Andrew St. Pierre White

Andrew St. Pierre White

Back in the 1980s Rolex published a booklet titled, "Every Rolex Tells A Story", which was offered to Rolex customers through Authorized Rolex Dealers. The booklet consisted of fascinating letters Rolex customers had sent in over the years. These letters told amazing stories of what customers Rolex had gone through. Recently Rolex began publishing a micro-site that collects and share Rolex Stories, titled, "Every Rolex Tells A Story.
This video is probably one of the absolute best Rolex stories I have ever heard, and I highly recommend watching it!!!!

1930s Italian Rolex Mermaid Ad

Italian Art-Deco Rolex Mermaid Ad

Rolex watches have always been very popular in Italy, as we see from this amazing Italian Mermaid Ad. I don't have an exact date for this, but it looks like it is from the later 1930s. I LOVE the timeless mermaid illustration and the art-deco stylized fish are so cool looking!!! It is worth noting that most current Rolex watches still maintain a lot of timeless art-deco design language, which is one of the main ingredients in Rolex's secret-design-sauce...

Posting the image above made me think about this other Italian Rolex Mermaid image I have posted in the past.

Nicolas Cage: A Life With Rolex Keeping Time

Academy Award Winner for Best Actor

...Rolex Coolness...

Nicolas Cage

A Brilliant Career with Rolex Keeping Time

Nicolas Cage is one of many famous actors who has won the Academy Award for Best Actor, that have worn Rolex watches. Nicolas Cage's birth name was Nicolas Coppola is an amazing actor and has starred in many major motion pictures including Valley Girl (1983), Birdy (1984), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Moonstruck (1987), Wild at Heart (1990), The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), Con Air (1997), City of Angels (1998), Adaptation (2002), to name only a few. He is the nephew of leading director, Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and is the cousin of directors Sofia Coppola and Roman Coppola.

Nicolas Cage is pictured above wearing what would appear to be a yellow gold Rolex Datejust. on a jubilee bracelet, but if you examine it closely, he is wearing a Rolex Moonphase Reference 6062. Nicolas was married to Elvis Presley's daughter,  Lisa Marie Presley, and if you look closely in the photo below, Nicolas is rockin' his Rolex Moonphase 6062. 

This is one of the most beautiful Rolex models ever made. It is an annual calendar "triple-date" moon phase with star indices that was made 68 years ago in 1950. It is simple yet sophisticated and in like-new condition. This beauty was auctioned five years ago by Christie's in Geneva, Switzerland on November 16, 2005, for $594,155.

In the photo below we see Nicolas Cage with Lisa Marie Presley and he is wearing a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.

Ironically I have a personal memory of Nicolas Cage. I used to visit the original Tower Records store located in San Francisco's Northbeach, on Columbus Street, near Fisherman's Warf. One day I was in Tower Records, in the later 1980s, and I had a small pile of CDs I was getting ready to purchase. It seems like every time I would go into Tower Records I would end up buy 10 CDs, which seemed like a lot at a time. So one day I am in Tower, and I see this dude walking around with a cart full of CDs. He must have had 30-40 CDs, and I noticed he was walking around and he would pick up a CD he seemed to recognize and without any hesitation put it in his basket. All of sudden I recognized it was Nicolas Cage :-)

In a recent story, Danny published a story named "Rolex in the Movies: Cash on Your Wrist-Rolex as Currency", in which he included images from the two Nicolas Cage movies below:

Honeymoon in Vegas

1992

Nicolas Cage has probably worn Rolex watches in more movies than any other actor. in the image below we see Nicolas wearing three Rolex watches in the photo with Sarah Jessica Parker.

Maybe he got the idea from Fidel Castro to wear a Day-Date and a Submariner at the same time on one wrist?

Leaving Las Vegas

1995

Alcoholic Ben Sanderson, played by Nicolas Cage, pawns his Daytona to sustain his addiction. Nicolas won an Academy Award for Best Actor in his portrayal of Ben Sanderson in Leaving Las Vegas.

The scene 1993 Rolex Daytona scene is covered in the trailer seen Leaving Las Vegas trailer below:

National Treasure

2004

In the 2004 movie titled, "National Treasure", Benjamin Gates, played by Nicolas Cage, gives a waitress his Rolex so he can get $100 from her cash register. "It's called a Submariner. I dive with it," he tells her. "It's actually quite valuable." 

Lord Of War

2005

In the photos below Nicolas Cage is sporting his Persol sunglasses with his platinum Rolex Day-Date, which is always a great combo!!! These screen grabs are from the movie, Lord Of War.

National Treasure II

Book of Secrets

2007

This next image below shows Nicolas Cage in the 2007 sequel to National Treasure, which was named National Treasure: Book of Secrets. This image appears courtesy of WatchesInMovies.info.

The Trust

2016

In the video below, the video below, the second video covered features Nicolas Cage wearing a Rolex Explorer II.

The next two photos show Nicolas Cage hanging out on racing tracks wearing his Rolex Submariner.

Nicolas Cage is pictured below with his wife he has been married to since 2004 whose name is Alice Kim. Alice Kim is an actress in Hollywood. Notice Alice is wearing a yellow gold Rolex Lady Date.

Bernhard's Beautiful Gold Day-Date Mania

Rolex 'Wide Boy" Day-Date

It never ceases to amaze me how timeless Rolex watches are. The photo below shows a Rolex 'Wide Boy', from the early 1970s, which features extra wide 5-minute markers with matching hands.

Bernhard is one of the top Rolex vintage fans in the world. He took the photo above and below of these really beautiful vintage yellow gold vintage Rolex Day-Dates [Reference 1803] Models.

The two images below were taken by Honinkee and feature a 1972 Rolex Day-Date 'Wide Boy' Reference 1803 in Yellow Gold. This first photo is magnificent!!!

The second image below from Hodinkee offers a superb side view that really shows how visually interesting the 'Wide' baton markers and matching hands are. There is something very 'Harold and Maude' about the look of this watch, in a good way :-)

Rolex recently introduced new models of the Day-Date that are somewhat similar looking as we see from the photo below taken by the New York-based photographer, David Arky.

Studio Shot Of The Day: Stefano's Rolex Cosmograph

...Studio Shot Of The Day...

Stefano's Rolex Cosmograph

[Reference 6239]

Pictured below is a Rolex Cosmograph brochure from 1970. Notice in 1970 that Rolex still put "Founder, H. Wilsdorf" on their collateral material. 

The Perezcope Effect: There Is A New Sherrif In Town

The Perezcope Effect

There Is A New Sheriff In Town


A Curious Case of a Missing Cosmograph

On Jake's Rolex World and Jake's Panerai World, we specialize in telling accurate historical stories as well as busting falsely perpetuated myths. Jose is a member of Jake's Rolex World team, and he specializes in separating-fact-from-fiction in the horological world. Jose is what I refer to as a Horological Forensics Investigator. Jose has eagle eyes and pays a TREMENDOUS amount of attention to detail. Jose is the real deal...

At the end of this story, I provide a link to an interview with Jose on Le Monde Edmond that was published earlier today. It is one of the best interviews I have ever read, so when you are done reading this story be sure to check it out by clicking the red text above or go read it now, then come back and finish reading this story!!!

Jose on a recent trip to Italy in front of the Villino Panerai to meet with Maria Panerai

Jose and I have been collaborating for some time now on both Rolex and Panerai history. The result of some of our collaboration are the two historical timeline posters seen below. I want to point out Jose made and beautifully laid out the posters. I contributed with historical facts, and by consulting on some of the layout elements, as well as adding subject content to better contextualize the timeframes.

The first timeline poster below covers the History of The Rolex SEA-DWELLER. If you examine the poster closely you will see on the left side, vintage Panerai watches that affected the development of the Rolex Submariner and SEA-DWELLER.

The next photo below is titled, "The Panerai Time Machine." This magnificent timeframe poster charts the REAL history of Panerai vintage watches. I highly recommend right-mouse clicking on the poster above and below, and opening them in a new window so you can check out the incredible high-resolution details.

There are many people who don't like Jose as they feel he has upset the vintage Panerai market by constantly pointing out watches that are historically and technically "incorrect." Or in other words, "It's a fugazi!" In doing so, it appears Jose has had an effect on the price of vintage Panerai watches. In case you haven't noticed, all the major auction houses have shied away recently from auctioning vintage Panerai watches for fear Jose will appear from out of nowhere and do a whack-a-mole on them. In other words, auction houses have had Panerai watches up for auction, then Jose will write a blog post on his brilliant Perezcope.com and point out the fact the watch is "incorrect," so they have to remove the watch from the auction.

Some people think this is bad for the market, but I think it is great as it stops bad actors from putting forth manipulated watches for the sake of making a fast buck. In the final analysis, Jose's horological forensics investigations result in much better scholarship for the REAL marketplace.

Despite being focused on the vintage Panerai marketplace, Jose has been quietly focused on the vintage Rolex marketplace, and he just fired his first salvo across Phillips Auction House bow. I believe Phillips is innocent and was likely deceived, but this is a serious wake-up call for ALL the horological auction houses.  

Ironically this event took place online on Instagram. Jose published the following post on Instagram yesterday:

Below you can see the actual Instagram post:

Fake “Solo” Daytona (6239, 1079777), auctioned by @phillipswatches (@phillipsauction) in Hong Kong in Nov. 2015. The 1st picture shows the altered dial with the properly removed “Cosmograph” print, the 2nd picture shows the original condition. A very easy way to make a 200% profit, isn’t it? For @hodinkee this particular “Solo” was even the best example they could find to make a point in one of their Daytona articles... @shameonwrist

A post shared by Jose Pereztroika (@perezcope) on Jan 3, 2018 at 5:08am PST

The photo below is the watch in controversy that Phillips Auction House sold at Auction in 2015, which is a Rolex Chronograph Reference Number 6239, which sold for close to $100,000.

The photo below of the watch in controversy is from Jose's database. Notice the dial has indelible identical markings (circled in red, which are unique like a fingerprint) as the watch above, with the exception, it is missing the word "COSMOGRAPH" below "ROLEX" on the dial. This watch was sold on December 12, 2011, at the Antiquorum Auction House for $27,500.

In Jose's Perezcope Instagram thread seen below, we later see Benjamin Clymer of Hodinkee.com commenting as well as Phillips Auction House response: 

The entire response from Phillips Auction House can be read below:

@PhillipsWatches Official Instagram Response

Following this post, we've examined the photos, and even without having the watch in our hands again, we agree the dial appears to have been altered at some point before it was originally consigned with us. We are in the process of reaching out to the buyer to extend our apologies and invite him to return the watch for a full refund. 

Since our founding in 2014, Phillips has always sold watches in good faith, and the authenticity of the watches we offer is of paramount importance. We’ve always pledged to address problematic watches in our auctions in good faith in response to any issues raised by the community. 

Outside of our own due diligence process, if a watch is proven to be of questionable authenticity before it’s sold, we respond by removing it. In the event a watch is sold and is later determined to be problematic, we back all of our watches with an authenticity guarantee to protect our buyers. We thank @perezcope for bringing this issue to our attention. 

We love watches as much as you do and are committed to strengthening this community together with all of you. We apologize to the community, and as always, we welcome your constructive feedback and look forward to enjoying this mutual passion together for many years to come.

I want to respond to Phillips statement, not on Instagram, but here on Jake's Rolex World.

When Phillips said:

"We love watches as much as you do and are committed to strengthening this community together with all of you."

I believe this is a really profound point. All of us, including you—the person reading this—are members of the online watch collecting community, which represents the future of watch collecting. Events like this help the community come together to collectively participate in meaningful discussions only the internet could facilitate. The more people know the truth around the world, the more valuable the real watches become, and I am not specifically referring to value in terms of dollars, but in terms of historical significance.

Don't Fly Solo

Now that the cat is out of the bag, one question might be, how did Jose figure out the Rolex 'Solo' had been manipulated? Jose maintains an enormous horological database that has many interesting facts and figures regarding vintage watches. Jose noticed the position of the ROLEX name printed on the dial of the supposed 'SOLO' looked incorrect. So he cross-referenced it in his Daytona Database and discovered the same watch was sold twice. Jose then compared the images of both watches and was able to make a positive ID. 

Basically, a 'SOLO' Dial Rolex Daytona is worth much more than a standard dial version that has the 'COSMOGRAPH' dial designation below the 'ROLEX' pad print on the dial. Jose said he believed some bad actors figured out how to use some kind of special solvent to remove just the 'COSMOGRAPH' pad print, which is basically painted, without affecting the 'ROLEX' pad print. The method they used is able to remove the pad printing without any traces—as if it were never there.

DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE?

So who exactly is Jose? Jose may seem mysterious to many people. What is his motivation? I know the answer to that question as I work with Jose regularly, but I invite you to visit Le Monde Edmond to investigate for yourself, in the form of an amazingly insightful and interesting interview that was published earlier today, titled, "Interview The 'truth' hunter: Jose Pereztroika." If you are not familiar with Le Monde Edmond, it is a fascinating blog written by Edmond Saran who is a famous investor and collector of fine vintage rarities. 

I am used to talking with Jose on a regular basis and he constantly blows my mind with his insight, passion for the truth, and knowledge, so it should come as no surprise in the above-mentioned interview he does it again, but this time in public. Jose's deep and meaningful research and historical knowledge is extremely remarkable, and in the future, Jose and I plan to unveil many more details that will reveal the real and true history of Panerai in a cohesive manner. All I can say is the notion that reality is often more interesting than fiction is on-point in this case.

Jose and I are also working on some really cool Rolex history projects that are mind-blowing...so stay tuned!!!

Rolex MoonPhase

Rolex MoonPhase

Instagram History Showcase

Rolex recently published these amazing historical Rolex moonphase images on their Instagram page:

The first Rolex model displaying a moonphase indicator was launched in 1949. The following year, Rolex introduced the first version with a waterproof Oyster case. The new Cellini Moonphase is a contemporary reinterpretation of timeless elegance. #Rolex #CelliniMoonphase #TBT For more details about the Cellini Moonphase see the link in the profile.

A post shared by ROLEX (@rolex) on Dec 28, 2017 at 8:59am PST

The images below show the three Rolex Moonphases from the Instagram post. Rolex begins with the Reference 8171, then shows the Reference 6062. 

The fundamental difference between the Rolex Moonphase Reference 8171 pictured above, with was from 1949, compared to the Reference 6062, which is seen below, and is from around 1953, is the 6062 features a waterproof Oyster case, whereas the 8071 (pictured above) is not housed in a waterproof case.

I have to say that seeing Rolex post these images on the web sends shivers down my spine (in a good way). I say this as it is the very first time I recall Rolex showing the original moonphase watches from the late 1940s and 1950s since the 1950s!!! This is so cool...

The image below shows Rolex's current modern interpretation of the Moonphase, which comes in the form of a Rolex Cellini version.

What do I think about the current Rolex Cellini Moonphase? I think it is a great step in the right direction, but I also think there is tremendous room for improvement. In my opinion as a designer, it has way too much going on the dial and lacks the Day and Month aperture windows. In the image below I superimposed the Day and Month aperture windows on the current Moonphase, which I think makes it look way better. Also, I would replace the sword hands with the original Dauphine hands seen which came standard on the Rolex moonphase reference 8171 and 6062. 

I am working on a story titled, "The Complete History of The Rolex Moonphase", which I will go into great detail on these magnificent Rolex watches. I have been saying for a long time that Rolex should bring back the complicated Rolex Moonphase models, so when they recently introduced them at BaselWorld I was happy to see the return of the moonphase.

Just for the sake of illustrating my point, I put the 8171 dial in the new Cellini Moonphase case, which I believe perfectly makes my case...

Just for fun, on the image below, I put the new style Chellini Moonphase disc on the 8171 dial, and it looks interesting. I still prefer the old-school vintage 8171, but I think this shows there is almost unlimited potential for Rolex to evolve this model in the future...

Macro Nature Shot Of The Day: Snow Flake Magnified 40 Times

...Ever Wonder?...

Macro Nature Shot Of The Day

Snow Flake Magnified 40 Times

Ever wonder what a snowflake looks like really close up? Pekka Honakoski of Jonkajarvi, Finland took this amazing macro shot of a snowflake magnified 40 times and it is really amazing!!!!!!

Rolex Hotness: Victoria Secret Models...

...Rolex Hotness...
Victoria Secret Models

Stainless Steel Rolex Daytona