Never Seen Before Photo of Hans Wilsdorf (Founder Of Rolex)

Never Before Seen Photo

Hans Wilsdorf

Founder Of Rolex

Pictured 1942 in Geneva, Switzerland

Ever since I started publishing Jake's Rolex World eight years ago, one of my primary goals was to unearth what gave Rolex its magic. The deeper I dug, the more I realized how much of Rolex's successful mojo can from its founder, Hans Wilsdorf. 

The challenge was that at the time, there was almost zero information available about his career achievements. It was almost like history had forgot him, thus I made it my goal to research and share everything I could find on what made him tick. Today, I am extremely proud to add this image to my story titled, The Complete History Of Rolex Leadership, Part 1: The Hans Wilsdorf, The Ghost In The Machine. 

This never before seen photo comes straight from the Rolex archives in Geneva, Switzerland, and shows Hans Wildsdorf in Geneva, Switzerland in his office at Rolex headquarters located at 18 Rue du Marché  (pictured below), During World War II. Notice the framed magazine ads on the wall behind Hans Wilsdorf...

Despite having founded Rolex in London England in 1905, Hans Wilsdorf, moved Rolex World Headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland in 1919. Rolex moved to 18 Rue du Marché, which was located below the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre in Old Geneva. Rolex remained at this location for forty years.

The photo above shows Rolex's Geneva Worldwide headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in 1928. If you look closely you can see the ROLEX signs on the upper floor of the building, and also notice the unlocked bicycles standing-up next to the sidewalk. It's hard to imagine a world where people would just leave their unlocked bicycles parked next to the sidewalk, but this was the world of Geneva in the late 1920s.

Rolex Announces Official New CEO Appointment

...Rolex Super-Coolness...

Jean-Frédéric Dufour

ROLEX Announces 

Official New CEO Appointment 

A new era is upon us! Rolex announced today that Jean-Frédéric Dufour will soon be taking the helm as the new CEO of Rolex. Jean-Frédéric Dufour has been on-board with Rolex for a while now, and has been working with outgoing CEO, Gian Riccardo Marini to learn as much about Rolex as possible. 

Jean-Frédéric Dufour's appointment as CEO represents a potential sea-change for Rolex in the sense that Rolex today is at a crossroads, and Jean-Frédéric Dufour's performance will have an enormous effect on the future of the brand. 

Godspeed Jean-Frédéric Dufour

On behalf of Jake's Rolex World readership, I would like to wish Jean-Frédéric Dufour Godspeed and nothing but the best as the future leader of Rolex. I hope he has the wisdom and insight to keep Rolex at the cutting edge of horological innovation for the rest of the first half of the 21st Century.

Jean-Frédéric Dufour is the sixth man in the history of Rolex to run the company. You can learn all about the men who have lead Rolex by reading my stories about Hans Wilsdorf, the Founder of Rolex, as well as André Heiniger and Patrick Heiniger.

Below is a copy of the official Rolex Press Release announcing the appointment of Jean-Frédéric Dufour's as the new CEO of Rolex:

...Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day... The Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II

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

The Orange Hand

Rolex Explorer II

John Mayer New York Times Reports

...Rolex Super-Coolness...

John Mayer

New York Times Reports

Suffers From Severe Case Of WISitus

If you are a daily reader of Jake's Rolex World, you know that John Mayer is Super-OCD on all things Rolex as well as being fascinatingly obsessed with horology in general. WISitus, or "WIS" for short, stands for Watch Idiot Savant. The New York Times just published a superb piece that chronicles his absolute obsession with watch collecting, which I highly recommend reading.

"Mr. Mayer has established a reputation within the cultish watch community as a tastemaker, a discerning critic and a champion of horology." 

–The New York Times

Above photo of John Mayer appears courtesy of New York Times 

I couldn't help but notice how similar in the photo above, that John Mayer's hair and glasses look to James Dean pictured below on the left :-)

John Mayer is a guitar virtuoso as well as being an amazing singer/songwriter, and has won seven Grammy Awards in his musical career! 

Mayweather v. Pacquiao The Fight Of The Century

...Rolex Super-Coolness...

Mayweather v. Pacquiao

The Fight Of The Century

Tonight, Floyd Mayweather Jr, (left) fought and conquered Manny Pacquiao for the largest boxing purse in history. Both men wear Yellow Gold Rolex Watches and are both really Rolex fanatics, as they both have very large collections of high-end Rolex Watches. In the first photo below we see Manny Pacquiao wearing his bejeweled Rolex GMT-Master.

...Undisputed World Champion...

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Yellow Gold Rolex Sky-Dweller

42MM Reference 326938 Calibre 9001

Five Division Boxing Champion

WBC, WBO, WBA, & Ring Welterwight Champion

Wins $100 Million Purse

In the photo below we see Floyd Mayweather wearing his Rolex Sky-Dweller, which is one of many, many Rolex watches in his collection. Mayweather's career achievements are amazing with 48 wins and Zero losses, and 26 of his wins were by nock-out!!! 

...Undisputed World Champion...

Many Pacquiao

Yellow Gold Rolex GMT-MASTER

As previously mentioned, Many Pacquiao is also a huge Rolex collector, and in the image below we see him wearing his bejeweled Rolex GMT-MASTER. This watch was 100% made by Rolex, so all the diamonds and sapphires were attached by Rolex in Geneva.

So how big of a Rolex collector/fanatic is Many Pacquiao? He owns and wears what is considered to be probably the most sought after bejeweled vintage Rolex Daytona. Just to be clear, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona model see below, which Many owns was 100% made by Rolex back in the 1960s. 

Rolex Coolness: Orlando Bloom

...Rolex Coolness... 

Orlando Bloom

Lord Of The Rolexes

Actor, Orlando Bloom is an English actor best known for his role in 2001 as the elf-prince Leoglas in Lord Of The Rings. He also starred in Black Hawk Down, Pirates of the Caribbean, Troy and Kingdom of Heaven. In the first two photos below, we see Orlando Bloom rocking a vintage Rolex Explorer II "Orange Hand" on a fatstrap.

The Rolex Explorer II "Orange Hand" that Orlando Bloom is wearing is a Vintage Rolex Reference 1655, which was originally introduced in 1971.

Orlando is basically a vintage Rolex fanatic, up there with John Mayer–they actually look almost like brothers to me. In the next two photos we see Orlando Bloom rocking his vintage Rolex Explorer with a gilt dial.

Orlando Bloom is sitting on a track bike used for velodrome racing which is currently in vogue.

Vintage Rolex GMT Master

Vintage Rolex Submariner On A NATO Strap

[Reference 1680]

Orlando Bloom is pictured below with some friends and he is wearing his vintage Rolex Submariner 1680 on a NATO strap.

Vintage Rolex Milgauss on a Crocodile NATO

GMT-MASTER

In this last image of Orlando Bloom, we see him wearing a Pro-Hunter Submariner on a NATO strap.

Wrist Shot Of The Day

...Wrist Shot Of The Day...

Lady Wearing Men's 36MM Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date

Pink Mother Of Pearl Dial with Diamond Markers

Being Worn with an Hermès H Bracelet

Rolex Coolness: Mundy Peale 1953 U.S. Air Force Thunderj

...Rolex Coolness...

Mundy Peale

1953 U.S. Air Force Thunderjets

This ad for Republic Aviation is fascinating in that is discusses how Republic provided the U.S. Air Force with 4500 Thunderjets

Note: In 1953, when this Rolex Ad came out, President Eisenhower had just started his first of two terms as the President of the United States, and he was wearing the exact Rolex Datejust featured in this ad.

The Spirit Of The Rolex Daytona

The Spirit Of The Rolex Daytona
In this fascinating video Rolex goes into depth on the history of the Rolex Daytona. To learn much, much, much more about the amazing history of the Rolex Daytona, you can check out my story named "The Complete History Of The Rolex Daytona Cosmograph."

Neil deGrasse Tyson Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium Director

...Rolex Ultra-Super Coolness...

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium Director

The Launch Of 

StarTalk TV

On NATGEOTV

Two-Tone Rolex Datejust

Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the worlds leading astrophysicists and I wrote an article last year when he debuted his redux of the Carl Sagan Classic named COSMOS. 

I have fantastic news to report! Neil deGrasse Tyson loves interviewing fascinating people, especially really smart people with great scientific minds, and National Geographic TV just launched his show named StarTalk on the NATGEO Channel. You can watch the first episode below, which features and interview with George Takei who played Sulu on the original Star Trek TV Show.