Every object that you buy will soon have a soul to it. Even though it is one of the most boring objects, there is always a story behind every purchase you make. You remember the journey, the details, and particularly the price. Like timepieces, while some collectors enjoy collecting watches, sometimes there is a story behind their timepieces.
In today's article, I will be focusing on Rolex and its owner. Also, I will often mention and refer to the book A Man and His Watch by Matt Hranek, as it contains much information from the book itself. This might sound weird; I did not start-off to be a watch enthusiast. I first read Matt Hranek's A Man and His Car. It is what leads me to A Man and His Watch book. After finishing the book, I immediately fall in love.
I am a big fan of cars. I always love those classic roadsters and classic racing cars. Like watches, they also have a story behind them. Buster Keaton owns a couple of these, like the 1930 Austin Roadster.
Despite the design looks great, Buster Keaton destroyed it in his movie Parlor, Bedroom, and Bath (1931). According to the book KEATON by Rudi Blesh (*Istg, it took me 4 eBay auctions to get this physical book), when the talkies era came, Buster did not get the freedom to make movies like he used to in the silent movie era. As Buster is a comedian, while filming, he feels the movie is not "funny". So he improvised 2 scenes and added his most iconic act of his early silent movie days.
First was the escape, stunt and chase that happened around the luxury swimming pool (that particular backyard and swimming pool is Buster's Italian Villa)
Second one:
Thank you for bearing with me this far. Now without delay, here are the most prominent Rolex memoir.
George Bamford: MWD X DRX Army vs Navy "POPEYE" Yacht-Master
George Bamford is the founder of BWD (BAMFORD WATCH DEPARTMENT) and a watch enthusiast. In an age of mass production, he started the company because he wanted to bring back the art of watch personalisation, as some people could have inspiration by their own sense of individuality. Instead, He found himself on a journey of discovery that led him to revolutionise the watch industry.
According to the book "A man and his watch", a fantastic book by Matt Hranek, In George Bamford's childhood, there was a trinity of cartoons: Popeye, Snoopy, and Mickey Mouse. George always liked Popeye the Sailorman. He liked the idea of a muscle man eating spinach.
"He was so cool, but he was just a dude."
-George Bamford, A man and his watch - page 89
In 2003, George started talking to a friend and collaborator, Darren Romanelli, and said "Can't we put Popeye on a watch?". George Bamford and Darren Romanelli collaborated with Hearst (who owns the rights to Popeye) and produced a cartoon where Popeye visits the Bamford clock department. George's proposal and idea was genuine and never contains any sales perspective. He just wanted a Rolex Yacht Master with Popeye.
"I never thought other people would be as obsessed with Popeye as I am, but they are! We launched the watch, and it sold out within a week and a half. The 3rd edition of the Popeye Watch is now a massive collector's item."
-George Bamford, A man and his watch - page 89
George Bamford currently owns one of these amazing timepiece which he placed in his office.
Air-King Ref.5500 with "Dominos" logo
Do you love Domino's pizza? It is one of my favourite pizza brands of all time. I always order Domino's Chicken alfredo with truffle pizza in a pan (hand-tossed is great, but pan is better). Anyways, in 1977, Domino's Pizza founder and CEO Tom Monaghan gave a Rolex Air-king watch to a high-earning franchise owner as an incentive for continued success.
In the early days, Domino's Pizza gave away a Rolex watch to anyone who turned in $20,000 in one-week sales at the store. And anyone who can make a $10,000 sale in a week would get an Hermés tie.
(Image: Matt Hranek, A man and his watch, pg.148)
But as Rolex prices increased, so did the stakes. Dominos continued to give out branded watches to its top performers; however, to qualify for a Rolex watch, a franchise had to hit $25,000 sales in 1week for four-weeks in a row.
Why does this watch made it to the list? Imagine the story of every owner who owns this watch. Competing to make those sales just for a Rolex. There must be one heck of a story behind them.
Sylvester Stalone: Tiffany & Co Gold Rolex Submariner Ref.1680/8
According to the book AMAHW, Sylvester Stallone first time saw this Rolex on the wrist of the rock star Gregg Allman (the lead singer of the Allman Brothers, band). While Gregg was sleeping, Stallone looked over to Gregg's wrist and saw the most beautiful watch he had ever seen. It was in 1976 when both of them happened to be on the same plane.
This, by far, is the watch I’m most emotionally connected to.
-Sylvester Stallone, A man and his watch - page194
As soon as Stallone and Gregg landed, Stallone tracked down a piece of this beautiful watch, and it became the actor's first valuable "thing" he could afford to purchase.
The strength, the simplicity, the masculine shape — it was perfect. It still is! It’s like Rocky says to Adrian in Rocky II: “Do you like having a good time? Then you need a good watch!” This is one of the few things that connects me to the “good old days”.
-Sylvester Stallone, A man and his watch - page194
*You can read the full excerpt in Time and Tide article that I linked in this sentence. That excerp was so cool that the Time and Tide writer asked Matt Hranek if they can reissue it. Stop-by for a while and read the whole paragraph. It's just one paragraph, but a very powerful paragraph. :D
Henry Leutwyler: Rolex Cosmograph Ref.6241 and Rolex Oyster Bubbleback
(Image: Rolex Cosmograph Ref.6241 (left) & Rolex Oyster Bubbleback (right). Image source: Matt Hranek, A man and his watch, pg.187-190)
Henry Leutwyler was born in Switzerland in 1961. He is a self-taught professional photographer who moved to Paris in 1985 and apprenticed with Gilles Tapie, where he soon established himself as an editorial photographer. 10 years later, he moved to New York City. Today, Leutwyler's celebrity portraits can be seen in many popular magazines such as the New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Esquire, and many more.
According to AMAHW, as he was the only child in the family, when he was 25, his dear father passed away from a heart attack. Leutwyler's parents loved each other very much that it was difficult for Leutwyler's mother to stay in the house.
"I knew that she couldn't stay in the house they'd shared, seeing ghosts of my father in every room."
Henry Leutwyler, A man and his watch, pg 189
It was really sad that upon moving Leutwyler's mother to an apartment, they sold the house, the furniture, and Henry's childhood bed. Remembering his father's wise words, Henry Leutwyler took some money and went to purchase the Rolex Cosmograph from a used-watch shop to "commemorate" his childhood's reminiscence when his father was alive.
"My father taught me early on to acquire things based not on monetary value but because you love them. You live with them and enjoy them, and then you let them go."
Henry Leutwyler, A man and his watch, pg 189
On the other hand, the Rolex Oyster Bubbleback belonged to Leutmyler's uncle (mother-side uncle) and was inherited to him when his uncle passed away.
"I don't gamble; I don't believe in stocks and bonds. I believe in work, bricks, earth-and I like watches and nice cars. Don't ever get attached to money because you can't take it with you six feet under. It comes and goes. My father lost a lot of money once, and he made it back; I also lost a lot of money at one point-there were days I had to ask my assistant for twenty dollars because I was completely broke and I made it back, too. Even if I were to lose it all again, I would never sell these watches, whether they're worth a dollar or a million dollars. I will eat less, get thin, work hard, and start over."
Henry Leutwyler, A man and his watch, pg 189
The Key Takeaways
The first watch I ever received was a Fossil Arkitekt Ref.FS-2998 quartz movement. I got this watch in the 5th grade, and it was the summer holiday. I live in the city, and my parents always take me to the mall on the weekends. Inside the mall is a watch shop selling Breitling, Longines, Guess, Bulova, and especially Fossil watches. I think business is not going well, so the owners are selling all of its watches by giving a 50% discount for all items. It was very crowded, and many of the watches were sold out. My father got my brother 2 Breitling watches, and my dad himself got a Bulova and a Breitling watch. I can't remember the model, but they did get it. My mom is the type of person who loves everything to be treated equally. She taught me to always respect others and always treat everything equally. She knew my dad did not get anything for me, so she took 1 box of a random fossil watch and put it in the cashier. I did not know about this, but when we got home, my mom gave me a yellow tin box where when I opened it, was this fossil watch. I was so happy that I wore it everywhere.
(*I took this picture and turned it B&W because the condition is like after the WW3 battle. I don't want you to see their battle scars. It's too tragic)
The first self-winding watch I received was on my 18th birthday. My mother got me a Rolex Yacht-Master ladies 29mm. Back then, I knew what a Rolex was, but I did not know its value. It is all steel with a grey dial, but my favourite part is the rotating bezel. I don't know how to use it, but I love its rotation. I went abroad for my university years and took this watch with me. This might sound insane, but it got me through a lot of things like; my first internship, job, house flood, and exploring different odd places that I have never been before (this was due to manufacturing purposes, and I was my boss's representative.),and other stuff.
I still wear both simultaneously. I have other watches, but I've never been more attached than these 2 watches.
What about you? Do you have any watch that is super attached with you? Tell us about it in the comment section below. I'm thrilled to hear about your story. :D
I know I said this a lot in other blog articles but thank you so much for reading the whole article. I really enjoy writing and sharing these valuable stories. Deep down, it means the world to me. I hope I will see you soon in my next blog article.
Wishing you a lovely day <3
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