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They found it and brought it gingerly to the surface. And when on dry land they held it in their hands, they gazed at it with stupefaction.
They found it and brought it gingerly to the surface. And when on dry land they held it in their hands, they gazed at it with stupefaction.
The Rolex "Professor of Milan" advertisement was one of the most popular (and reproduced) advertisements of the Rolex "Fantastic Story" advertising campaign (1952-1955), I think the "Fantastic Story" advertising campaign was among the few (if not only) Rolex advertising campaigns with an advertisement of it own (Tudor did a similar promotion for its 1952 "Trial of Destruction" advertising campaign); the "Fantastic Story" advertisement promotion appeared in the 1952 May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December issues of the Horological Journal. The Horological Journal promotion of the advertisement campaign read (in part)...
AT LAST IT IS TOLD…the amazing story of Rolex. In this campaign the amazing story of Rolex is told in full for the first time. Here is the story of the diamond partners of Bahia (A Letter from Brazil); of an intrepid Irishman who sailed his tiny boat across the Atlantic (The Arduous Voyage of the Cutter Ituna); of the amazing discovery of the divers who worked on the sunken Italian fleet (The Professor of Milan)…and more—many more. It is the biggest thing in watch advertising.
With superb illustrations by Eric Fraser, this new campaign is destined to be the biggest thing ever in the history of watch advertising. "Once again Rolex lead the field—once again they make it much easier for you to sell Rolex—the world's most famous wrist-watches.
The "Professor of Milan" advertisement appeared in the Illustrated London News at least five times from 1952-1954, first appearing in black & white on October 18th, 1952 and a color version of the advertisement appeared on December 5th, 1953. The advertisement text reads...
THE Professor went swimming off Capri and he swam wearing his wrist-watch. It was waterproof—perfectly-safe to swim with. But then—calamity! The strap buckle was loose, and it came undone. Vainly the professor tried to save his watch; Sadly he saw it twinkle and disappear into the green depths of the sea. And he returned to shore convinced that his watch was gone for ever. But back on shore he remembered the divers. They were working on sunken ships close to where he had been swimming. He asked them to keep an eye open for his watch.
The next time, they dived, a week later, they remembered that request, and looked around for the watch. And—yes they found it and brought it gingerly to the surface. And when on dry land they examined it, they gazed at it in stupefaction. For the watch that had lain on the sea bed a whole week was still keeping perfect time. Incredible? Not at all. The watch was a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. The waterproof Oyster case had protected the movement from salt water and the clinging; insidious sand, and the Rolex Perpetual self-winding mechanism had kept it wound.
The Rolex Rotor, the secret of the success of the Perpetual, does not work on the "jerk" principle. A complete semi-circle of metal, rotating on its axis, it turns and spins at the slightest movement. And in this case, it was the gentle motion of the sea that actuated it! Well, that's what happened to one particular Rolex watch, And the professor got his watch back unharmed. But now, he's careful when he goes swimming.
For next time, there may be no divers to find it. Doesn't apply to you? You're not likely to drop your watch in the Mediterranean? True—but all watches have enemies—dust, damp, dirt, perspiration—and the the sort of watch that will tell the time at the bottom of the sea will hardly be affected by ordinary hazards. And remember that the Rolex Perpetual isn't self-winding just to save you the trouble of winding it up A self-winding watch tends to be more accurate than a hand-wound watch because the tension on the mainspring is much more even, much more constant. Yes, a Rolex Perpetual is made to be accurate and stay accurate.
To the best of my knowledge the "Professor of Milan" was the only "Fantastic Story" advertisement printed in color (1953); the color version advertised a gold Datejust whereas all the other "Fantastic Story" advertisements featured either a SS Oyster Perpetual or SS Datejust, I think the occasion of the color version of the advertisement coincided with England now allowing the importation of gold watches (Rolex experts please chime in); Remember it was only in 1947 that stainless-steel Rolex watches began again to be imported to England after the war (please refer to the enclosed 1947 advertisements from the January 10th Scotsman and the March 8th Sphere).
Detectives will notice subtle differences in the black-&-white advertisement and the color version of the advertisement.
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They found it and brought it gingerly to the surface. And when on dry land they held it in their hands, they gazed at it with stupefaction.
They found it and brought it gingerly to the surface. And when on dry land they held it in their hands, they gazed at it with stupefaction. The Rolex "Professor of Milan" advertisement was one of the most popular (and reproduced) advertisements of the Rol...
Pretty ‘fishy’ story
“For the watch that had lain on the sea bed a whole week was still keeping perfect time. Incredible? Not at all. The watch was a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. The waterproof Oyster case had protected the movement from salt water and the clinging; insidious sand...
The 1952 Tudor Trial of Destruction advertisements...trivia: C. Walter Hodges.
As mentioned in my original-post Tudor had a kind of similar and contemporary advertising campaign to the Rolex "Fantastic Story" advertising campaign called the "Trials of Destruction"; no big news as Rolex and Tudor fans will be well-acquainted with the...
Apropos of John Cheever's Rolex...
John Cheever and his Rolex Day-Date on the cover of Scott Donaldson's John Cheever biography. If the Rolex fan reads the biographies, journals and letters of John Cheever the Rolex fan will be rewarded with sundry tidbits regarding John Cheever's Rolex Da...
