89th Oscars Greenroom Sponsored by Rolex (photo: Rolex/Line 8 Photography)

The 89th Academy Awards will take place in the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood Highland Center in Los Angeles on Sunday. Rolex sponsors the Greenroom for the event and Hodinkee posted a few photos of the 100 square meter space. This area is where Oscar winners and presenters go before or after they hit the stage during the show and the watchmaker created a chic environment for them to gather in.

In a four day buildout, their Geneva-based design team spared no expense to offer the celebrities at the event an oasis that includes natural and luxury elements. Photographs of trees line the walls behind the bar with plush grey carpets on the floor. The fabrics used for the upholstery are chartreuse and grey-turquoise colored with modern metallic accents and a Venetian glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling. Photos of hollywood legends - some wearing Rolex watches - line the shelves with wall clocks and screens to watch the show.

Visit Hodinkee to check out photos of the space and rolex.com for more information about the partnership with the Academy Awards.

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Every Rolex Tells a Story: James Cameron (photo: Rolex)

While the world knows James Cameron as the Oscar winning director of blockbusters like Titanic and Avatar, the filmmaker and Rolex Testimonee also has a passion for exploration that is expressed in the watchmaker's latest addition to their Every Rolex Tells a Story series.

In one of the most interesting entries to date, Cameron shares the story of a stainless steel Submariner that he wore during the filming of Terminator 2 through is Oscar acceptance speech for Titanic. After making the film Avatar, he felt the calling to become an activist for the rights of indigenous people around the world. His efforts took him to the Amazon where he encountered the Kayapo tribe.

His interactions with the chief of the tribe, Ropni, resulted in a relationship that changed both of their lives. Visit rolex.com to find out how his prized Submariner plays into this story. You can also watch a short video on the film career of the prolific director, released just in time to commemorate Rolex's partnership with the 89th Academy Awards.

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Every Rolex Tells a Story: Garibeñe Muguruza (photo: Rolex)

Current French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza will not be advancing to the Australian Open semifinal after a loss to American Coco Vandeweghe this week. However, the Venezuelan-born Spanish tennis star has much to be proud of in her career. In 2014, after defeating Serena Williams in the fourth round of the Australian Open, she decided to honor the milestone with the purchase of a Rolex watch.

"Since I was a kid, my father and my mother both had a Rolex and I always wanted to have one as well. But my father always told me, 'You have to earn it, you have to work hard and one day you will have the chance to buy one yourself.' At the end of that year I felt that that moment had finally come, that it was a great reward for what I achieved," says Muguruza on her Every Rolex Tells a Story page at rolex.com. 

Rolex Chêne-Bourg Site (photo: Jean-Daniel Meyer)

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, the decline of exports for the Swiss watch industry softened from October to November of 2016. While exports of precious metal configurations saw a decline, stainless steel models offset the loss with a small increase. Watches priced over 3,000 and between 200 and 500 Swiss francs saw the most significant decline, with wristwatches at other export prices showing a small increase.

Sales rose in mainland China and the United Kingdom, with Hong Kong remaining stable. The rest of Europe and the United States saw declines, however, bringing exports down. These numbers are seen as somewhat positive according to the Swiss watch industry, as the months prior showed a steady decline in imports overall. Whether the steadying of exports will signal an end to the decline remains to be seen. With watchmakers buying back inventory this year to offset their declining sales, it seems that they have their work cut out for them in the first quarter of 2017.

Rolex is not a public company, so their sales figures and production numbers remain shrouded in mystery. However, these numbers make it clear that the Swiss watchmakers need to create a significant amount of fanfare at Baselworld 2017 in the hopes of changing the negative trend in watch exports in the coming year. It would be wise to focus on the segments that are currently trending upward, so I don't expect as many precious metal configurations as interesting stainless steel models. Rolex is known to focus on their long-term goals as compared to other companies that tend to go with current trends. This will make it interesting to see how they position themselves at the trade show in March.

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Letter From the British Horological Institute to Rolex on the Subject of the Record Kew Certificate

Before 1914, the Kew Observatory in Great Britain had never granted a "Class A" certification to a wristwatch. These certifications were generally given to large marine chronometers that went through rigorous testing until Rolex submitted a wristwatch to prove that they could be just as precise. On July 15, 1914 they proved the skeptics wrong by submitting a small watch that looked like the one photographed below and making it the first wristwatch to ever receive Kew Certification. With this accomplishment, Rolex began manufacturing more certified chronometers than any other watchmaker in the industry at the time.

A Rolex Watch Comparable to the First Class A Chronometer (photo: Rolex)

The testing took place over 45 days and included testing the precision of the tiny wristwatch in five different positions. It was also submitted to extreme temperatures, ice-cold and burning-hot, and also ambient temperature. The stringent testing was necessary because the precision of the marine chronometers of the time was necessary to ensure the safety of the ships that depended on their accuracy. The Rolex watch submitted for testing was precise up to +1 second.

Kew Chronometer Results (photo: Rolex)

Rolex continued to manufacture certified chronometers while it developed other advances in watchmaking. By 1926, they introduced the Oyster case, a waterproof case that is still in use today on most Rolex models. In 1931 they introduced the self-winding Perpetual rotor that is also still used today to power most automatic mechanical watches. After 1951, when it became compulsory for all watches to pass certification, the watchmaker made sure all of its movements received particularly good results through 1971, when those citations were no longer issued. Since then, Rolex has come up with its own Superlative Chronometer Certification.

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The opera legend speaks of being proud of his relationship with Rolex in the video above, discussing the reach of his work with the watchmaker. He mentions their support of Operalia and of opera houses around the world, like La Scala and The Met. Below, he discusses the twenty year anniversary of the singing competition and its effect on the world of opera at an international level. He emphasizes the importance of opening doors to talented voices in places like China and Sri Lanka, connecting them to the people who can help them elevate their careers.


"My purpose in Operalia is to help identify not only the best voices, but also to discover those singers whose personalities, characters and powers of interpretation show that they have the potential to become complete artists. Individuals such as these become tomorrow’s stars," says Domingo of the competition. Check out the promotional video for Operalia on their official website to learn more about the competition. For more about Plácido Domingo, visit his official website at placidodomingo.com.

The 2016 competition took place in Guadalajara, Mexico, in July and awarded the first prize to South Korean tenor Keon-Woo Kim for the male division and French soprano Elsa Dreisig for the female division. The videos embedded below show the winners performing at Teatro Degollado on July 25, 2016. Click here for a list of all of this year's participants and finalists.

Rolex Testimonee Yuja Wang (photo: Rolex/Hugo Glendinning)

Wang's musical education began at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music. In 1999 she moved to Canada to participate in the Morningside Music summer program at Calgary’s Mount Royal College. After that she enrolled as the youngest ever student at Mount Royal Conservatory. In 2001 she was appointed as a Steinway Artist and the following year when she was offered a place at Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Gary Graffman. She graduated from there in May of 2008 after already achieving success after her debut a few years earlier with the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa. 

Frederik the Great (photo: cphs.coth.com)

Founded by Mark Bellisimo, CEO of International Equestrian Group, the Rolex Central Park Horse Show was launched in 2014 to present the best jumpers and dressage riders in the world. With five days of multi-discilpine equestrian sport and performances, the outdoor event runs through Sunday, September 25th. One of the most anticipated equestrian events of the year taking place in Wollman Rink, it also features free events for families, kids and the general public including pony rides, demonstrations and presentations.
For more information on the Rolex Central Park Horse Show, visit their official website at www.centralparkhorseshow.com. To watch Frederik the Great in action, visit his YouTube channel. I have embedded a video below with captivating shots of the Fresian stallion.

A student of music since her childhood in Bulgaria, Yoncheva received degrees in piano and voice in her home country, studying under Nelly Koitcheva. She later obtained a mater's in voice at the Conservatory of Geneva under the tutelage of Danielle Borst. After receiving her formal training, the opera singer applied her vocal talent to singing competitions. Most notably, she won top prize and the special CultureArte prize at Operalia in 2010. The video embedded below shows the singer performing "E strano...Sempre Libera..." from 'La Traviata' in a concert in 2012.

Rolex Lady Datejust (photo: Rolex)

Codex: Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert (photo: Gregory Colbert Facebook)

Plácido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra, at The Royal Opera House in 2010 (photo: Rolex/Catherine Ashmore)

Teatro alla Scala has been one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world for over 200 years, setting the stage for memorable performances from some of the most gifted operatic talents of all time. It has hosted the premier of many famous operas in its lifetime, including Verdi's Otella and Falsta, Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Plácido Domingo gave a memorable Otello performance there and Cecilia Bartoli has also graced the stage of La Scala.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, New Year's Concert (photo: Alamy images)

Other notable arts testimonees include tenor Juan Diego Flóres, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and Rolando Villazón. Rolex is also Main Sponsor of the Salzburg Festival, featuring 180 classical and contemporary performances that include opera and drama. The festival is known for introducing new works onto the international music scene. I have embedded the trailer for the 2016 festival, which is currently under way. For more information on Rolex and its ties to the arts, visit the arts and culture section of rolex.com.