Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day PC Addict's Big Red Panda Daytona

Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day

PC Addict's Big Red Panda Daytona

Rolex Launches Facebook and Pinterest Pages

...BaselWorld 2013 Coverage...

Rolex Get's Really Social

Rolex Launches Facebook and Pinterest Pages

In my last post, I covered the amazing all-new Rolex.com website that Rolex launched at the beginning of BaselWorld. As I mentioned, the new Rolex.com is not a facelift, but a complete reinvention, and Rolex also launched a Facebook Page as well as a Rolex Pinterest page. Rolex also had a significant update on its Rolex YouTube Channel.

I think it is interesting Rolex chose to launch a Pinterest Page, but not a Twitter page. You can go directly to the Rolex Facebook page by simply clicking on "The Rolex Facebook Page" located in the bottom of the left hand corner on Rolex.com.

It seems like in one fail swoop, Rolex completely reinvented its online presence which took them from the middle of the class straight to the front.

Complete Rolex.com Overhaul Launched At BaselWorld

...The Return Of Rolex History...

Complete Rolex.com Overhaul

Rolex Celebrates & Showcases Its Amazing History

The BaselWorld 2013 trade show in Basel, Switzerland has just concluded, and the most interesting BaselWorld news ironically is not the all-new watch models Rolex introduced, nor the all-new Rolex BaselWorld Pavillion, but the complete overhaul of the Rolex.com website. It is great to see that Rolex is really beginning to understand and take advantage of the true power of the internet...

"We must not cease from exploration. And the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we began, and to know the place for the first time." –T.S. Elliot

The History Of Rolex

A Century Of Amazing Achievement

First a little background. The last time Rolex completely overhauled Rolex.com was three years ago, in 2010, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Bathyscaphe Trieste achieving the all-time ocean depth record in 1960. 

Prior to the 2010 overhaul of Rolex.com, the website left much to be desired and it's performance was bogged down by the significant overuse of Adobe Flash. There were no photos of vintage Rolex watches, and no photos of Rolex's innovative founder, Hans Wilsdorf, and no discussion of Rolex's amazing history. Personally, I did not like Rolex.com at that time and thought there was a tremendous amount of room for improvement.

The 2010 overhaul of Rolex.com was fascinating because the whole website improved significantly, and all of a sudden it started to look like Jake's Rolex World, by adding a photo of Rolex's founder, Hans Wilsdorf, as well as photos of vintage Rolex watches. Unfortunately Rolex made a poor decision not to abandon the misuse/overuse of Adobe Flash, and Rolex.com offered a Flash, and a straight HTML version, which was confusing and did not make sense.

In other words, the core-essence of Rolex watches are their intuitive simplicity, and ease of use, and none of the prior Rolex.com websites came anywhere near achieving this Zen-simple-like standard.

The All-New Rolex.com 

Rolex Dives Deeply Into Their History

Last week, as BaselWorld 2013 began, without fanfare, Rolex quietly launched a complete overhaul of Rolex.com, and it is a stunning work of art!!! 

BaselWorld is where Rolex introduces and showcases it latest innovations, but this years greatest BaselWorld introduction did not take place in Switzerland, but internationally–all-over planet earth–with the introduction of the the all-new Rolex.com...and Adobe Flash is nowhere to be found on the freshly overhauled Rolex.com. Instead Adobe Flash has been thankfully replaced with HTML 5.

The new UI (User-Interface) on Rolex.com has been intelligently simplified, and now offers only 5 top-level selections, and a simple, symmetrically placed Rolex crown logo. 

There is a huge all-new Rolex History section on Rolex.com which now appears, front and center when you first land on Rolex.com (at the bottom of the page) and it has a picture of Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex. If you click on his image, you go to the Rolex History section pictured below, which features a 100+ years timeline, broken-up into 5 sections.

The 5 section Rolex History section walks us through some of the greatest Rolex history achievements, which are fascinating. 

Years ago, after I had started Jake's Rolex World, I had a conversation with a then current leading Rolex executive, who I will not mention by name. I mentioned to him how deeply profound Rolex's history was, and he said to me, point-blank: "Rolex does not care about its history. Rolex only cares about selling watches."

Of course, as the worlds leading Rolex historian, I was completely stunned and deeply disappointed to hear these words. 

Another time, in 2010 I had a conversation with a different Rolex executive who said to me, "Rolex does not seem to know much about its own history, does it?" I responded by saying it sure appeared that way. He said he thought it was a shame, and I asked him why he thought Rolex was not into celebrating its rich history? He shook his head in disappointment and said he didn't know.

We both kind of shook our heads in confusion and disappointment. Then he said "I think it might have to do with the fact that after Hans Wilsdorf died, so many employees went to work for Rolex, served their time, so to speak, and then retired, and over the past 50 years since Hans Wilsdorf passed away, the brilliant Rolex history just kind of got lost in the daily shuffle of Rolex corporate life.

I agree with his assessment, and as somebody once put it so eloquently, "History, does not seen like history when you are living through it." The Rolex executive then curiously asked me, "Why do you work so hard on Jake's Rolex World? Clearly it is not for money, and as a fan and daily reader of Jake's Rolex World, I know how passionately you work to discover all this amazing history."

I responded by saying "I have knocked myself out to discover and share all this amazing Rolex history, because I realize if I don't document it, in the not so distant future, it will become lost forever." I also mentioned that many of the men who achieved amazing feats in the 20th century with Rolex watches on their wrists were getting old and dying. 

I said "To my way of thinking, as somebody who loves Rolex, it would be a crime for me not to try to document as much of this amazing history as possible, and share it with the world. To not do so would be a crime against humanity, because so much of Rolex's incredible history is intertwined with the history of the 20th century. Take for example Sir Edmund Hillary, who just died last year."

I can't emphasize this fact enough, that many of Rolex's amazing achievements during the 20th Century have been intertwined with many other great 20th Century achievements, many of which have not been completely documented. I know, because I am working on them.

So I take my hat off to Rolex and sincerely congratulate them on this superb all-new beginning, and at the same time, I challenge Rolex to continue to dive much deeper into their profound history, and share it with the rest of the world on Rolex.com. 

It is now evident that Rolex finally realizes the single most invaluable marketing asset they posses is their unparalleled history, and I hope in the years and decades to come that Rolex continues to expand the Rolex History section on Rolex.com.

The new Rolex History section on Rolex.com is listed in chronological order, and the last page ends with James Cameron returning to the Mariana Trench with Don Walsh by his side, to return to the deepest known chasm on planet earth. 

I would like to point out I first fell madly in love with Rolex when I bought my first Rolex Submariner at age 16, which was thirty years ago. 

In my entire adult life, I never witnessed or lived through any significant Rolex history because there was not any to witness.

This changed last year, when I witnessed and documented–in real time–James Cameron's descent into the Challenger Deep, and it was amazing!!! It is my fervent prayer, that Rolex continues on this path by supporting and showcasing many more adventures into the world of exploration and achievement. 

I sincerely believe and hope that Rolex's greatest history is ahead of them, not behind them, and I hope current Rolex leadership has the wisdom and knowledge to recognize and take real and meaningful action on this fact. I feel privileged to have had Jake's Rolex World play a defining role in bringing Rolex history to the forefront where it belongs. Once again, I say BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!! Congratulations Rolex!!!!

I highly recommend you check spend some exploring the all-new Rolex.com.

All-New Rolex Pavilion BaselWorld 2013

All-New Rolex Pavilion 

BaselWorld 2013

BaselWorld 2013 has been a seminal year for Rolex. Not just releasing the new models, but Rolex also brought to life, the most impressive trade show pavillion I have ever seen. As you can see, it is 3 stories tall, and if you look closely, you can see the Tudor Pavilion behind it.

Stainless Steel GMT Black and Blue Ceramic Bezel

...BaselWorld 2013 Introduction...

Stainless Steel GMT

Black and Blue Ceramic Bezel

40MM Reference 116710BLNR

Hmmmmmmmmmm!?! Rolex introduced this all new Night & Day bezel stainless steel Rolex GMT Master II at Baselworld, and it represents the first time they made a two-color bezel ceramic insert. What do I think about this new color combination? As Larry David would say, it "Pretty, Pretty Good." ;-) I think I might deem it the "Black and Blueberry" GMT...Hmmmmmmmmmm!?!

I imagine an obvious question is wether or not Rolex will reintroduce the Pepsi and Coke GMT Master II's in the future with Ceramic bezel. One could argue that the Pepsi bezel color combination is so iconic Rolex, that it would be foolish for Rolex not to...Hmmmmmmmmmm!?!

Paul Newman Daytona 50th Anniversary Rolex Daytona Begins

...Rolex Ultra-Super Coolness...

Paul Newman Daytona

50th Anniversary Rolex Daytona Begins

Rolex is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex Daytona and as a result, Rolex is diving into the history of the Rolex Daytona and points out that nobody epitomizes the Rolex Daytona, like Paul Newman. 

So the question in my mind is whether or not the Platinum 50th anniversary Daytona's blue dial is a quiet tribute to Mr. Blue Eyes? I will let you decide for yourself ;-)

Roger Federer Rockin' The All New Platinum Rolex Daytona

...Rolex Super Coolness...

Roger Federer

Rockin' The All-New 

Platinum Rolex Daytona

Roger Federer is the greatest tennis play in history and he is pictured below rockin' the all-new Platinum 50th Anniversary Rolex Daytona that Rolex launched earlier this week at BaselWorld 2013 in Basel, Switzerland. In the photo below of Roger Federer wearing a tuxedo, does he not look like James Bond!?! Over the following week, I will be presenting much more BaselWorld content, as well as sharing my insight on what makes the BaselWorld 2013 a game-changer for Rolex...

Rolex Introduces Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue 42MM Blues Brother

...Rolex BaselWorld 2013 Introduction...

Rolex Introduces
Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue
42MM Reference 70330B

Earlier this week I broke a story–before Tudor officially launched the new Retro Heritage Blue Chrono–that showed off pictures of the all-new Retro "MonteCarlo" Beauty, and here are official photos from the BaselWorld Introduction.

This all-new Tudor Heritage Chronograph model is based upon the original Rolex Tudor Reference 7169, which is pictured below in a photo that appears courtesey of my good pal, Eric Ku.

Tudor Monte Carlo Colorburst

This is a great shot that Arty took of his very colorful Tudor, Monte Carlo, which has developed a crazy metallic purple patina over time. Rolex owns Tudor and historically Rolex has taken more design risks with Tudor design, and it shows with this fascinatingly colorful watch.

1973 Brochure

Tudor Chronograph Oysterdate

[Reference 7032: Home Plate Dial]

With all the interest around the all-new, retro Tudor Heritage Chrono that was introduced at BaselWorld Eduardo Raffelli from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who is a daily reader of Jake's Rolex World decided to send in this 1973 Tudor Oysterdate Chronograph Brochure from his collection.

Eduardo pointed out that in 1973, the Tudor Oysterdate Chronograph Reference 7032 sold for 480 Suisse Francs, which is $450 in U.S. Dollars.

The two images pictured above are from the brochure (pictured below) so you could see more detail.

The all-new, retro Tudor Heritage Chrono is based on the original 1970 Tudor Chronograph Oysterdate and you see them side by side in the photo below. The original 1970 version was 40mm and the all-new version is 42mm.

The Return Of The Stella Dial Rolex Day-Date

...BaselWorld 2013 Introduction...

The Return Of The Stella Dial

Rolex Day-Date

36MM Reference 118138

Stainless Steel GMT Black and Blue Ceramic Bezel

...BaselWorld 2013 Introduction...

Stainless Steel GMT

Black and Blue Ceramic Bezel

40MM Reference 116710BLNR