Showing posts with label General Chuck Yeager. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General Chuck Yeager. Show all posts

Thursday, October 22, 2015

How James Bond Made The Submariner Rolex's Coolest, Most Recognized Watch


My most prized possession is my Rolex Submariner watch.

I was a teenager when I first saw the Rolex Submariner on Sean Connery's wrist in Dr No, the first James Bond film based on Ian Fleming's classic thrillers. I dreamed of owning my own Rolex Submariner.

Later, in an iconic scene in the beginning of Goldfinger, Bond glances at the famous watch in a Mexican cafe as he waits for the charges he planted to explode (see above and below photos).  


While later serving in the U.S. Navy I saw several Navy SEALs, Navy pilots and other sailors wearing the Rolex Submariner and I saw Rolex ads featuring the great Air Force pilot General Chuck Yeager and thriller writer Frederick Forsyth proudly wearing their Rolex Submariner watches.

I finally received my own Rolex Submariner in 1982 when a beautiful young woman bought me one for my birthday. I married her a month later. I wear the Rolex proudly today.  

Robert Klara at Adweek.com offers a piece on the famous watch.

The Rolex Submariner has taken on an interesting life," said writer, author and luxury brand consultant Ariel Adams. "Because it's not just a steel dive watch, it's a Rolex steel dive watch, and everyone from politicians to actors to soldiers wear it." 

Here's how that happened. In 1953, French Navy diver Jacques Cousteau wrote The Silent World, a book that chronicled his undersea explorations. The book, and the Academy Award-winning documentary film that followed, captured the world's imagination and created a generation of recreational divers. Rolex responded with the Submariner.

The wristwatch might never have left the lockers of naval cadets were it not for the Bond franchise. The first four films all featured a Submariner on the wrist of our hero. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-james-bond-made-submariner-rolex-s-coolest-most-recognized-watch-167595

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Happy 91st Birthday To General Chuck Yeager


As Biography.com notes, today is the 91st birthday of legendary Air Force pilot General Chuck Yeager.

Aviator and test pilot Chuck Yeager was born on February 13, 1923, in Myra, West Virginia. A fighter pilot ace during World War II, he became the first person to break the sound barrier, when he flew the Bell X-1 rocket 670 mph in level flight in October 1947. Yeager broke the sound barrier for the last time at age 79, when his F-15 Eagle reached a speed of Mach 1.45 in 2002. He held various air-force command assignments from 1954 to 1962.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.biography.com/people/chuck-yeager-9538831

You can also visit his web page via the below link:

http://www.chuckyeager.com/

And you can visit an earlier post on General Yeager via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2012/10/chuck-yeager-breaks-sound-barrier-again.html