The Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona has a lot of admirers, especially in celebrity circles. Names like Elle Macpherson, Danielle Lloyd, Francesco Totti, Tara Reid and John Mayer swear by the Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona and have been spotted wearing the watch on many occasions. It should be noted that all of them reside in different spheres of influence, but the one thing that binds all of them together is the love and appreciation that they have for the Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona. This is because of the Daytona’s endearing features such as the self-winding chronometer.

Celebrities and their obsession for the Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona

Known for gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit for a record five times, Elle Macpherson has made a name worldwide for being one of the most successful models ever. The Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona signifies the fame that has come her way. Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona has been featured in many magazines, very similar to the way Macpherson has been featured in Elle magazine.

Danielle Lloyd has earned acclaim for being successful on the modeling circuit at a very young age. Her love for the Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona emerges from the fact that both are vivacious and turn eyeballs and were applauded as soon as they emerged in the public eye.

Soccer might be Italian Striker Francesco Totti’s first love, but he is equally passionate about the Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona. Known for his explosive strikes when playing for Roma or his exploits with the Italian team that recently won the World Cup, Totti is known in the world of soccer for being very passionate about the game. The Rolex Daytona has been serving buyers for the past four decades passionately with reliability and quality–two factors that Totti is known for while playing.

John Mayer may be making the world swoon to his tunes, but he prefers wearing the Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona to keep track of time. Known for achieving major label success and his alleged relationship with Jennifer Aniston, Mayer has achieved recognition in various genres of music. The Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona is also known for its versatility, allowing it to be worn with various apparel and still make an impression.

No prizes for guessing that all of the people mentioned above count on the Rolex Stainless Steel Daytona to be their timekeeper.

Legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood truly represents the daring spirit of Rolex. At the age of 78, Clint Eastwood has been receiving accolades and awards for his performance in and direction of the film Gran Torino. Although primarily known as a successful action star, Eastwood has directed more films than Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas combined, and he has won two Academy Awards for directing. Earlier this year The Changeling, directed by Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie, was released. In his acting career, Eastwood has worn a Rolex watch in several of his films. In Firefox, he wore a Rolex GMT Master with a Jubilee bracelet, and in the hit film, In the Line of Fire, he wore a two toned Rolex Datejust.

In 2007, French President Jacques Chirac awarded Eastwood the Legion of Honor, a rare distinction for an American citizen. Recognized around the world as a true artist of the cinema, Eastwood’s talent has evolved and expanded over the years. In Gran Torino, Eastwood plays with his classic Dirty Harry tough guy image by showing a similar character grown up to be a bitter, angry man. “You always look for a character that can go somewhere, start one place and go another,” Eastwood said in a voice that now is almost a whisper. “I was intrigued by the Gran Torino script because it was not only about the Hmong culture, which was new to me, but it is also a kind of statement that you’re never too old to learn tolerance and learn a lot of things. Of course Walt Kowalski is a man who’s out of his time and he has trouble adjusting, but that makes hurdles to go over and they make the character fun to play.â€� Like Rolex, Eastwood has learned not only to love adventure and daring, but also the importance of giving back and helping his fellow man. It is hard to imagine an individual more deserving of wearing a Rolex watch than Clint Eastwood.

In Gran Torino Eastwood worked with an unknown cast of non-professional actors, including Bee Vang and Ahney Her, both born in the US to Hmong parents. “They were very nice kids and they were really earnest,” he says. “It’s interesting with the young people of the Hmong culture that, although they were born here, they all know the language of their parents and grandparents and they have a great respect for adults.” At 78, Eastwood demonstrates incredible energy and daring, continuing to evolve as an actor and an artist. If we could choose a Rolex watch for Clint Eastwood, a Rolex Stainless Steel Datejust with a Black Dial and a Fluted Bezel would be the perfect fit. With a combination of elegance and robustness, it matches the legendary character of this American icon.

Arguably, the most successful actor of his generation in terms of the box office, Harrison Ford chooses to wear a Rolex Datejust in his everyday life. In the thriller Frantic, renowned director Roman Polanski has Harrison Ford’s character wear a stainless steel Datejust on a Jubilee Bracelet. If one legendary film character, however, definitely should have worn a Rolex, the adventurer’s watch, it is Ford’s greatest creation, Indiana Jones. In relation to Ford’s mastery of the character, one critic wrote, “Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. He owns the role like a seasoned Rolex.� Furthermore, like the conquerors of Mount Everest or the divers in the ocean’s deepest depths, Indiana Jones represents the very essence of Rolex quality and daring. Yet, for some unknown reason, George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg never gave Indiana a Rolex watch to wear on his wrist. Even worse, they made Harrison Ford stumble through the final film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, backed by a bad plot and a terrible screenplay. If Indiana Jones had worn a Rolex watch in the last film, he might have been checking the time to see when it would be over like members of the audience.

The plot line left many patrons not merely bored, but angered, as illustrated by a controversial South Park episode, which left Kyle moaning about the third film’s Alien’s. If you did not see the film, are you shaking your head right now? Aliens in an Indiana Jones story just reduces it to the absurd and mocks the classic adventure roots of the character. Indeed, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a mockery of perhaps the greatest adventurer in modern film. Moreover, not giving Indiana Jones a Rolex is simply doing him a great disservice. First, as you can see from the pictures, Harrison Ford looks great in a Rolex watch, whether it is silver or gold. Second, like the real life adventurers that Rolex has teamed up with over the last century, Indiana Jones represents the best of man’s daring and courageous spirit. Nothing, not even Nazis or a tunnel overflowing with the grossest bugs you could possibly imagine, ever stopped Indiana from achieving his goals. In real life, Harrison Ford looks positively awesome in his Rolex Datejust. Indiana Jones may have done better with a Rolex GMT Master II, a Rolex Explorer, or even a Rolex Submariner like James Bond. In the end, Indiana should have had a better send-off in terms of a quality film and a Rolex on his wrist.

When it comes to giving back in the form of charity and cultural support, philanthropy is an intrinsic part of the Rolex culture and philosophy. Through the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a large percentage of the profits of the Rolex go directly to philanthropic causes. Upon the death of his wife in 1944, Wilsdorf established the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation in which he left all of his Rolex shares, making sure that some of the company’s income would go to charity. The company is still owned by a private trust, and shares are not traded on any stock exchange. The foundations funnels much of the profits generated by Rolex into various charitable endeavors. Given that Rolex is not a publicly held company, exact numbers are not known, but it is clear they generate huge sums of money for worthy charities. Below, the descriptions of the two eminent Rolex philanthropic programs are paraphrased directly from Rolex accounts that describe the programs with a perfect balance of humility and clarity.

Through its two primary philanthropic programs, the Awards for Enterprise and the Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, Rolex fosters innovation in science, exploration, conservation, and the arts worldwide. 
 The Rolex Awards for Enterprise were created to foster a spirit of enterprise and advance human knowledge and well being around the globe. They support pioneering work in five areas: science and medicine; technology and innovation; exploration and discovery; the environment; and cultural heritage. In each series, ten Awards are presented to visionary men and women whose groundbreaking projects benefit their fields of endeavor, their communities and the wider world. Winners are innovators who typically work outside the mainstream and often have limited access to traditional funding. Rather than reward past achievements, the Rolex Awards provide financial assistance and recognition to individuals embarking on new ventures or carrying out ongoing projects. Grants of $100,000 are awarded to five Laureates and $50,000 to five Associate Laureates in each series. These grants must be used to complete their projects. All ten also receive a Rolex chronometer. Each of the Laureates represent the best work being done in their field, reflecting the excellence that Rolex has accomplished with their ground-breaking watches.

In 2002, Rolex launched the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, a global program that pairs emerging artists with masters in dance, film, literature, music, theatre and the visual arts for a year of intensive collaboration. Building on a legacy of supporting culture that dates back to the 1970s, Rolex launched the Arts Initiative to help ensure that artistic excellence is passed on to the next generation. Unparalleled in its artistic and geographic reach, the program has helped over 200 notable talents from 39 countries since its beginnings. Noting the lack of corporate support for individual artists in a multitude of disciplines, Rolex created the program to foster the next generation of artistic excellence and fill a void in arts philanthropy. Renowned artists from around the globe have participated in the program, ranging from Rolex representative and Mexican tenor Placido Domingo to Israel violinist Pinchas Zukerman. Through the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, Rolex has expanded its influence well beyond the scope of groundbreaking watches and chronometers. Through its philanthropic programs, Rolex created a true corporate culture of giving back, leading to cultural achievements and scientific breakthroughs that have benefited the entire world.

Running arguably the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world, Bernard Madoff stole over $50 billion dollars from his investors, including Rolex. Supposedly, Rolex lost 1 billion Swiss francs ($900) in the criminal web of high finance fraud, leading directly to the resignation of Rolex Chief Executive Patrick Heiniger. Bernard Madoff loved Rolex watches, and he is not the first or last criminal, both big and small, to translate such a love of luxury into greed larceny. Although Madoff did not steal any Rolex watches directly, his actions severely damaged the company.

In a piece for the London Times online, Morwenna Coniam writes about George Somlo, owner of Somlo Antiques in London, who deals in platinum and diamond watches. He also handles the resulting wealthy and respected clientele. Bernard Madoff, “… was trustworthy,� Mr. Somlo insisted. “If he had come to me and said, ‘can I borrow half a dozen watches to take home and show to my wife?’ I would have given them to him without question.� He admitted that Mr. Madoff had a taste for Rolex, but he would not dream of discussing how many of “the top collectable watches� Mr. Madoff bought, or how much he paid. Naturally, the privacy of a criminal must be kept because breaking such privacy could lead to having your legs broken or your money stolen in a Ponzi scheme.

Since Bernard Madoff was caught and his connection to Rolex revealed, online resources have reported on two more criminals and their Rolex-related illegal actions. In Georgia, a local thief was caught on video at a jewelry store, using his booty to buy a Rolex. Sylvania police revealed that the suspect swiped two credit cards, and then bought a $6,000 Rolex. Meanwhile, the victim did not even know his cards were missing. The owner has cancelled both cards, but the thief has not been caught. With the books fudged to the extreme in the Madoff case, you would think the federal regulators would have realized something was missing. When the rich steal, however, the crimes tend to be buried beneath mountains of paperwork.

Perhaps inspired by Madoff’s criminal success, a North Carolina man was arrested in early January 2008 on charges he attempted to defraud his insurance company of almost $25,000. Donnie Ray Cozart, 68, is accused of reporting to Kemper-Unitrin insurance company that his Rolex watch had been stolen. However, authorities say Cozart sold the watch, valued at $24,950, and tried to make an insurance claim for that amount. He was arrested by an agent with the N.C. Department of Insurance and charged with one count of insurance fraud. Isn’t it just incredible that small fry trying to pull off a Rolex insurance fraud scheme is caught immediately while a big fish defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme is allowed to continue for years on end until the damage amounts to $50 billion dollars? A simple truth about our capitalist economy is revealed: the more money you have, the more money you can steal. In addition, unfortunately, the more money you steal, the more Rolex watches you can buy, staining the reputation of a quality brand of historical significance.