Rolex invented and patented the first waterproof watch in 1926 and Hans Wilsdorf named it the Rolex Oyster. Today we take waterproof watches for granted, but in 1926 it was a completely revolutionary invention.
The objective with creating a waterproof watch originally was not to make a watch you could swim or take a shower or bath with, but a watch that was completely impervious to all elements. You see, prior to the invention of the Rolex Oyster, watches used to literally rot from the inside out. This would occur because things like humidity, perspiration, grease, dust, dirt, water and oil would get into the watch case and gunk it up.
Also, by allowing air molecules to easily get inside the case, it would dry out the lubrication oil much faster. In the 1920s and 1930s, Rolex would showcase their watches in Authorized Rolex Dealer's windows, but putting the watches on display in fishtanks with real fish to show-off the waterproofness.
One of my favorite things to do on Jake's Rolex World is bring to life many characters who have appeared in vintage Rolex ads, by delving deeper into their history to learn what makes them tick. Today, I am excited to do just that, by taking a closer look at the amazing career achievements of Jean-François Pernette.
Jean-François Pernette is one of the worlds leading cave explorers, and he is pictured below in Pierre Saint Martin, four decades ago, in 1981, while on a cave exploration expedition, and he is wearing his trademark Rolex Explorer II "Orange Hand."
Jean-François Pernette pictured above in 1981 wearing his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II
Jean-François Pernette is considered to be one of the worlds leading speleologists. He was born in 1954 in France, and he is pictured below, exploring in Papua New-Guinea in 1980, and notice he is wearing his trademark Orange-Hand Rolex Explorer II. Jean-François Pernette went on to become the 1998 Rolex Laureate Winner of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.
1979 French Rolex Explorer II
The Original Orange Hand
Reference 1655
The 1979 Vintage Rolex Jean-François Pernette magazine ad was published in France.
Journey To The End Of The World
Rolex Awards For Enterprise Documentary produced a video about Jean-François Pernette in 1998 and it is Titled, Journey To The End Of The World, which you can watch below:
The next two photos below, show Jean-François Pernette in Papua New-Guinea in 1980, communicating with natives, who have had limited contact with the outside world.
In the next two photos we see Jean-François Pernette exploring a cave in Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin, which is part of a mountain pass on the border of Spain and France, located in the western Pyrenees mountain range.
The above photo was taken in 1981, and the photo below were taken in 1982 in Pierre Saint-Martin. Notice Jean-François Pernette is wearing his trademark Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II in most of these photos taken over the last 4 decades. The Orange hand serves two purposes. First to keep the cave-dweller aware of wether it is AM or PM, and secondly, to able to keep track of time in a second timezone. In the photo below, we we see Jean-François Pernette sporting a Rolex Datejust.
Rolex Awards Geneva 1998
This next photo was taken in 1998, upon the occasion of Jean-François Pernette winning the 1998 Rolex Award For Enterprise, and we see him being awarded with a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.
In the next photo below, we see Jean-François Pernette hiking in the mountains of Nepal in 2012. Notice he is still sporting his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II, which has served him well since 1979 without any challenges, throughout all his expeditions, the latest of which were Patagonia in 2010 and Nepal in 2012.
Jean-François Pernette pictured above in 2012 wearing his Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II
This last photo of Jean-François Pernette was taken this year (2013) while cave exploring in France. Jean-François Pernette has lived an extraordinary life, filled with amazing achievement, all while keeping time with his loyal companion and timekeeper, which is an original, vintage Orange Hand Rolex Explorer II. You can learn much more about the Jean-François Pernette by visiting his Rolex Awards For Enterprise microsite.
James Harold Wilson served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970, as well as from 1974 to 1976. He was a British Labour Party politician. He began his political career in 1945 when he entered Parliament. As we see in the photos below, Harold Wilson wore a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date, also known as The Rolex President.
One of my favorite things to do on Jake's Rolex World is tell the story behind different Rolex Magazine advertisements, but the challenge is some of them don't use the persons name, which was the case with the "Men who guide the destinies of the world wear Rolex watches" ad seen below from 1964, thus we need to use some logical deduction...
Harold Wilson is pictured below meeting with U.S. President Kennedy at the White House in Washington D.C., on April 2, 1963.
Harold Wilson is pictured below meeting with U.S. President Johnson at the White House in Washington D.C. and notice LBJ is also wearing his Rolex Day-Date.
Harold Wilson is pictured below with Queen Elizabeth in September of 1975 at Balmoral just after he informed her he was planning to retire his position as Prime Minister on his 60th birthday in the following March.
"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." —Harold Wilson
GMT Master models always look so cool on a Jubilee. Don't get me wrong, because I love the look of an Oyster bracelet, it is just cool to switch it up with a different vibe.
If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World, you know I am working a series of books that cover the entire history of Rolex. One of the subjects I cover in great detail in the books is the genesis of the Rolex Submariner which remains one of the most icon watches in history. In particular, I am fascinated with the really early Rolex Submariner advertisements.
Above we see a very early ad that was originally published in the Tampa Morning Tribune on November 25, 1954, and it is filled with all kinds of fascinating detail, including the fact the first Rolex Submariner retailed for $150!?!?!?!
Also, we see the correct pronunciation of "Sub-Marine", which means the model was correctly pronounced Sub-Marine-er. Below is the upcoming book cover of the volume that goes into great detail on the origins of the Rolex Submariner:
An Amazing Career with Rolex Keeping The Time Of His Life
John Travolta is one of the most famous and successful actors in history, as well as being a cinema producer, dancer and singer. He was also an Ambassador for the Brietling brand of watches, but before that, he wore Rolex watches as seen in the photos below.
John Travolta has worn many different Rolex watches in his far ranging career. It the photos above, we see him wearing a stainless steel Datejust, and in the photos below we see him wearing a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date.
John Travolta is pictured below with his arm around Marilu Henner.
Marilu Henner is an unusual woman, when it comes to her amazing memory skill as witnessed in the videos below.
In the photo below we see John Travolta wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date, standing in between Sylvester Stallone and Chevy Chase. I always like seeing photos of people together that all wear Rolex, which is the case below.
John Travolta is pictured below wearing in the 2016 movie titled "The People V. OJ". It is ironic that John Travolta wore an Everose Rolex Daytona with a ceramic bezel, as he played the role of O.J. Simpson defense attorney, Robert Shapiro. The historical 'continuity error' challenge is that this Rolex watch model did not exist back in the 1995 :-0
John Travolta is pictured below wearing a Yellow Gold Rolex Submariner, which he wore in the 2004 movie, titled, "The Punisher".
John Travolta is pictured below wearing a Rolex Submariner, which he wore in the 2001 movie, Swordfish.
An Amazing Career
John Travolta's career has been absolutely amazing. He began starring on the 1970's TV show, Welcome Back Kotter where he played Vinny Barbarino which ran from 1975 to 1979.
Where did John Travolta learn how to dance? In this clip from Welcome Back Kotter, we see John rockin' out pretty hard and it is not difficult to imagine him dancing in Saturday Night Fever and Grease.
Saturday Night Fever
1977
John Travolta went on to star in the blockbuster film, Saturday Night Fever, and followed up by starring with Olivia Newton-John in the blockbuster, Grease.
The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack broke multiple record industry records and became the highest-selling record album in recording history, by selling more than 40 million copies, and to this day it remains one of the top five best-selling soundtracks of all time, and to this day it is believed to be in the top 10 best selling albums of all time, world-wide.
In this next video we see the Bee Gees performing You Should Be Dancing from the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack. The Bee Gees consisted of three brothers from Australia named, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, and they are one of the best selling bands in history. In this next video we see the Bee Gees joined by their younger brother, Andy Gibb, and if you look closely you will notice it really looks like Andy Gibb is wearing a Rolex GMT...
Grease
1978
Grease was another mega-hit that starred John Travolta, and Barry Gibb who was the lead singer for the Bee Gees wrote the title song for the Grease soundtrack which Frankie Valli performed, which went on to become the number 1 song on the billboards.
Historically Rolex has always been extremely secretive and discreet, and no journalists in the past have ever been invited "INSIDE ROLEX" to explore and report on all four Rolex Manufacturing faclities in Switzerland.
In November 2013, this changed when Rolex invited Jake to take an unprecdented journey into the heart of Rolex to learn and report on everything he witnessed and learned.
This Super-Detailed 3 Part Story is a "MUST READ" story for anybody who wants to understand what really makes Rolex tick.
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