1956
Rolex introduced the Day-Date, the
first watch to display the date and have
the day of the week spelled out in a
window. Available in 18-karat gold or
platinum, it came with a newly created
band: the President Bracelet.90 | FORBES ASIA NOVEMBER 2016
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: LAMBERT/GETTY IMAGES; KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES; BILL CLARK/CQ ROLL CALL/GETTY IMAGES; SILVER SCREEN COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES; PIETRO D’APRANO/GETTY IMAGESThe Rolex President
THREE SCORE AND zero years ago, Rolex brought forth a timepiece on the European continent
conceived in quality and dedicated to the proposition that not all watches are created equal. The 1956
Rolex Day-Date soon became known as the Rolex President, having been worn by LBJ (and sharing
a scandalous connection to JFK). Since then it has earned the vote of a diverse array of potentates,
including Forbes 400 member Warren Bufett, Jay Z and Tony Soprano.
1951
Five years before the
introduction of the Rolex
Day-Date, the company
presented General Dwight
D. Eisenhower with an 18-
karat yellow-gold Rolex
Datejust to celebrate its
150,000th chronometer.
The watch was engraved
with the initials “DDE”
and five stars for his rank,
and once appeared with
Ike on the cover of Life
magazine. It failed to
sell at auction in 2014,
though, despite reaching
a bid of $475,000.1962
The same night Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy
birthday, Mr. President” to John F. Kennedy at
Madison Square Garden, she reportedly gave him
a Rolex Day-Date with the inscription “JACK, with
love as always from MARILYN, May 29th 1962.”
JFK told an aide to “get rid of it,” but in 2005 the
watch resurfaced at auction (with the box and
love poem Monroe had placed in it) and sold to
an anonymous bidder for $120,000.An election-year history of the ultimate power watch.
196366
Lyndon Johnson became
the first U.S. president
to wear the Day-Date.
In 1966 Rolex advertised
the watch—which cost
$1,000 at the time
(roughly $7,400 today)—
emphasizing its connection
to the Oval Oice.1980s
Warren Bufett not only lives in the same
house he purchased in 1958—he’s also relied
on the same Rolex President to get him to
meetings on time since the day he bought
it decades ago. The billionaire investor once
admitted that he’d like to add the company
to his collection. “They know my number,”
he said of Rolex, “but they haven’t called.”19992007
Among the many ways Tony
Soprano displayed power
was by wearing an 18-karat-
gold Rolex President with a
champagne dial. In real life
the late James Gandolfini
favored a Rolex Submariner,
while Jamie Lynn-Sigler,
who played his TV daughter,
wears a Rolex Daytona.2016
To commemorate the president’s 60th anniversary,
Rolex introduced a new $37,000 Day-Date at Baselworld
2016 in Everose gold with a dial featuring its signature
color: green. But don’t expect to see one on the 45th
president—Hillary Clinton owns a Rolex Lady Datejust
(a variation on Ike’s timepiece) but has often been seen
wearing a Chanel J12 watch. And, naturally, Donald Trump
launched a line of signature watches back in 2005. You
can find them on eBay for about 50 bucks.FORBES LIFE LUXURY LINEAGE
BY MICHAEL SOLOMON