Grammy Award Singer Michael Bublé wearing a Blue Dial Rolex Daytona

Canadian singer, producer, actor and songwriter, Michael Bublé is one of the most successful artists of our time, winning 4 Grammy Awards and selling over 75 million records worldwide.  He has strong ties to jazz.  His smooth masculine voice just dynamically takes over nearly any song, no matter if it is his own composition or a well worn Christmas cover.  Mesmerizing is probably the word that best describes listening to his voice.  

Michael Bublé launched his self titled album in 2003 with hits like "The Way You Look Tonight" and "For Once in My Life."  This is followed up by 9 more studio albums, each with terrific success and fanfare.  Throughout his time off from performing, he has appeared on many TV shows, commercials and in movies. In 2011 he married Luisana Lopilato, an Argentine actress and model.  Today they have 3 children.  

Michael Bublé received his first Rolex as a gift when signing his record deal for Warner Bros.  This was a culmination of 10 years of struggling, singing and performing whenever and wherever he could in order to achieve notice by the label.  

Bublé comes from a hard working blue collar family.  He even worked in the dangerous fishing trade.  He was so fearful over this treasure that he would avoid getting his Rolex wet - taking showers with his arm out - even though he knew the timepiece was waterproof.  Today he shares his love for Rolex - often gifting the timepiece to friends, family and many others.  

Michael Bublé's Rolex Daytona

Michael Bublé's Rolex Daytona is absolutely stunning.  This 40mm Platinum Rolex Daytona reference 116506 has an ice blue dial and chestnut brown bezel and inner dials.  The movement is the new calibre 4130 with a 72 hour power reserve.  

Chris Evert wearing her Rolex Datejust   Image: Rolex.com

Christine Marie Evert is one of the greatest women tennis players in tennis history.  She has reached 34 Grand Slam singles finals - more than any other player in the history of professional tennis. She has won an amazing 157 singles championships and 32 doubles titles.  She has won 7 French Open Championships, 3 Wimbledons, 6 US Opens and 2 Australian Opens.  She ended 7 years with the world rank #1, 6 years as rank #2, and 4 years as rank #3.  She retired with the world rank of #4 - still highly competitive right to the end.

She served as the president of the Women's Tennis Association for 11 years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.  She is currently an ESPN analyst and has an active apparel tennis clothing line.

Chris Evert is well known for bringing women's tennis to worldwide notoriety, almost to the same level of men's tennis.  She was the first female athlete to appear in Sports Illustrated magazine and was awarded the Sportswoman of the Year award in 1976.

Evert is one of the most competitive tennis players to have ever played the game.  She has competed against and won many matches against the great Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Steffi Graff, and Pam Shriver - the greatest women's tennis players of the 70's and 80's.

Rolex Datejust in Yellow Gold - Image Rolex.com

Evert has chosen to wear a stunning 18 carat gold Rolex Datejust.  It has a white dial with gold Roman numerals for the hour markers, and a fluted bezel.  The Oyster case is waterproof to 330 feet.  The bracelet is an Oyster flat with 3 pieces and a folding clasp.  There is the famous cyclops window over the date aperture at the 3 o'clock position.

The case is only 31mm in size, which appears perfectly on Chrissy's slender feminine wrist.  But don't let the diminutive size distract you from the expert precision of this instrument.  Carved by hand from a block of Rolex 18 carat gold, the Datejust is carefully constructed and certified as a superlative chronometer by the COSC.

It is powered by a caliber 2236 automatic self-winding movement, designed and manufactured by Rolex.  It has a substantial 55 hours of power reserve.

This timepiece illustrates the beauty of Chris Evert.  Evert's professionalism and competitiveness were only surpassed by her stunning beauty.  She became one of the first women athletes to surpass the sport she played in, by leveraging her smile and svelte athletic figure into many other side businesses and career opportunities.  She is truly a pioneer, as is the timepiece she wears today.

US alpine ski champion Lindsay Vonn wearing Rolex - Image from Rolex.com

Lindsay Caroline Vonn is the most successful American ski racers, and one of the greatest female skiers in alpine skiing history.  She won four World Cup championships between 2008 and 2012, five Super-G championships and a gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics.  She has won races in all five disciplines of alpine skiing - downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and super combined. 

Besides being a fierce competitor, Vonn has won multiple awards for sportswoman of the year.  She became a correspondent for NBC to cover the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia as she was recovering from injury.  She has shown grace in the face of adversity and a determined spirit and drive that is rarely seen in any sport. 

Rolex Presidential Day-Date, worn by Vonn.  Image: Rolex.com

Lindsay purchased her Presidential Day-Date as she was recovering from her second knee surgery.  She said, "I wear it as a reminder to never give up."  The Rolex Day Date is exquisitely crafted and takes nothing for granted. 

The Day-Date made its debut in 1956 as the first waterproof and self-winding chronometer wristwatch to offer a modern calendar with an instantaneous day display spelt out at the top of the dial between 11 and 1 o'clock, and the date appearing on the right side at 3 o'clock. 

The new Day-Date 40 has a brand new calibre 3255 developed and manufactured by Rolex.  It has a wateproofness system to 330 feet due to its Twinlock double waterproofness system and screw-down winding crown.  The case and bracelet are made from 18 carat gold, carved from a solid block of Rolex gold.  The President Bracelet is designed with impeccable beauty - combining semi-circular three piece links and a mixture of polished and brushed gold metal for an eye-catching display. 

The power reserve on the 3255 is an impressive 70 hours.  More importantly for Vonn, the high-performance Paraflex shock absorbers and precise time setting will provide powerful performance even during the rigors of downhill racing.  The sapphire crystal provides scratch resistance at the highest level. 

Vonn's timepiece is set with baguette diamonds around the bezel with diamond hour markers except at the 6 and 9 o'clock positions where pink baguettes add some uniqueness to the piece. 

Vonn has chosen the champaigne dial which compliments the overall 18 carat gold timepiece perfectly.  The 40 mm timepiece is larger than some of the women's timepieces offered by Rolex.  However, it seems to fit Vonn's athletic wrist to perfection.

I have often said the President's Day-Date is one of my favorite Rolex timepieces.  Its lineage and horological history is only one reason to admire this timepiece.  One look at this watch and you know it is a Rolex.  The Oyster case and beautiful yellow gold screams out luxury, while the day and date functions and extensive features announce its durability and practicality for anyone - including top athletes like Vonn.

Golf Legend Gary Player wearing a Rolex Presidential Day-Date in Yellow Gold

Gary Player is one of the greatest golfers in the history of the sport.  He is the third player to win the Career Grand Slam, which is winning all 4 major tournaments in a lifetime.  Only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have done it since, putting him in the ranks of possibly the top 5 golfers in history.  He has won 9 majors including the Masters 3 times, the US Open, the Open Championship 3 times and the PGA Championship twice.  He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.  He has since excelled at the Senior's tour, winning many tournaments including the Senior British Open 3 times, the Senior PGA Championship once and the Senior U.S. Open twice.

Player has epitomized excellence in the sport.  He put on annual golf tournaments, designed over 300 courses in 35 countries, and has continued to win championships - a total of 165 to date.

Player has come from a poor family in South Africa.  His mother died when he was young and his father made very little as a gold miner.  Hard work, diet and healthy lifestyle epitomized Player - as he became known as one of the Big Three golfers of his era.   He has acquired many other nicknames: The Black Knight, Mr. Fitness, the International Ambassador of Golf, and the World's Most Traveled Athlete.

Player has a deep affection for Rolex.  His father once said to him after seeing his hard work and dedication, "You keep working hard like this and one day you might even buy yourself a Rolex".  After winning his first Grand Slam, he acquired his first Rolex.  He chose the Presidential Day-Date in solid yellow gold because it reminded him of his first Rolex and of his dad who toiled endlessly in the gold mines of South Africa.
The Day-Date was launched in 1956 and was the first watch to have the day spelled out in full and date split out.  It has adorned many world leaders and presidents - even other golf legends including Jack Nicklaus himself.

The current Day-Date is 40mm in diameter and constructed in 18 ct yellow gold with a fluted bezel and scratch resistant sapphire crystal.  There is a cyclops lens over the date and the timepiece is waterproof to 330 feet.  The new caliber 3255 has an enhanced power reserve of 70 hours. However, Player's Day Date probably has an older caliber and shorter power reserve.  The timepiece is adorned with a President's bracelet with semicircular 3 piece links.  This is truly the timepiece of champions.

Rolex 6238 produced in the early to mid 1960's

The Rolex Daytona is one of the most recognizable timepieces today and highly sought after in both the current market and the auction market.  However, you may not have seen some of the predecessors to the Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona.  This is an interesting history since the first chronograph was actually tied to the swimmer Mercedes Glietze who swam the English Channel in 1932 with a record setting 46 hours.  However, her feats were soon eclipsed by the "Speed King" Sir Malcolm Campbell who set several world speed records in auto racing on the salt flats of Utah and in Daytona Florida.  This became the first Rolex ties to the future of Daytona racing and to the Daytona name for its watch line.

Rolex registered the name Cosmograph to identify the chronograph by name.  However, they initially tried to tie the brand to the Le Mans racing by advertising the timepiece as a Le Mans Cosmogrpah.  However, the name didn't stick.  It wasn't until the late 1960's that the  with reference numbers 6239, 6240, 6241, 6262, 6263, 6264 and 6265 established the "Paul Newman" Daytona. 

However, the progression of detail is a beautiful history to observe.  I hope the below picture reel helps illustrate some of these exceptional timepieces and the changes over time.  You can see that Rolex tweaked and modified the dial design extensively from the first timepieces that had only 2 dials to the more modern 3, and tachymeter markings that moved from the on-dial position to the more modern on-bezel location.

The loveliest version is the Eric Clapton Reference 4500 which is in gold and has a very clean dial look even though the Tachymeter markings go to an astonishing 1000 which was quite high even by today's standards.  Interestingly, all of these models are self-winding timepieces.  The Daytona didn't get an automatic movement until 1988 when Rolex modified the Zenith El Primero to become the calibre 4030 movement.  Eventually, Rolex would bring that movement in house with their launch of the caliber 4130.

Rolex Reference 2508 - an early 1930's chronograph

An ultra rare Reference 4113 (1940's chronograph with 44mm case and split seconds pusher on the winding crown) Image: Hodinkee

Rolex Reference 4500 - from 1948 - part of the Eric Clapton collection - Image: Sothebys

Rolex Reference 6034 - from 1952

Rolex Reference 6234 from 1955 - blue coloring on white - Image: Hodinkee

Rolex Reference 6234 with tropical coloring - 1950's - Image: Sothebys

Rolex reference 6238 produced between 1963 and 1967

Early version of the Rolex Reference 6239 with Tachymeter markings including 300 and 275 before they were simplified to 200 in the below model.

Rolex Daytona "Paul Newman" Reference 6239