Rolex Coolness: Jean-Claude Killy-Stainless Steel Rolex GMT Master II

...Rolex Ultra Super-Coolness... 

Jean-Claude Killy

Stainless Steel Rolex GMT Master II

Rolex Board Member

I have been meaning to put together a comprehensive article on life-long Rolex Ambassador, Jean-Claude Killy, in the same way I wrote a detailed overview of Sir Jackie Stewart's lifetime career as a Rolex Ambassador. Following is an overview of Jean-Claude Killy's life as a Rolex Ambassador. In the future, as time permits, I will continue to update this amazing man's life story until it is complete.

Jean-Claude Killy is one of the greatest skiers in history, if not the greatest. He swept the 1968 Winter Olympics by winning three gold medals in alpine events. Today, Jean-Claude is still deeply involved with Rolex serving as a member of the Rolex board of directors. 

1968 Winter Olympic Super Champion

Jean-Claude Killy won 12 out of 16 World Cup races during the 1966-1967 racing season. Next, at the 1968 Winter Olympic games in Grenoble, France, he won not only won the good medal in Downhill, but also swept in the Giant Slalom, and Slalom to achieve his Alpine sweep.

The Real Speed Racer

Jean-Claude Killy was really into racing and cars even before he won at the 1968 winter Olympics. We see Jean-Claude pictured below in March of 1967, when he visited racing legend and specialty car maker, Carroll Shelby. Jean-Claud is pictured below posing with a 1967 Shelby GT500. Jean-Claude ended up driving the GT500 at the Riverside track racing school. 

We see Jean-Claude Killy pictured below 1968 rockin' his Porsche 911 around the Nürburgring racetrack in a 1000KM race.

We see Jean-Claude pictured below in 1969 at L-Mans with race car legend, and fellow Frenchman, Bob Wolleck. Before becoming a race car driver, Bob Wollek was also a member of the French National Skiing Team between 1966-1968.

How cool does Jean-Claude Killy look in the photo above with the cool shades, muscle-T, and Levi's rockin' a Rolex Day-Date. Talk about Super-Cool French Style!!!

In this next photo we see Jean-Claude pictured at L-Mans with Steve McQueen.

1969 Chevy Camaro

Speaking Of Jean-Claude Killy coolness, I love this Killy ad for the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible with the skis on the back of the convertible and the hotness riding shotgun =D

Jean-Claude Killy is pictured below in 1972, at Appalachian Ski Mountain, which was the first of many visits he made to the French Swiss Ski Collect, located at the Bowling Rock Resort.

The Rolex Explorer II 

Orange Hand Ads

Reference 1655

1980 Rolex Explorer II 

Orange Hand Ad

Reference 1655

I realize the ad above is hard to read, and here is what it says:

Robust and versatile. Rolex Explorer II meets your need for timekeeping integrity in high mountain skiing. Choice of Jean-Claude Killy, three time Olympic gold medalist in the same year. This self-winding, officially certified superlative chronometer in stainless steel with matching bracelet is also pressure-proof in its formed Oyster case down to 300 feet. A luminous red hour hand points exact time on fixed 24 hour bezel. Like championship racing, uncommon endurance is built into Explorer II.

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

1971 Rolex Explorer II

Reference 1655

I thought since we just saw three Jean-Claude Killy Rolex Ads for the Rolex Explorer II Orange hand, it would make sense to take a closer look at the reference. Rolex introduced the Explorer II in 1971, and it had an orange hand to keep track of the time in a second time zone, and was also designed to enable the wearer to read a 24 hour clock to be able to determine the am/pm in the dark in caves, or at the North or South Pole. A few years ago, Rolex brought back the orange hand Rolex Explorer II, which is based upon this cool retro-design.

Jean-Claude Killy

1974 French Rolex Datejust Ad

Even though the Rolex ad below is for a yellow gold Rolex Datejust, it appears Jean-Claude is wearing a yellow gold Day-Date in the photo.

Jean Claude Killy

Rolex Magazine ad from 1983

1987 Jean-Claude Killy

Olympic Skiing Superstar

"I don't think I'll ever want to slow down" –Jean-Claude Killy

In 1968, Jean-Claude Killy brought home three Olympic gold medals. In 1992, he brought the Olympic games themselves.

A successful businessman, as well as one of France's best-known sports figures, Killy was chosen to spearhead the drive that brought the Winter Olympics to his beloved Sovoie.

"The training that I went through to become a ski racer proved invaluable to me when I entered the business world, and the same proved true in organizing the Winter Games." Killy says, "As an athlete I learned to value of hours of planning and being able to juggle several projects at once."

Today, Killy faces the hurdles of business with the same confidence he had on the ski slopes. "Being an entrepreneur isn't easy," he notes, "but I could never see myself doing anything else. I love the excitement, the idea that there's a different challenge waiting every day.

"In life, as in skiing, timing is everything." Killy says. Which is why both on the slopes and off Killy wears a timepiece he can rely on: his Rolex Oyster timepiece.

Rolex Macro Shot of the Day: Derek's Magic Mother Of Pearl Rolex

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

Magic Mother Of Pearl Day-Date

Derek from Warwickshire in the United Kingdom took this absolutely stunning photo of his magnificently beautiful platinum Rolex Day-Date.

Ariel Adams Reviews Rolex 41MM Datejust Yellow Gold & Stainless Steel: Reference 126333

Ariel Adams 

Reviews Rolex 41MM Datejust

Yellow Gold & Stainless Steel: Reference 126333

Ariel Adams from A Blog To Watch just published an excellent review of Rolex's newer 41MM Two-Tone Rolex Datejust, which I highly recommend checking out!

Arial Adams is an old pal of mine. Arial Adams and Benjamin Clymer from Hodinkee and I all started our watch blogs within several months of each other, almost ten years ago—man how time flies!?!! The three of us, along with James Dowling from Timezone.com were the first journalists to be invited to tour all four Rolex manufacturing facilities in Switzerland—back in 2013. 

Jake Ehrlich, James Dowling, Benjamin Clymer, and Ariel Adams on November 18, 2013 (RolexMagazine.com, Timezone.com, Hodinkee.com, and ABlogToWatch.com)

I can only speak for myself, but visiting Rolex as like a child visiting Disneyland for the first time, or as I mentioned in my "INSIDE ROLEX: Exploring What Makes Rolex Tick" story, I felt like Charlie having won the Golden Ticket to tour Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory. It was crazy cool!!! All of us even got to work on putting together part of a new Rolex. Specifically, each of us installed a set of hands on different Rolex Submariner models. It is funny to think their are Rolex Submariner models on people's wrists somewhere on planet earth that had their hands installed either by Benjamin Clymer, James Dowling, Ariel Adams, or by your truly :-)

Benjamin Clymer, James Dowling, Ariel Adams, and Jake Ehrlich on November 19, 2013 (Hodinkee.com, Timezone.com, ABlogToWatch.com, and RolexMagazine.com)

Robert De Niro Rolex

...Rolex Coolness...

Robert De Niro

Academy Award Winner for Best Actor

On Jake's Rolex World I recently covered the 2017 Academy Awards, with a retrospective on Academy Award Winners who wear Rolex, so I thought it would makes sense to take a closer look at one of the greatest actors in movie history. Robert de Niro has been wearing Rolex watches for close to five decades as seen in the images below.

Robert De Niro has stared in many famous movies and some of my personal favorites include:

• The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
• Taxi Driver (1976)
• The Deer Hunter (1978) 
• Raging Bull (1980)
• Once Upon A Time In America (1984) 
• Brazil (1985)
• The Mission (1986) 
• Angel Heart (1987) 
• The Untouchables (1987) 
• Good Fellas (1990)
• Cape Fear (1991)
• A Bronx Tale (1993) 
• Casino (1995)
• Wag The Dog (1997)
• Jackie Brown (1997) 
• Analyze This (1999) 
• Meet the Parents (2000)
• American Hustle (2013)  

Robert De Niro is pictured below at age 7 in a photo the looks like it could have been taken yesterday. It is amazing if you think about it, to think this little boy would go on to become one of the most talented and celebrated actors of his time.

The Deer Hunter

1978

Robert De Niro wore a Stainless Steel Rolex Submariner in the Deer Hunter, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1978...

The original Deer Hunter trailer is below, and at 2:50 into the trailer Robert De Niro's Rolex Submariner is visible.

Robert De Niro

1981 Academy Award Winner for Best Actor 

15 Minutes

2001

It has been said Robert De Niro wore a Rolex Daytona in the 2001 movie named "15 Minutes.", but after careful evaluation I don't think it is a Rolex. It sure looks like a vintage Daytona, but I don't think it is. If you look closely, you can see the watch is lacking chronograph pusher buttons. Usually, I wouldn't include a photo like this in a Rolex story, but I also specialize in busting all false Rolex myths, so I thought I would separate the fact from the fiction on this one.

Showtime

2002

Robert De Niro costared in the movie Showtime with Eddie Murphy, and in the photos below we see him wearing what appears to be a vintage stainless Rolex Oyster in this movie.

Robert De Niro is pictured below with William Shatner

Eddie Murphy on the left with Rene Russo in the background with Robert De Niro on the right 

I could not help but notice that Eddie and Robert are kind of pointing at each other like in the photo below the movie poster.

Killer Elite

2011

As we saw in the first photos of Robert de Diro in this story, he wore a Rolex Submariner 41 years ago in 1976, in the movie named The Deer Hunter. In the 2011 movie named Killer Elite, Robert de Niro also wore a vintage stainless steel Rolex Submariner (no date) as seen below. Ironically, this appears to be the same model he wore in The Deer Hunter. I doubt its the same watch, but definitely worth noting is looks like the same Rolex Submariner Reference 5512 or 5513.

Orange Hand Explorer 42MM with Polar White Dial

...Wrist Shot Of The Day...

Orange Hand Explorer

42MM with Polar White Dial

What is my favorite current Rolex model? Probably the 42MM Orange Hand Explorer with the Polar What dial as seen in the three photos below. 

In particular, I really like the super fat hands, and Maxi-Markers, as well as the fat lugs, and of course, the 42mm size seems just right. Also, the orange hand with the polar white dial is so cool looking!!!

James Cameron & Rolex Say Goodbye to Bill Paxton

James Cameron
& 
ROLEX 
Say Goodbye to Bill Paxton
As you are probably aware, actor Bill Paxton passed away last weekend at age 61, just before the Academy Awards, and his passing shocked the world.

Bill Paxton and leading Hollywood director and Rolex Fanatic, James Cameron were very close pals. Time.com just published a story written by James Cameron about his amazing friendship with Bill Paxton. James Began his story:

"Bill and I started together on low-budget Roger Corman films, and came up together, through the 80’s and 90’s, working together as actor and director. He ultimately acted in over 60 films, including Twister, Aliens, Apollo 13, True Lies, Titanic and Edge of Tomorrow, as well as many TV films and series, including his critically acclaimed Big Love. For 36 years he was one of my closest friends, a friendship that went far beyond our work together.

Of course even now, after his long and celebrated career, one of his most memorable characters remains one of his earliest: Private Hudson in Aliens. His wail, “It’s game over man!,” is as funny today as it was 31 years ago. It was the voice of the everyman, a quintessentially human response to fear and hopelessness.

The night before his heart surgery, which was ironically on Valentine’s Day, we had what was to be our last conversation. He was upbeat, even joking about being scared, saying “I feel like Hudson.” We both had a laugh riffing on “It’s game over man!” But tragically, for Bill, it was game over.

He will be greatly missed by all who knew and worked with him. He was always bursting with enthusiasm and ideas. I never met an actor or filmmaker who didn’t say he was one of the most likeable people they’d ever worked with. Of course, this business is not about being liked, but to stay sane and decent while doing some of the best work out there was Bill’s unique gift.

I highly recommend reading the rest of James Cameron's incredibly moving tribute to Bill Paxton on Time.com.

Bill Paxton was an actor in James Cameron's epic movie, Titanic, where he played a treasure hunter, and in the photo below we see Paxton famously wearing his yellow gold Rolex Submariner in the movie.

I remember noticing Bill Paxton's Rolex when I saw Titanic in theaters, and thinking it was so apropos and cool...His performance was extremely passionate, highly believable, and overall superb!

You can watch the Official Titanic Trailer below. Titanic was so much more than a movie, it was an experience...

Rolex Says Goodbye
To
Bill Paxton
@ The 89th Academy Awards

The 2017 Oscars were really memorable, unusual and outstanding, and the crazy bizzaro 'Best Picture' Fiasco will go down in history as being the most awkward yet memorable moment in Oscar History. Ironically, Rolex was a sponsor of the 2017 Academy Awards, and inadvertently created the most moving moment of the 2017 Oscars.

Rolex created a special nostalgic Rolex TV commercial for the 2017 Academy Awards titled, "Celebrating Cinema". The commercial aired twice on ABC during the Oscar ceremony. Bill Paxton passed away the day before the Academy Awards aired, but many people were disappointed to discover The Academy Awards did not have any kind of tribute to Bill Paxton's amazing career achievements, but in a serendipitous twist of fate, Rolex did!!!

Bill Paxton's role in the Titanic was covered in the movie collage seen above, which was perhaps the most moving and heartwarming and touching element of the 2017 Academy Awards ceremony. 

Arguably, The Bill Paxton's Titanic touchstone footage made the Rolex TV commercial a thousand times more emotionally engaging and moving. The Rolex "Celebrating Cinema" Oscar TV commercial also featured a Rolex scene from the movie, Apollo 13, which Bill Paxton also starred in, that came just before the Bill Paxton Titanic scenes.

It is also worth noting that Jennifer Aniston got all choked-up when she mentioned Bill Paxton during the 2017  Academy Awards.

Godspeed, Bill Paxton