How Rolex Became the Watch of Presidents

In December 1957 — three years before John F. Kennedy was even elected — a Rolex ad in an Italian newspaper already called the bracelet "President." Nobody in that ad was a president. The Day-Date arrived in 1956 as Rolex's flagship: gold or platinum only, with the day of the week spelled out in full. The word "President" was already in the catalogue before any president was known to wear one. Lyndon Johnson made it stick — but he didn't name it, and he didn't start a line of succession. The 1966 "presidents' watch" advertisement, the auction catalogues, the book titles and the newspaper shorthand did the rest. This is the story of a nickname that became the name — and of the myths that grew around it. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Story We Tell 00:44 The Object 02:05 A Name in Print 02:52 The World It Entered 03:22 Johnson 04:54 The Advertisement 05:37 The Myths 07:03 Repetition 08:17 The Official Story 08:43 The Name Came First SOURCES AND FURTHER READING Rolex, History 1953–1967 — https://www.rolex.com/en-us/about-rol... Rolex, Day-Date — The march of time (The Choice of Presidents) — https://www.rolex.com/en-us/watches/d... Rolex Newsroom, "The new Day-Date 36" (27 March 2023) — https://newsroom.rolex.com/watches/ne... La Nuova Stampa, Rolex advertisement, 10 December 1957, p. 10 (Anno XIII, N. 293) — Archivio La Stampa, https://www.archiviolastampa.it/ The New York Times, "Advertising: The Red Phone Rings at Rolex" (22 September 1966) — https://www.nytimes.com/1966/09/22/ar... Sotheby's, The Rolex Day-Date: A Complete Collector's Guide — https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/... Sotheby's, Important Watches, lot 9 (Day-Date ref. 18038, 2018) — https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/... RR Auction, Dwight D. Eisenhower's Rolex (Datejust ref. 6305, 2014) — https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lo... Reuters via TODAY, "JFK watch from Monroe fetches $120,000" (17 October 2005) — https://www.today.com/news/jfk-watch-... BBC News, "Sale for Monroe 'gift to Kennedy'" (19 October 2005) — https://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entert... Phillips, Glamorous Day-Date, Geneva (9 May 2015) — https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auc... Christie's, ROLEX DAY-DATE 'PRESIDENT' REF. 1803 (28 October 2020) — https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-... Hodinkee, "How The Rolex Day-Date Became A Million-Dollar Watch" — https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rol... Monochrome Watches, "History of the Rolex Day-Date 1956–Present" — https://monochrome-watches.com/histor... SJX Watches, "The Prestige and Patents of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date" — https://sjxwatches.com/2021/07/rolex-... Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, "Day-Date" — https://www.hautehorlogerie.org/en/wa... Swiss patents CH 323 982 A and CH 322 341 A, US patent 2,591,819 A — Google Patents CREDITS Archival photographs — public domain (U.S. federal works; LBJ Presidential Library and White House photographs, via Wikimedia Commons): Lyndon B. Johnson, desk portrait · LBJ on the telephone, Oval Office (1967) · LBJ on the telephone (1965) · LBJ signing the Civil Rights Act (2 July 1964) · Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959) · John F. Kennedy · Gerald R. Ford Footage: American Look (1958), Handy (Jam) Organization, Prelinger Archives (public domain). Rolex advertisement, c. 1966 ("The President's Watch"): reproduced as an object of commentary (editorial review), via the RolexMagazine archive. Music and sound effects — Mixkit Free License (commercial use, no attribution required): "Soul Jazz" (Francisco Alvear), "Nostalgic Night" (Michael Ramir C.) ▶ Start here — the best TIME & POWER stories:    • Start Here: Watches That Changed History |...   🔔 Subscribe for more true stories about the watches that shaped history.