Vintage Rolex magazine ads

[Speedbird-1]

[QUOTE=EzraPound;12208086]

Originally Posted by Zsprings

Rothmans did feature a Rolex Submariner in a couple of their advertisements.

OK...I give up. What's the car?

[77T]

[QUOTE=Speedbird-1;12208297]

Originally Posted by EzraPound

OK...I give up. What's the car?

I’d say Aston Martin Lagonda by the panel of switches on the binnacle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Speedbird-1]

I considered the Lagonda too, but couldn't find an image of that dashboard.
It looks a bit Jaguar-ish to me, especially the switches.

Someone will know.

[EzraPound]

[QUOTE=Speedbird-1;12208297]

Originally Posted by EzraPound

OK...I give up. What's the car?

Lotus, I think but really just guessing.

[Speedbird-1]

[QUOTE=EzraPound;12208904]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

Lotus, I think but really just guessing.

I suspect it may be a little too 'plush' for an early Lotus.

[Speedbird-1]

My Wife, suggested Jensen?
The central ignition switch though?

[lee fowler]

[QUOTE=Speedbird-1;12208297]

Originally Posted by EzraPound

OK...I give up. What's the car?

Looks like a Maserati Ghibli interior to me!

[conmcn]

Well I have come up with a few 'fantastic stories' but not all unfortunately.

I have located to date The professor of Milan, 4 years buried and A letter from Brazil. I was hoping to add the following:

The forgery that saved lives
The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna'
7 years under the sea
Forced landing
Lost: 100! TCS reward

These are mainly featured in Graphis magazines which seem very scarce and I have had no luck in finding any online unfortunately.

I am not so keen on The proud customer and River incident illustrations so am content to leave them for now. I did track down the latter but decided not to buy it as the price was a little high.

Punch magazines from the 1950s are relatively easy to come by in the UK but unfortunately it would appear that not all of the stories were published in it.

[EzraPound]

Originally Posted by conmcn

Well I have come up with a few 'fantastic stories' but not all unfortunately. I was hoping to add the following: The forgery that saved lives, The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna', 7 years under the sea, Forced landing, Lost: 100! TCS reward

The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna' is one of the most interesting Rolex "Fantastic Stories" as the 1950 adventure was well-documented on both sides of the Atlantic e.g. Irish Independent.

Sadly the subject of the "Fantastic Story" Tony Jacob passed away at age 25 in Port of Spain, Trinidad shorty before (IIRC) the advertisement was published in 1953.

[EzraPound]

For those interested in the history of the Rolex "Fantastic Story" advertising campaign I have enclosed a section from the article "The Rolex Oyster: 39 years of advertising history".

The eight-page article can be found in the 1985 JWT (Rolex advertising agency) internal newsletter (the relevant section is highlighted).

[Speedbird-1]

[QUOTE=lee fowler;12209859]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

Looks like a Maserati Ghibli interior to me!

Thank heavens for that!! Well done 'Lee'? Spot on!!
I looked at Maserati dash's, didn't specify Ghibli though.
So, you'll receive what all our winners are awarded,......."our very best wishes".

[Speedbird-1]

'the biggest thing ever in the history of watch advertising'
A bold statement, even for 1952...even regarding Rolex.

[conmcn]

Originally Posted by EzraPound

The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna' is one of the most interesting Rolex "Fantastic Stories" as the 1950 adventure was well-documented on both sides of the Atlantic e.g. Irish Independent.

Sadly the subject of the "Fantastic Story" Tony Jacob passed away at age 25 in Port of Spain, Trinidad shorty before (IIRC) the advertisement was published in 1953.

It’s a lovely illustration and one of my favourites. I am Irish so it is a must have out of the illustrations.

[EzraPound]

Originally Posted by conmcn

It’s a lovely illustration and one of my favourites. I am Irish so it is a must have out of the illustrations.

Being Irish the Tony Jacob Rolex story would be of special interest to you...after the "Ituna" completed its voyage and arrived in New York City the below Rolex advertisement featuring Tony Jacob appeared in the September 26, 1950 Irish Independent newspaper. Whether the Rolex Tony Jacob is wearing in the advertisement is the same Rolex Tony Jacob wore on the "Ituna" voyage is a mystery (to me).

Skipper Tony Jacob may be one of the few (maybe the only) person to appear in a Rolex advertisement in photograph (1950) and in illustration (1953)...most likely very few persons have seen the 1950 Irish Independent newspaper advertisement.

[conmcn]

Wow super cool thanks for sharing yet again EzraPound

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

Looks like a Maserati Ghibli interior to me!

With a Nardi steering wheel.

[conmcn]

I managed to track down the 7 years advert in Graphis 58 late last night. I also have located The proud customer and River incident but am undecided as to whether I should buy them or not. Its a real shame the Arduous voyage, forced landing and forgery stories weren't more widely published as I think it will be near impossible to locate them. The collector in me would like a complete set of 10 but I would imagine that is going to prove near impossible with the lack of information out there about where some of the stories were published.

Thanks to all for your comments and especially to EzraPound for sharing the wonderful article on Eric Fraser. If anyone has any information on where the following adverts were published please let me know:

The forgery that saved lives
The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna'
Forced landing
Lost: 100! TCS reward

[EzraPound]

Originally Posted by conmcn

If anyone has any information on where the following adverts were published please let me know: The forgery that saved lives, The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna', Forced landing & Lost: 100! TCS reward

I think (not 100% sure) 'The Forgery that saved lives' appeared in Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie issue No. 3-4 (1954). 'Forced Landing' I have never seen in a magazine.

Trivial note: 'Lost: 100! TCS reward' is used as an example of Eric Fraser's Rolex illustration in Sylvia Backemeyer's book: 'Eric Fraser Designer & Illustrator (1998), see page 78.

Enclosed are the Graphis magazine issues in which the advertisements 'Ituna' and ' Lost: 100!' appeared...

[conmcn]

Thanks EzraPound I read about the two adverts featuring in Graphis in the Eric fraser article but I can't seem to find an original copy of them anywhere online.

I'll keep searching though.

[EzraPound]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

'the biggest thing ever in the history of watch advertising' A bold statement, even for 1952...even regarding Rolex.

Yes, the claim is a little hyperbolic; the British Horological Institute's Horological Journal really hyped the hyperbole with the enclosed announcement that appeared in no less than eight issues of the Journal in 1952 (May-Jun-Jul-Aug-Sep-Oct-Nov-Dec).

Oddly IIRC after a year of publicizing the advertising campaign none of the actual "Fantastic Story" advertisements appeared in the Horological Journal.

[conmcn]

Ok it's been a bit of a slog I admit but I think I have the full set of 'Fantastic stories' gathered up. I am still waiting on two to arrive but once they do I should have all.

I found 'The arduous voyage of the cutter Ituna' and 'Lost 100 TCS reward' the hardest to track down. I would like to thank EzraPound for all his help in sourcing the original Eric Fraser adverts. Here is a list of some of the more difficult adverts and where you can find them if interested:

Illustrated London News 13th November 1954 – Everest Rolex advert – Eris Fraser
Illustrated London News 4th December 1954 – Colour professor of Milan
Illustrated London News 3rd April 1954 – Colour professor of Milan
The Economist 1954-11-27: Vol 173 – Forced Landing
The Economist 1955-01-08: Vol 174 – The forgery that saved lives
The Economist 1954-06-12: Vol 171 – The forgery that saved lives
The Economist 1954-02-27: Vol 170 – Forced Landing
The Economist 1954-07-17: Vol 172 – 7 years under the sea
The Economist 1954-11-27: Vol 173 – Forced Landing
The Economist 1954-06-12: Vol 171 – The forgery that saved lives
Graphis Magazine Nos. 45 (1953)- The arduous voyage of the cutter ‘Ituna’
Graphis Magazine Nos. 57 – Lost: 100 TCS Reward
"Lost 100 TCS Reward" appeared in "The Eastern Jeweller and Watchmaker (All-Asia and International Issue) Issue # 28 (no. 2 1955).

There are quite a few that feature in Time (Atlantic) and Life (International) but I don't have them listed. If anyone wants any help with finding the Eric Fraser adverts please message me and I will tell you exactly where I found them. I will try and get the time to compile a more thorough list in the near future.

The Economist seems to be a great place for Rolex adverts. I was unable to source any personally but they featured heavily in the magazine in the mid 1950s. The majority of the adverts I found came from Punch and The Illustrated London News with the rest from Life, Time and 3 from Graphis.

[OC Girl]

I've seen them via Ad Patina and the quality/condition seems good

[conmcn]

Originally Posted by OC Girl

I've seen them via Ad Patina and the quality/condition seems good

I was in contact with Nick from Ad Patina and he doesn't really seem to stock that many of the 'Fantastic stories' and hasn't an interest in them apart from the colour version of the Professor of Milan. I guess they probably aren't as popular as the Rolex Explorer Matterhorn advert etc and the iconic adverts from the 1960/70s.

[Giovannibravo]

I would like to purchase some vintage ads as well. I am a little sceptical of the authenticity.

[Incroyable12]

What's striking is how verbose these old ads are.

Must have been paid by the word in those days.

[Alessandro Rossi]

Some great stuff posted here. I love the vintage history.

[msdaytona]

This is really cool. I want to get an ad for the yellow gold dd with bark finish. Where can I get one?

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Incroyable12

What's striking is how verbose these old ads are.

Must have been paid by the word in those days.

I think people had longer attention spans in those days.

[conmcn]

I am still on the hunt for the Eric Fraser Everest advert from 1954. It’s a hard one to track down but I think I’m getting close. I’ll post the details of where to find it shortly

[EzraPound]

Kudos conmcn...nice job in finding all the Eric Fraser Rolex "Fantastic Story" advertisements...a nice addition to your trove would be the little book "The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser" by Alec Davis (1974/1985); many of the elements of the Rolex advertisements can be seen in Fraser's other work and I think you would enjoy owning the book.

Further kudos on the two hard to find advertisements in The Economist...these are the only two advertisements not found in Graphis Magazine.