Unworn 1959 Rolex Day-Date Gifted to Henry Ford II

Unworn 1959 Rolex Day-Date

Gifted to Henry Ford II
Hugh Austin is a reader of Jake's Rolex World and he wrote in to share this super cool video of an unworn Rolex Day-Date on a Jubilee bracelet that was gifted to Henry Ford II by Rolex Director, Rene-Paul Jeanneret. 

It's interesting to note that in 1959 the Rolex Day-Date came in a really elegant ruby red presentation box as seen below.

William 'Bill' Ford who is the great-grandson of Henry Ford also wears Rolex watches and in the photo below we see him wearing his LV Submariner.

Seeing this watch made me recall an image in my unpublished archives of Edsel Ford II who is another great grandson of Henry Ford, and in this photo he is wearing a two tone Rolex Datejust on a leather strap.

1957 Rolex Datejust Turn-O-Graph

1957 Rolex Datejust

Spanish Turn-O-Graph Ad

The history of the Rolex Turn-O-Graph is beyond fascinating. It originally looked too similar to the Rolex Submariner, so Rolex decided to add a Date feature to it, and turned it into a Datejust model. This might sound confusing, and it is. As a matter of fact, the Rolex Turn-O-Graph, actually began its model life a the Rolex MonoMeter, but it appears Rolex liked Turn-O-Graph better.

The 1957 Rolex advertisement was from the "Men who control the destines of the World wear Rolex watches" campaign, which ran for years.

Nick Gould and I were recently examining this 1957 Spanish Rolex Magazine ad, and Nick said "It's rare to see Rolex advertising the Datejust with a Turn-O-Graph bezel." In my upcoming book series I go into great detail on the early history of the Turn-O-Graph, which is absolutely fascinating, and in my recent article published back in December of 2024 titled "The Complete History of The Rolex Thunderbirds and Rolex TURN-O-GRAPH", I go into great detail on it's history.

Rolex Macro Shot Of The Week: Greg's GV 50th Anniversary Rolex Milgauss

Rolex Macro Shot Of The Day

Greg's GV 50th Anniversary Rolex Milgauss

Rolex Coolness: Clint Eastwood, Clint Eastwood GMT Root Beer

...Rolex Coolness...

Clint Eastwood

1981 Two-Tone Root-Beer Rolex GMT Master

[Jubilee Bracelet: Reference 1675]

This photo of Clint Eastwood was taken at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in April of 1981 and we see Clint in front of the very first Space Shuttle, Columbia just after it completed its first orbital flight.

Alan Cousteau Three & A Half Men

...Funny Rolex Moment In Time...

Jon Cryer

Alan Cousteau Submariner

Two & A Half Men

Rolex has been featured in many pop-culture contexts, and this is probably one of the funniest examples. Jon Cryer starred on the mega-hit comedy TV-Show Two and a Half Men from 2003 to 2015. Most of those years he co-starred with Charlie Sheen (WINNING!!!!!), and both of them wore Rolex watches on the show. Jon wore a Submariner and Charlie wore a medium size stainless steel and Platinum Yatch-Master.

1938 Rolex Magazine Locomotive Ad from Europa Star

 1938

Rolex Magazine Locomotive Ad 

This 1938 Rolex Magazine ad originally appeared in the Europa Star Magazine and the caption reads: "The locomotive and the Oyster Perpetual are hailed as "two masterpieces of technology". Typical of Rolex advertisements from the first half of the century, the text adopts an almost didactic tone, explaining the automatic movement offers exceptional regularity and that the Oyster case is water resistant to 6 atmospheres.

Pele: The Greatest Soccer Player In History...

...The Greatest Soccer Player In History...

Rolex Super-Coolness

Pelé

The King Of Football

1940-2022

Got A Kick Out Of 5 Decades Of Wearing Rolex

Soccer legend, Pelé passed away on December 29, 2022 at age 81 but left behind an incredible legacy and record of amazing achievement. He remains to date the only soccer player that won the World Cup three times! 

In the world of Sports, there are players who are considered to be the best in history. In basketball we have Michael Jordan, who has also been a lifetime Rolex man; and in the world of soccer, Pelé is considered to be the all-time best. Pele first wore a yellow gold Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet, then went on to were his trademark yellow-gold Rolex Day-Date for decades.

Pelé was born Edison "Edson" Arantes so Nascimento in October of 1940 in Brazil. During his amazing career which ran from 1956 to 1974 he scored 760 official goals, and 541 in league championships, thus, making him the top scorer of all time!!! In his career Pelé scored a total of 1281 goals in 1363 games. Pelé began playing for Santos Futebol Clube in 1956, and stayed with them for almost two decades. In 1958, at 17 years of age, Pelé helped Brazil win its first World Cup. 

Pelé is widely considered to be not only the most famous soccer/football player in history, but also the best. To this day, Pelé is the winningest soccer player in FIFA World Cup history remaining the only player to have won 3 Wold Cup Winners' Medals (1958, 1962 and 1970). Pelé was also received a special recognition award from the FIFA World Cup for the title of "FIFA Player Of The Century."

Pelé is pictured below with David Beckham who is considered to be another one of the great soccer player in history. David Beckham has also been wearing Rolex for a long time and also a Tudor Brand Ambassador.

Pelé's Amazing Career

Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil on October 21, 1940. Pelé's father was a soccer player and named oldest son after Thomas Edison. Edson was nicknamed Pelé when he was a young man, which was based upon his favorite soccer players name, whose nickname was Bilé. Pelé was a young soccer prodigy and went on to become the greatest soccer player of the 20th Century!

Pelé Rolex and Brazil '66

48 years ago in 1966, in the vintage photos below, we see world-wide soccer superstar, Pelé rocking his Rolex Datejust. Pelé is most famous for wearing his trademark yellow gold Rolex Day-Date, but before he wore his Day-Date he wore a Rolex Datejust as seen in the two photos below.

In the photo below of Pelé we see him in the London Airport as he prepares to return home after winning the 1966 World Cup.


For historical reference, it is interesting to note the Rolex watch Pelé is wearing is the same model Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wore in that same time in history. Bill Cosby was also wearing his Pepsi GMT Master, this same year on I Spy.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Senator Edward Kennedy August 8, 1966 (AP Photo)

Pelé's Trademark Bicycle Kick

In the photo below we see Pelé executing his famous trademark "Bicycle-Kick."

In this next photo we see Pele with Muhammad Ali in 1977 in New York. What a photo!!!

In the next two recent photos we see Pele sporting his Yellow Gold Rolex Day-Date that he typically wears.

In the next photo below, we see the visible clasp on the back of the Rolex "President" bracelet, which likely means Pelé acquired and has been wearing this Rolex Day-Date since sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s!!!

Stainless Steel Rolex Datejust

In this next photo below, we see Pele wearing a stainless steel Rolex that appears to be a Datejust on an Oyster Bracelet.

...Studio Shot of the Day...

DATEJUST 41

Oyster Bracelet, Oystersteel and White Gold

Watches and Wonders is coming-up in April, speaking of which, I can't stop thinking about this super cool Rolex model that launched at Watches & Wonders in 2022. This beauty came and went without major fanfare and its the 41MM Datejust with a Bright Blue Fluted Motif dial, with a fluted white gold bezel. I LOVE this 41MM with the crazy-beautiful blue dial!!!! What a Magnificent design Rolex!

The Cowboy Archetype: John Wayne

...Rolex Super Coolness...
The Cowboy Archetype

John Wayne
1907-1979

Rolex Datejust & King Midas

John Wayne was affectionately know by his nickname of "Duke" and was the Archetype for the Cowboy. He remained the top box office draw in Hollywood for three decades. 

I first learned that John Wayne wore Rolex watches, from non other than former Rolex U.S.A. executive, T. Walker Lloyd. Michael Sorchantte recently sent in this photo of John Wayne which ironically is the best one to date to make a positive ID on his Rolex. As seen in all the photos below of John Wayne, it is challenging to see his Rolex watch as he typically wore it backwards with the watch on the back of his wrist.

In the four photos below we see John Wayne in Acapulco, Mexico wearing his Rolex Datejust. I must admit, that from a fashion perspective today, it is unusual to see men wearing espadrilles, but in the 1950s, is was common in places like Acapulco, Mexico.

John Wayne, like his good pal, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, wore his date just with the dial on the palm side of his wrist so in these first photos, all we really see is his Rolex Datejust bracelet.

John Wayne owned a resort in Acapulco, Mexico, where he would hang out with his friends, many of which were famous Hollywood stars, like him. In the photos above and below, we see him walking with Gary Cooper. Gary Cooper was also one of Hollywood's leading men, and was also a huge cowboy archetype. Gary Cooper's most famous role as a cowboy was in the Hollywood blockbuster film, 'High Noon'.

In the photo below we see John Wayne in Acapulco, Mexico wearing his Rolex Datejust.

King Midas

28MM Reference 9630: Number 557 of 1000

John Wayne also wore an original 1967 Rolex King Midas, which is pictured below. It was auctioned by Heritage Auction house in 2011.

A Man's Man

A Masculine Actor

John Wayne was loved by women and men. In many ways, John Wayne was the epitome of a A Masculine Actor, and he was friends with all of Hollywood's leading men. In the photo below we see, Rolex wearer Bob Hope, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra.

John Wayne was good pals with fellow actor, Steve McQueen. This is kind of profound as Steve McQueen did not look up to many people, but John Wayne was his idol. In the photo below we see Steve McQueen hugging John Wayne, and notice Steve McQueen is wearing his trademark Rolex Submariner.

John Wayne is pictured with the gorgeous Hollywood actress, Jayne Mansfield.