The indescribable adrenalin that grips the mind, as racers take on hair pin bends with ferocious technique and strategy, soon enough engulfs the entire stadium as spectators throng the stands to catch a glimpse of their favourite road warriors. Rolex understands this passion and the obsession with performing the utmost of the ability and in view of this supports numerous racing events worldwide. The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Rolex has etched its name as the most prestigious racing competitions in the world and seen an exponential growth in the number of spectators, media coverage as well as the number skilled racers competing in this event. Due to the tremendous growth of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series it became mandatory to adapt it to the growing demand and the changes in motor sport racing. The NASCAR Series is regarded as one of the most crucial and significant car racing events in the world o motor sports. The NASCAR Series returns for the third time to Montreal this year and will be held at the renowned motor racing speedway, the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. This year the NASCAR Series will come back incorporating g a few changes in its format and design.

From 2009 onwards the renowned Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series will become a part of the NASCAR weekend. The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series will be held on the 29^th and 30^th of August which features the Daytona prototypes and an assortment of GT classes. This eminent racing tournament will be held before the NASCAR nation wide race is held. Bound to attract the most skilled racers around, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series is expected to draw large number of tracing enthusiasts who follow this series religiously. The second significant change that has been implemented in the NASCAR Montreal weekend is the signing of a lease and a memorandum of understanding between the Societe du Parc Jean-Drapeau, the authority responsible for the stock car races, and the International Speedway Corporation, which is the parent company of NASCAR itself, as well as 13 other racing venues that includes the Daytona, Darlington, Michigan International and the Watkins Glen. The International Speedway Corporation is a limited partner of the Group Motorise International and through this collaboration is responsible for the promotion and management of races that are held in Montreal. The International Speedway Corporation which was initially set up in 1953 as the Bill France Racing later down the line in 1957 formed the, Daytona International Speedway Corporation. Along with the management of racing events the International Speedway Corporation owns and controls the MRN radio and owns 50 percent of indirect interest in the company Motorsports Authentics which is responsible for the marketing and distribution motorsports-related products that have been licensed by a few competitors in NASCAR racing.

The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve is a 2.71 mile circuit that was established in the 1978 and hosts a number of high profile racing events like Napa Autopro 100, the Napa Auto Parts 200 and the NASCAR Tire Series apart from the high profile events like the NASCAR Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Even before the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series comes to Canada in August, the anticipation for this world class event is already on the upward mode.

Culture is the sum total of passion, art, belief, faith, love, perception, thought and the uniformity in plurality. The world itself is fuelled by the interplay of cultures, their dissimilarities and their appeal to each other. The pursuit of cultural aspects sets the world in motion and widens the understanding of the spirit and the mind. Rolex has been championing the cause of many events and organizations that propound the chase for understanding the capacity of the human spirit and express the ability of absolute achievement. Celebrating the significance and the impact of cultural activities on the human race, Rolex partners many organizations that promote the pursuit of culture. Fostering an understanding with the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, Rolex collaborated with it to organize the gala for the Chinese New Year in 2009. The Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto held the celebrations for the 2009 Chinese New Year on the 31^st of January this year. The star-studded event saw appearances by many illustrious artists and was marked with a number of stunning performances. The Principal Dancers of the National Ballet of Canada will again be part of this eclectic celebration. The Principal Dancers from the renowned National Ballet of Canada like Aleksandar Antonijevic, Sonia Rodriguez, Piotr Stanczyk and Chan Hon Goh will perform on stage for this year’s fundraising ballet. Joining them on stage will be the incredibly talented Principal Dancers of the prestigious Orlando Ballet, Eddy Tovar and Chiaki Yasukawa.

The grand celebration was titled, Rolex Presents: A Chinese New Year Celebration with Chan Hon Goh, Prima Ballerina of The National Ballet of Canada, and Friends. This grand event was held at the P.C. Ho Theatre in the Chinese Cultural Centre on Saturday, the 31^st of January, 2009. One of the highlights of the celebrations was the showcase of the world premiere of the famed Canadian choreographer Matjash Mrozewski’s work titled the Finale Defile, which was commissioned exclusively for the Chinese New Year Celebrations. The celebratory program will include the display of excerpts from both the classical as well as the contemporary ballets that includes Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, Cinderella, Madame Butterfly, and The Nutcracker. This festive program is a charity event that utilizes all the revenue generated after the expenses in the promotion of the activities of the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto. Chan Hon Goh the primary performer at the Chinese New Year celebratory function regarded as one of North America’s leading ballerinas. Well known all over the world for her dramatic dancing ability and the sheer power of her beautiful display of dance moves, Chan Hon Goh has been a Principal Dancer for with The National Ballet of Canada for more than ten years. Winner of the Pioneers Arts Awards, Chan Hon Goh has made valuable contributions to the field of dance both as a performer and a teacher.

The Chinese New Year celebrations is a festivity that aims to celebrate the intricate fabric of cultural fusion and showcases the cultural pursuits of mankind as a conglomerate entity. Rolex, the foremost name in premium watches endorsed this multi-cultural event with only one objective, which was to foster a collective understanding and promote harmony through the combined celebration of the cultural expression of humanity.

The elemental basis of compound inspiration lies in the capacity of being able to pursue a higher purpose. Rolex throughout history has understood the significance of human achievements and the imperative value of our choices. Sailing is an art that allows the human spirit to sense the ability of the ocean to gently caress while simultaneously being able to consume the vessel without so much as a trace being left behind. This extraordinary connection between the ocean and mankind goes back to an epoch when life itself was created. Sailors have been gliding across the waters for many thousands of years now and over the years have developed this into a competitive regatta that tests the competence of determination and the character of a sailor. Rolex has been supporting numerous, world class sailing events across the planet that aims to improve the sport and aid the sailors in realizing their ambition, of becoming the best there ever was. The Rolex Commodores’ Cup is one of the many endeavours by Rolex to promote the sport of sailing. An IRC recognised event the Rolex Commodores’ Cup was first held in 1992 and is a competition between three-boat national teams. This international regatta is held with the patronage of Rolex in close collaboration with the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

The Rolex Commodores’ Cup is a biennial racing tournament that takes place over a period of seven days at Cowes in the Isle of Wright. The Rolex Commodores’ Cup is designed in such a manner that it tests the teams competing in a string of competitive events that are held on offshore and in-shore courses. All the team challenges have to be endorsed by the Members National Authorities while the crew on each boat is subject to strict regulation on the aspects of nationality and the number of professionals onboard the boat. Held from the 29^th of June to the 6^th of July 2008, the Rolex Commodores’ Cup saw a total of 15 international teams participating in this prestigious face off. Pelted by the hard rain and braving strong gusts of 30 knot wind, the sailors fought hard battle to emerge on top. The immensely talented Peter Rutters battled the low visibility and the tough competition to win his fifth title of the Rolex Commodores’ Cup. The 30 knot gale force winds compelled 5 boats to opt out of the race, though the worst affected was the small boat from Netherlands by the name of Slainte that got dismasted. Gery Trentesaux the defending champion’s racing chance was cut short after the boat he was on had a total gear failure. The Great Britain (GBR) Red Team held strong and fought the rough conditions to victory, stunning the toughest competitors as well as the spectators who had lined up to watch this international regatta. At the end of the event a prize distribution ceremony was held at the Royal Yacht Club in the evening where the winning members of GBR Red Team were felicitated and given the Rolex Commodores’ Cup along with steel and gold Rolex Submariner chronometers.

Rolex will be back to support the next Rolex Commodores’ Cup that is to be held in 2010 and is expected to attract, a lot of highly skilled teams take part in this premier racing event.

Rolex, a name that is associated with ingenuity has a remarkable history to it. A brand that has been around for several decades has been witness to the rise of an empire and it’s fall, the shift in power, change in economies, travel to the moon and beyond, breakthrough inventions and other remarkable instances of change however Rolex too has been a part of these changes. Over a period of many years Rolex has grown from a fledgling brand to a name that symbolizes perfection and precise performance. Available in an array of models that clearly reflects the diversification of ideas and design of the Rolex watches, these stunning masterpieces still embody the principal of perfection and absolute performance. The Rolex manufacturing company that was present in Canada was affiliated to the Rolex headquarters; however this company functioned as an autonomous body and introduced its own formulations until some time in the 1960’s. This unusual arrangement allowed the Canadian Rolex producing company to a series of original models that are not available anywhere else in the world. Eagerly sought after by avid collectors the Canadian Rolex watches feature a brand new design without abandoning the aspects of stunning craftsmanship or faultless performance.

The Rolex Oyster watches in the Canadian market go back as late as the 1930’s and are very different from the original Rolex design. These Canadian versions differ from the Swiss manufactured Rolex on the grounds that these Canadian Rolex’s utilize a Rolex modified ebauche movement made by Fontmelon in their construction. The movements in the Canadian watches were engraved with the words Rolex Geneve on the upper part of the plate while the bridge had nothing engraved on it. In some other varieties of the Canadian Rolex models the bridges had the name Oyster Watch Ltd. etched on to it. The Canadian Rolex watches utilized a Rolex Oyster watch case along with a patented Rolex Oyster Crown in its design. Most of these watches featured a 24 hour military dial and were usually given as presents to soldiers that were departing to Europe for service in the World War II. Many of these watches that were given to the soldiers came back to Canada with the registration number of the soldier that was inscribed on the back of the watch. Most of the Canadian variants were sold in gold-filled and stainless steel oyster cases and included models like Oyster Edison, Oyster Grenfell, Oyster Centregraph, Oyster Recorda, Oyster Lipton, Oyster Shipmate, Oyster Junior Sport, Oyster Commander, Oyster Standard and Oyster Raleigh.

Yet another variation of the Canadian Rolex watches were ones that were sold by the iconic departmental store of Canada by the name of Eatons. The watches that were sold over the counter at Eatons did not have the words Rolex or Oyster and were rechristened King of Wing’s and Solar Aqua’s. The departmental store had a specific agreement with Rolex that allowed them to give away a Rolex watch as a part of its long service awards that had nothing written on it except the words ¼ CENTURY CLUB that was inscribed across the face. Till about the late 1960’s the Canadian market had many Rolex watches that possessed the spirit of the Rolex brand but were dissimilar to the ones that were manufactured and marketed by the parent company in Switzerland.

The world today is witnessing a massive transformation in the dynamics of the economy. Major companies around the world have declared bankruptcy and are unable to carry on any further. There are numerous factors that play a role in improving the fortunes of a company or causing its downfall. However the most vital and conspicuous aspects are that of wild speculation and the unusually high rate of production fuelled by rising consumerism. Malls are overstocked and the supermarkets are overrun with a plethora of goods. Most of these products get wasted due their low shelf life and end up in disposal sight somewhere. This is in stark contrast to the high demand in low income countries where people are compelled into poverty due to the paucity of products. Markets around the world are saturated with products and most of the money earned has become digital. The impact in one sphere leads to a ripple effect and consequently affects the other areas. The vision of focusing on quality and functionality like Rolex the world leader in premium watches has been replaced by quick production without giving much thought about the target area or even the quality. Rolex has always believed in the power of patience and has built itself as a formidable company with a strong foundation, over a course of hundred years.

The most conspicuous aspect that distinguishes Rolex from the rest is that it relies on the trust of its customers that it has been able to garner over the many decades. While the markets around the world take a severe beating and companies that rose to power is just a few years tumble into oblivion, Rolex stands strong to endure the overwhelming power of financial crisis. This global financial squall has engulfed smaller countries and taken a heavy toll on their reserves as well as their economy. The Nordic country of Iceland is on the brink of a total crisis and is staggering to uphold its markets under this growing burden of worldwide meltdown. In the last year the Icelandic currency Krona has lost over 40 percent of its value in relation to the United States Dollar and the Euro. The calamitous fall in currency value is causing the lack of liquidity and may lead to the collapse of the financial sector. The digitalisation of currency makes it more susceptible to vanishing without a trace and creates more of a problem as the virtualisation currency automatically makes it intangible. Citizens of Iceland are now investing in premium Rolex timepieces that are a more substantial and a valuable commodity. Apart from being tangible Rolex ensures that the crisis around the world will not lead to the devaluation of its worth.

Rolex has been able to garner such a dependable reputation only due to the fact that right from the time of its inception it has always maintained the principal of performance through labour and crafting the finest on the basis of steadfast commitment and vision. In the face of this squall the world faces Rolex stands tall as a shining example of performance though dedication, reliability and virtuosity.