Quincy Jones Honored at the 15th Governors Awards Presented Exclusively by Rolex...

Quincy Jones

Honored by Oscars Governors Awards

Sponsored by Rolex

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.

Rolex decorated the Green Room Lounge for the Governors Awards, and did so in a most beautiful Rolex emerald green color way. Rolex also put together a beautiful microsite to showcase their involvement with the Governors Awards.

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 Gillespie who 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.

The Great White Rolex Submariner

Great White Rolex Submariner

White Dial: Reference 6204

The Oreo Cookie

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.

I typically refer to the combination of a sports Rolex with a black bezel and white dial as an Oreo Cookie Rolex, because it reminds me of a Oreo Cookie that has been split in half ;-P

Mike Tyson v. Jake Paul

Mike v. Jake 

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.

Why Red?

Why Red?

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.

1968 Rolex Magazine Ad Black Bezel Japanese GMT-MASTER

1968 Rolex Magazine Ad

Black Bezel Japanese GMT-MASTER 

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.

'Welcome Back' President Biden welcomes President Trump Back to White House

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 list of famous people includes Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, John Legend, Barbara Streisand, Tom Hanks, Lady Gaga, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Bruce Springsteen, Hunter Biden, Eminem, Sharon Stone, Brian Cranston, Stormy Daniels and Bono who will be moving out of the United States. Unfortunately, so will Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah, Anthony Fauci, Samuel L. Jackson, and Rob Reiner...

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.

Phillips Split Chronograph Poster

...Rolex Studio Shot of The Day...

Phillips Split Chronograph Poster

44MM 1942 Split Chronograph

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!

The Eisenkiesel Dial

...Unique pattern...
The Eisenkiesel Dial
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. 

Sophia Loren The Most Beautiful Woman

...Rolex Ultra-Super Hotness...

 Sophia Loren

Supreme Iconic Beauty

Academy Award Winning Best Actress

26MM Yellow Gold Rolex Lady Date

Celebrates 90th Birthday 

Infinite superlatives come to mind when thinking about Sophia Loren. Stunning, Beautiful, Exotic, Gorgeous, Timeless, Beautiful, Ageless, Talented, Fun, Funny, Entertaining, Unique, Charismatic, Creative, Sensual, Cosmopolitan, Sublime, Supreme, Sophisticated, Unparalleled, Elegant, Pure, Flawless and Magical. The list could go on forever...

Sophia Loren is a living international treasure and she recently turned 90 years old and has been wearing her trademark yellow gold lady Date for at least 5 decades, and it looks equally timeless. This first photo of Sophia Loren wearing her Rolex was taken 28 years ago, in 1986.

In the close-up wrist shot below, it appears Sophia Loren's yellow gold Rolex is on a riveted Datejust bracelet. Talk about beautiful vintage Rolex...

This next photo of Sophia Loren, taken in 1979 shows her wearing her Rolex Italian Agneli Style, on the outside of her blouse.

This next photo of Sophia Loren is the earliest known photo I have been able to find of her sporting her Rolex, and it was taken in 1976.

The photograph of Sophia Loren below is one of my favorites. Sophia Loren has some of the greatest curves ever seen on a woman. After celebrating her 90th birthday Sophia Loren was in a press conference a few days ago, concerning the anniversary and somebody asked about here curves to which she responded:

 

"All what you see here is the result of Spaghetti!"

—Sophia Loren

 

Italian beauty, Sophia Loren is arguably one of the most stunningly exotic and beautiful women that ever lived, as we see in the photos above and below. The two photos below were taken in Venice in 1955.

Sophia Loren & Cary Grant

"You can’t have everything—at the same time. That’s life.” 

–Sophia Loren

Cary Grant starred in a movie with Sophia Loren and fell madly in love with her, and asked her to marry him. She contemplated it, but ultimately passed on the opportunity.

Cary Grant not only came close to marrying Sophia Loren and missed-out on the opportunity, but also, Cary Grant was offered to originally play the role of James Bond, and just barely missed-out on that opportunity. Can you image if he had married Sophia and played James Bond?

One Look Can Write A Book

This scene from the 1958 movie, Houseboat, starring Sophia Loren and Cary Grant, is one of the most mesmerizing, tantalizing and sublime pieces of romantic film ever captured in history, and yes, they are dancing to the legendary Sam Cooke singing...

This stunning moment captured on celluloid shows Cary Grant and Sophia Loren, both in the absolute prime of their lives, with a zillion facets, all shimmering in eternity forever...

The chemistry is unmistakably authentic, because it was real...Sophia and Cary, in this brief, but shining moment, flawlessly epitomize the core essence of modernity, while remaining the perfectly impeccable archetypes of timeless feminine beauty and masculine elegance...


Everything about the scene above from Houseboat is flawlessly magnificent from the camera angles, to the lighting, to the set, to the costumes, to the acting, to the script, to the raw chemistry...The supreme irony is the actual love affair that was going on behind the scenes between Sophia and Cary. Cary Grant fell madly in love with Sophia and asked her to marry him. Carlo Ponti, learned about this and put all chips on red to get Sophia to marry him instead. So basically the chemistry in the scene above and in the photo below was real...

Sophia Loren and Cary Grant remained close friends for the rest of Cary Grant's life, as you can see in the photos below.

This next photo of Cary Grant and Sophia Loren is really fascinating, as we see them hanging out with Prince Charles, who is chatting with Lee Majors (Six Million Dollar Man) and Farah Fawcett Majors (Charlie's Angels). Farah Fawcett was really the Sophia Loren of the 1970s, if you think about it.

In the video below we see Sophia Loren receiving an honorary Oscar.


Sophia Loren is pictured below recently wearing her yellow gold Rolex Lady Date. You can always check out more photos of Sophia Loren on Jake's Who Knew World.

In 2012, Vanity Fair interviewed Sophia Loren at her home in Geneva, Switzerland, and the article is super detailed and it is titled 'Sophia's Choices'.
On October 13, 2013 Rolex CEO Gian Riccardo Marini honored Sophia Loren at the ROLEX MENTOR & PROTÉGÉ Gala at Venice's La Fenice Opera House, and said "Sophia Loren is an icon of Italian and world cinema."

Pictured above is Rolex CEO Gian Riccardo Marini with Sophia Loren
Rolex also honored Sophia Loren in their 2013 ad campaign named Rolex and Icons, with the image below is from.

La Dolce Vita 

In 1977, Sophia Loren made an appearance on the Dick Cavvett show with her leading co-star and fellow Italian actor, Marchello Mastroianni, and in this superb interview, Sophia was also rocking her yellow gold Rolex. Marchello Mastroianni is perhaps best know for his role in the 1960 Italian masterpiece named La Dolce Vita, which means "The Good Life". La Dolce Vita was directed by Federico Fellini, and Marcello Mastroianni plays Marchello Rubini, who is a reporter on Rome.

The Dick Cavett interview is totally fascinating on many different levels, and Cavett is completely enamored with Sophia, and at the same time, Marchello Mastroianni is totally fascinating as he is extremely handsome and equably charismatic. At around 42 Minutes inot the interview, Dick Cavettt asks Sophia Loren about Marchello, and she give him a number of supreme compliments, but this footage is priceless as we see all three people exhibiting a tremoundous amount of charisma in a moment that is certain to make you laugh. 

Marchello Mastroianni also famously wore Rolex watches, as we see in the photo below with his daughter, Chiara Mastroianni.