 64 years old and was promoted to the position of CEO for Rolex Geneva, from being the CEO of Rolex Italy. Gian Riccardo becomes only the 5th CEO to govern Rolex over the last 106 years. If you want to learn much more about the history of Rolex first CEO, Hans Wilsdorf you should check out his story.

Gian Riccardo Marini is pictured below in Italy with Elena Ambrosiadou, who is the current owner of the Maltese Falcon mega-yacht.

...Rolex Food Shot Of The Day... A Black Netherlands LV Submariner

...Rolex Food Shot Of The Day...

A Black Netherlands LV Submariner

Marco is a reader of Jake's Rolex World and he is from the Netherlands. He sent in this photo of his Rolex Submariner witch a note saying he is just about to celebrate his 27th birthday, as well as his first year anniversary on his Rolex warranty card ;-) Marco also mentioned his LV Submariner is his only Rolex and he likes it with the black bezel insert...

Royal Wedding Highlights William & Catherine Westminster Abbey Royal Marriage

Royal Wedding HighlightsWilliam & Catherine Westminster Abbey Royal Marriage

Rolex Annual Calendar Moonphase Reference 6062

...Studio Shot Of The Day...

The Last Emperor Rolex Triple-Date

Rolex Annual Calendar Moonphase

Reference 6062 on a Matching Gold Jubilee Bracelet

This watch belonged to Bao Dai, the last Emperor of Vietnam. The watch is featured in John Goldberger's book, 100 Superlative Watches on page 150.

Page 150 Bao Dai Diamond Moonphase. [Reference 6062] Circa 1952

Happy Easter from John Goldberger 1950s Rolex Cloisonné Mermaid Dial

Happy Easter from John Goldberger

1950s Rolex Cloisonné Mermaid Dial

John Goldberger is a renowned horological expert, collector and publisher. He sent in this photo to share with you and he said "Happy Easter!" This is clearly a beautiful Rolex Cloisonné dial from the 1950s and it features a mermaid holding what would appear to be a pearl, or perhaps an egg.

To all my readers who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter, and to all my other readers I hope you are having a great weekend, and special thanks to John for sharing this image.

1st Generation "Orange Hand" Explorer II v. 2nd Generation "Red Hand" Explorer II

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

1st Generation "Orange Hand" Explorer II

v.

2nd Generation "Red Hand" Explorer II

Photo Credit: Adam

World War II Rolex Ads 1944 Rolex Oyster...

World War II Rolex Ads

1944 Rolex Oyster

Rolex Coolness: A.J.Foyt 1974 Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date Ad

...Now & Then...

The King Of Racing

Rolex Coolness: A.J.Foyt

1974 Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date Ad

5 Decades Wearing Nothing But Rolex

A.J. Foyt has had an amazing racing career. To this day, he is the only race car driver to win The Daytona 500, The Indianapolis 500, The 24 Hours of Daytona, The 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All together, A.J. Foyt won 159 auto races, which gave him the well-deserved title of "The King Of Racing."

We see A.J. Foyt in the photo above taken from the June of 1964 cover of Sports Illustrated. This photo was take just before he raced in and won the Indianapolis 500. In the next image below, taken a decade later in 1974, we see A.J. Foyt being celebrated in a Rolex Day-Date ad.

A. J. Foyt is pictured below with Richard Petty on the 4th of July in 1975.

A.J. Foyt is pictured below in a recent photo, and we see him wearing his yellow gold Rolex GMT Master. He also still wears his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date he is wearing in the 1974 Rolex ad pictured above.

Introducing Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog...

Introducing Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog
I imagine it was just a matter of time, and I finally decided to start Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog. I first became aware of the Rolex brand when I was 15 years old, back in 1981. At the time, I was aware already aware of Patek Philippe because my father and grandfather both wore Patek Philippe watches.
Over the past several years, Jake's Rolex World has become the definitive guide for the world of Rolex and I intend to achieve the same standard with Jake's Patek Philippe World. If you are not familiar with the Patek Philippe watch brand it can be argued that if Rolex is the Mercedes of watches, Patek Philippe is the Rolls Royce of watches.

One of the primary differences between the two brands is that Patek Philippe watches are primarily dressy watches, and Rolex tend to be more sporty. Or course Patek Philippe makes sporty watches and Rolex makes dressy watches, but I would say that is the main differentiator. Also Patek Philippe watches tend to be much more expensive. Patek Philippe watches typically have the GENEVÉ seal, and Rolex watches typically have the C.O.S.C. seal.
The GENEVÉ seal requires a tremendous amount of hand finishing, with rules that say things like the watch cannot have any right angles on the outside or inside. Rolex watches tend to be very accurate timekeepers because of the C.O.S.C. seal.
Some people say that Rolex is all about the outside and Patek Philippe is all about the inside. They say this because it is very common for Patek Philippe watches to come standard with a synthetic sapphire exhibition caseback which allows you to see the typically beautiful and ornate movement, and Rolex has never made watches with exhibition casebacks as a standard item. It has been argued that Rolex movements are simple in design since they are designed to be tool-watch workhorses.
As different as Patek Philippe and Rolex are, they also share many similarities. Patek Philippe is one of the last family owned, independent watchmakers located in Geneva, Switzerland. Rolex is owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Trust, which was left to his existing family members as the beneficiaries, which still kind of makes it family owned.
Also people who like Rolex typically enjoy Patek Philippe, and visa versa. Many of the worlds top horilogical collectors are Patek Philippe and Rolex aficionados. Also, at most watch auctions world-wide, Rolex and Patek Philippe are always the high-performance stars.
Jake's Patek Philippe World Blog is still very much a work in progress, and I added a banner ad that appears at the bottom of every page on Jake's Rolex World so you can always find it easily. You can also check it out by clicking the banner above.