The photos below are of a Rolex Submariner brochure from the early 1970s that fascinatingly refers to the Rolex Submariner as "Timepiece of inner space." Inner space is an antithetical metaphor to outer space.
If you look closely at the inside of the Rolex brochure pictured below, you will notice it features a classic stainless steel Single-Red Rolex Date Submariner [Reference 1680] with Maxi Markers. Notice it does NOTfeature solid end links (SEL), but the yellow gold version next to it does feature solid end links. The yellow gold Rolex Submariner was the very first Rolex sports watch to feature SEL. Also, notice the yellow gold Rolex Submariner dial features "nipple" indices with matching yellow gold surrounds, which are much smaller than the classic "Maxi" indices, also commonly referred to as "Maxi Markers." Modern Submariner indices, or markers, evolved from these models. So today the 2019 Submariner has Maxi Markers with white gold surrounds. Nick Gould brilliantly observed: "The Gold Rolex Submariner [Reference 1680], was really the first luxury sports watch".
Quincy Jones passed away earlier this month, and back on November 4, 2024 I published his obituary which appears in the second half of this story. It turns out that Quincy Jones was looking forward to attending the 15th Governors Awards presented by Rolex, which was an event which was exclusively sponsored by Rolex. In this first video, we see Quincy Jones daughter, Rashida Jones deliver his acceptance speech he wrote, as he planned to attend, just before he unfortunately passed away at age 91:
Legendary actor, Jamie Foxx also gave a speech about his relationship with Quincy Jones, and shares a fascinating anecdote about how Quincy helped him dial-in on playing Ray Charles.
The Oscars also honored, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who are the children of James Bond, producer, Cubby Broccoli, who ended up taking over the James Bond franchise. Former James Bond actor, Daniel Craig presented Wilson and Broccoli with their award.
Quincy Jones
Lived 33,472 days
Now Belongs To The Ages
1933-2024
Yellow Gold Rolex GMT Master II
50th Anniversary Celebration Model with Green Dial
Reference 116718LN
I originally published my story on Quincy Jones back on September 23, 2018, when Netflix debuted what they referred to as the "Definitive Documentary" on Quincy Jones life, and it was AMAZING!!! Quincy sports his yellow gold Rolex GMT-Master throughout the documentary as seen below.
Quincy passed away yesterday at age 91, and was an international musical treasure whose career achievements as a composer and arranger remain unparalleled. Ironically, in his Netflix documentary, Quincy quipped, "You only live 26,000 days", which is around 70 years, but Quincy actually lived exactly 33,472 days—to be exact...
The screenshot below from the "QUINCY" documentary shows Quincy Jones playing the piano and on his left wrist we see his yellow gold Rolex GMT-Master and on his right pinkie, we see Quincy wearing Frank Sinatra's yellow gold pinkie ring he wore for 40 years until he passed away. The ring features Frank Sinatra's family crest from Sicily. Frank Sinatra left his pinkie ring to Quincy Jones who has been wearing it ever since.
Fly Me To The Moon
Quincy Jones arranged and conducted the music in the video below that features Frank Sinatra singing with Count Basie playing piano in 1965. This video is considered to be Frank's best performances of "Fly Me To the Moon." Fly Me To The Moon was the first song ever played on the moon—by Buz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 landing. At 9:00minutes into the video you can see Frank wearing his yellow gold pinkie ring as he introduces Quincy Jones.
Frank Sinatra gave Quincy Jones his nickname of "Q", and both men absolutely adored each other.
Quincy Jones produced Michael Jackson's album Thriller, is the best selling international album in history.
The Quincy Jones Documentary was directed and produced by one of Quincy's daughers and is AMAZING...
Quincy Jones learned how to play many different musical instruments when he was young and ended up focusing on playing the trumpet. Quincy (right) is pictured below with Dizzy Gillespie (center) back in 1955 in New York.
Photo above was taken by Herman Leonard in 1955 in New York City:
Joe Gordon, E.V. Perry, Dizzy Gillespie, Carl Warwick & Quincy Jones,
Quincy Jones is pictured below with Dizzy Gillespiewho is wearing his trademark Pepsi Rolex GMT-Master back in the 1960s.
It is kind of ironic that Quincy Jones is wearing a GMT-Master a half-century after the photo above was taken!
The screenshot below is from the QUINCY documenary and it shows Dizzy Gillespie wispering to country music legend Willie Neslon and notice Quincy Jones is wearing his yellow gold Rolex GMT-Master.
The wristshot below shows a straight on of Quincy Jones yellow gold Rolex GMT-Master.
Yellow Gold Rolex GMT Master II
50th Anniversary Celebration Model with Green Dial
Reference 116718LN
I have been publishing Jake's Rolex World for 11 years now, and in that time my banner has never changed, and if you look closely, on the right side you will notice it features the 50th Anniversary Yellow Gold Rolex GMT-Master with the forsest green dial.
Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre is featured in the Quincy Jones documentary is a podcast recording session that takes place at Quincy's home in Bel Air, California and notice Dr. Dre is wearing his yellow gold Rolex Masterpiece Day-Date.
In the photo below from the Quincy documentary we see a screengrab from a video that was taken decades ago, which shows a young Dr. Dre sporting a yellow Gold Rolex President.
This is a most unusual Rolex Submariner Rolex, and certainly one of the rarest in the world. Why? Because it has a white dial. This watch has been confirmed by Rolex in Geneva to be completely authentic. So how does it have a white dial? It was likely a prototype dial. Not a prototype in the sense that Rolex thought about making the watch with a white dial, but apparently Rolex used to make first generation prototype dials in white, and this is likely one of them. This image appears courtesy of Eric Ku from 10PastTen.com.
Tonight we witnessed the highly anticipated boxing match between legendary pugilist, Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which went 8 rounds at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which is the home of the NFL Dallas Cowboys Football team. In the photo below we see Jake Paul rocking his Tiffany Blue color dial OP.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20, 2024, but was delayed until November 15, 2024, due to some health challenges Mike Tyson encountered. Despite the fact the fight went all 8 rounds, and despite the fact Jake Paul won by a unanimous decision, I would point out that I believe the entire event was a major game-changing event on many levels. In particular, much like when Michael Jordan was playing professional basketball, I used to watch games, just so I could watch him play. When Jordan retired from the game, I retired from watching basketball games.
Same thing with Mike Tyson. I used always watch Mike Tyson fights, but when he retired I stopped watching professional boxing. And that's why I would argue this event was an epic success. This fight represents Netflix' first foray into live broadcasting a fight, and Netflix confirmed 60 Million people tuned into watch the fight live!!! Netflix referred to the event as a "record breaking night". I don't know the exact number of people who have watched highlights from the fight, but my best guess is that it would be over 100 Million, and instead of being a pay per view event, Netflix included it for free to watch live for all Netflix subscribers.
Also, this fight was produced by Jake Paul, which also is a game-changing event in that huge fights like this in the past were always produced by a middleman boxing promoter, or organization, which in this case was removed from the equation. Jake Paul reportedly made $40 Million, and Mike Tyson reportedly made $20. Not bad for a great 20 minute workout in front of an international audience. My bottom-line takeaway point is Jake Paul and Mike Tyson put boxing back in the limelight—front and center—which is an amazing achievement in-and-of-itself.
Probably the most scintillating moment of the fight came prior to the fight, during the weigh-in, when Jake Paul seems to have intentionally stepped on Iron Mike Tyson's foot, and in response, Mike slapped him really hard in the face, but Jake didn't seem to flinch. This created a highly iconic and intriguing memorable moment:
In the world of Rolex tool watches there are two types of Rolex tool watches. First we have what I commonly refer to as "Political Tool Watches", which are typically worn my alpha males, like presidents and world leaders, and then there are "Sportsmen tool watches", which would be worn by athletes or astronauts, who are typically pushing the boundaries in their attempt to break barriers, and in the case of Jake and Mike, they are both hardcore alpha male apex warriors—literally.
Both warriors wear Rolex and have depended on Rolex to keep the time of their lives. Father Time has been kind to Mike Tyson, who happens to be the exact same age I am, which is 58. I grew up watching Mike Tyson box in his prime, and he was an amazing athlete and boxer. I would argue Mike Tyson is one of the absolute best boxers in history, but people also love him because he has the appearance of a stone cold killer, but if you listen to him speak, most of the time he sounds like a really friendly puppy dog.
Mike Tyson is pictured above rocking a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. Jake Paul, also wears Rolex watches and he is pictured below rocking the Tiffany Blue dial Rolex Oyster Perpetual. Of course, Jake Paul is the brother of Logan Paul who also regularly rocks Rolex.
A 1980s Rolex President
Mike Tyson is pictured below back in the 1980s with President Donald Trump, who back them was simply referred to as "The Donald", and we see Iron Mike Tyson rocking a yellow gold Rolex "President" Day-Date on his wrist. Despite being around for 8 decades prior to the 1980s, Rolex really came into its prime in the 1980s as a major international mainstream status symbol, and at the time the most popular Rolex watches were the President and Datejust.
Granted, the Submariner and GMT-Master sport watches were very popular in the 1980s, but most men sought or wanted two-tone Datejust models, or an all gold Rolex Presidential model, which is what Mike Tyson is wearing in the photo above. Back in the 1980s when this photo of The Donald posing with Iron Mike was taken, The Rolex President had become The International Mark of Success.
Back in the 1980s, The Donald was considered to be the ultimate alpha apex male in finance and Mike Tyson was the considered to be the ultimate alpha apex male fighter.
Iron Mike Daytona
In the photo below from a HOT 97 interview we see Iron Mike Tyson rocking his white gold Rolex Daytona with a mother of pearl dial, with raised Arab numerals and diamond 5 minute markers. Mike Tyson is one of the most iconic and successful athletes of the late 20th century, and he has remained in the hearts and minds our the world wide population to be relevant throughout the fist quarter of the 21st Century. One thing Mike Tyson has in common with Rolex watches, are they are both built like tanks on the outside, but are simple, yet genteel on the inside.
These are our reversing wheels. Patented in 1952, they coordinate to transmit energy to the mainspring, regardless of the direction in which the oscillating weight rotates. Thanks to them, each movement of the Perpetual rotor feeds the power reserve. Key to the automatic winding process, these tough wheels are continuously put to work. Their red colour, introduced in 1957, is a result of the surface treatment applied to the aluminium to ensure its robustness. This striking scarlet hue continues to distinguish these vital components in the discerning eyes of watch enthusiasts.
Nick Gould recently discovered this super cool Japanese Rolex Magazine ad for the GMT-Master, and beside looking really great, it seem to be one of the first ads fro the all black bezel GMT-Master which I believe Rolex first introduced in 1967-1968.
The earliest know photo I am aware of somebody rocking the all black bezel GMT-Master was Gunter Sachs who is pictured above and below rocking his all black bezel GMT-Master. Gunter was a German photographer, film director, mathematician, author and ultra successful industrialist. He was also married to the stunning Bridget Bardot.
President Joe Biden walks with President-elect Donald Trump to the Oval Office Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Adam Schultz/White House
'Welcome Back'
President Biden welcomes
President Trump Back to White House
I live blogged the 2024 Presidential Election last week, which was pretty fascinating, as both President Biden and President Trump both own and wear Rolex watches. Regardless of whether you love or hate President Trump, one thing is certain, and that is we are likely to see a sea-change, particularly in economics. Interest rates have already been dropping, crypto is pumping hard with Bitcoin setting all time valuation records, and the stock market is also pumping like crazy. For the record, I am neither a Democrat or a Republican, but I think it's interesting to watch all the change occurring in the world.
Today was a pretty profound day in American politics as President Biden welcomed President Trump back to the White House in Washington DC. It has been reported that the reason President Biden invited President Trump to the White House is because, he and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden both voted for President Trump.
President Trump with President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden in front of White House Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Adam Schultz/White House
The story said that President Biden welcomed President Trump to the White House as an act of rebellion against his own party, as he was upset with the coup that took place in his own party that forced him to step down and be replaced by Kamala Harris. I don't know if this is true, but it kind of make sense...
Also, and perhaps more significantly, the Republican's won the majority in the House of representatives, giving the Trump administration a complete victory, so they now control the Presidency, the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court.
The long-term and short-term implications of this are beyond profound, and are likely to result in YuuuGe tax cuts, along with a hardcore enforcement of immigration as well as an extreme change in foreign and domestic policy...
Update, November 15, 2024: President Trump's transition team announced they have nominated RFK Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Also, Trump appointed Matt Gaetz as the new Attorney General of the United States and appointed Tulsi Gabbard as the new Director of National Intelligence.
President Trump also announced that Elon Mush and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new 'Department of Government Efficiency' also know already in its acronym for as DOGE.
Trump said in a statement today, “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” This means we are going to see what will likely be the greatest change in government structure and policy in the history of The United States.
Trump announced he had selected Marco Rubio to nominate as his Secretary of State, and as we see, Rubio rocks a two-tone Rolex Datejust.
President Trump appointed Tom Homan to be the new 'border czar'. Homan announced he planned to 'run the biggest deportation' the United States has ever seen.
'Please Go Away'
Speaking of involuntary deportation, apparently there will also be a major voluntary deportation of many notable American citizens and many of them are Rolex wearers who said if President Trump was elected President again they would be moving out of the United States.
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.
I can't seem to stop staring at this MAGNIFICENT piece of Rolex art. Phillips Auction House created this AMAZING illustration with radical artist @guy.allen of the oversized 1942 Rolex Reference 4113 split chronograph from their auction back in early 2020. This is a really STUNNING piece of art!
A delicately veined, deep brown decorative quartz stone that creates a distinctive pattern with each iteration – no two eisenkiesel dials are the same. It confers the diamond-set Day-Date 40 in 18ct Everose gold with a unique personality.
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.
