I Dream Of Rolex: Larry Hagman & Barbara Eden

I Dream Of Rolex

Larry Hagman & Barbara Eden

Rolex Lady Date & Day-Date

What does I Dream Of Jeannie have in common with Rolex? They are both beautiful Timeless Classics that make people smile! I Dream Of Jeannie is one of the most iconic TV shows in history, right up there with I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show. 

I Dream Of Jeannie originally aired on TV in 1965 and ran to 1970, which covered 5 seasons and 139 episodes. The premise of the show was that a NASA Astronaut was in a rocket that was launched and went off-course and landed on a desert island, where he finds a beautiful genie in a bottle he opens, who calls him 'Master'. Probably every man's dream :-0

Larry Hagman passed away on November 23, 2012, and in the photo below, we see Barbara Eden who played Jeannie, and Larry Hagman who played Major Nelson on I Dream Of Jeannie, hanging out together not so long before he passed away, and notice both of them are still wearing their yellow gold Rolex watches!!!

So let's go back in The Rolex Time Machine and take a closer look at their Rolex watches. 

First we see Barbara Eden wearing her yellow gold Rolex Lady-Date model on Jubilee Bracelet.

The photo below of Barbara Eden was taken when she turned 90 years old and notice she is still wearing her yellow gold Rolex Lady Date. Today Barbara is 91 years young.

DALLAS

Next we see Larry Hagman who went on from playing Major Nelson on I Dream Of Jeannie, to playing J.R. Ewing on the epic TV Show Dallas. Dallas ran from 1978 to 1991, and was ultra successful. Larry Hagman is pictured below wearing his yellow gold Rolex Day-Date on Dallas.

In later episodes of Dallas, Larry Hagman's character started sporting his yellow gold Rolex "President" on a special special custom-made gold and leather strap with his J.R. initials on it, as seen below.

Larry Hagman reprised his role as J.R. Ewing on Dallas when it came back to TV in 2012, and in the photos below we see Larry Hagman wearing his Rolex Day-Date on his special JR Gold Band.

On I Dream Of Jeannie, Larry Hagman played the role of Air Force/ NASA Major Anthony Nelson. The show aired from 1965 to 1970 and in many ways it mirrored the times. Specifically, between 1965 and 1970, NASA went from Project Mercury to Gemini to Apollo. Project Mercury put the first American in space to orbit the Earth, and Apollo was the first to put a man on the moon. At the time, the NASA Astronauts were like the new cowboys. 

DEADLY ENCOUNTER

1982 Helicopter Action Movie

Stainless Steel Rolex Submariner

Reference 1680

In the photos below we see Larry Hagman in a different role, rockin' a different Rolex model–this time he is wearing a Rolex sports watch, which appears to be a Submariner Reference 1680 in Stainless Steel.

I received an email a decade ago from a reader of Jake's Rolex World who lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, named Luiz, and he sent me the following email:

Hi Mr. Jake...

My name is HEITOR AZEVEDO, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil... I´m a Sikorsky S-76C++ helicopter pilot. I have two Rolex Submariner Supercase Ceramic... and I´m a great admirer of your blog and histories.

I saw a Larry Hagman´s movie from 1982. In the first scene, you can see Mr. Hagman proceeding a helicopter pre-flight check wearing a beautiful Rolex Submariner in the movie DEADLY ENCOUNTER.

I was looking for this movie, to watch the helicopters performances, but I was very surprised when in the first scene I saw Larry Hagman wearing a Submariner almost like my two 116610LN (I have one with steel bracelet and another one with a black rubber bracelet with white needlework line that I usualy wear to work).

I hope to have helped to improve your fantastic blog histories.

Thank you very much, best regards,

HEITOR AZEVEDO – Rio de Janeiro – Brazil.

Thank you so much Heitor, and yes I watched the whole movie and got some screen grabs of Larry Hagman wearing his stainless steel Submariner. By the way, Larry Hagman made this movie in 1981, while he was staring in Dallas. Dallas began in 1978 and ran until 1991. 

Watching this movie was a trip. The helicopter flying and stunts were fascinating, but it was really kind of a cheesy early 1980s movie. Think, Airwolf, meets Charlie's Angels, meets Star Wars, meets Miami Vice ;-) Either way, it is still a trip to see Larry Hagman rockin' a stainless steel Rolex Submariner.

The New Rolex Building in Dallas

By DANNY CRIVELLO

"I don't use a watch at the moment," Kengo Kuma told me during an interview. Yet, his creation has been one of the most significant work for Rolex in recent years. Few people know that for more than six decades, Rolex has asked that its buildings worldwide are to be designed by renowned architects who have made their mark on history. 

These architects include Michael Graves (Lititz Watch Technicum, Pennsylvania), Fumihiko Maki (Rolex Tokyo building) and SANAA principals Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (the Rolex Learning Center for EPFL in Lausanne). In a previous article I mentioned the architecture of the future Rolex USA headquarters on Fifth Ave in New York which is commissioned to Sir David Chipperfield. 

For Dallas, Rolex commissioned the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma to design its newest building, a seven-story office tower that houses Rolex’s sales and service center, replacing the original Rolex Building opened in 1984.

Mr. Kuma has an international reputation based on his mastery of highly original connections between buildings, sites and nature. He was chosen to design the center-piece of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the National Stadium. 

The Rolex Building in Dallas joins the list of "twisted sister" buildings, which include the MAD skyscraper in Canada and the SOM’s helical tower in Dubai. With a series of stacked floor plates that stagger and give the appearance of a twisting tower, the building allows for more outdoor space on each floor, lending to a calm atmosphere, natural beauty, and progressive style. 

"Our idea was to create a place of nature at the heart of the great city of Dallas," Mr. Kuma told me. "The most difficult issue was how to solve the gap of the site. And traffic played a part in that. It’s a very noisy street, so our solution was to use a castle wall. The castle wall is part of the earth; it is part of the natural land, which creates a very different effect from a vertical concrete wall." 

The Rolex building won the “Best Office Project in the World” by Engineering News-Record magazine and was featured in a 50-minute documentary by NHK World News. The 136,860-square-foot building has a spiral shape that appears to disappear as it reaches for the sky. The tower is covered with 16-inch-deep horizontal louvers to protect it from the strong sunlight in Dallas, and the louvers were provided with a wood texture in order to make it feel warm and highlight the dynamic twists. 

Mr Kuma, who was the recipient of the Architectural Institute of Japan Award, told me he hopes people can enjoy the sense of nature with the building. He made sure to incorporate nature into each floor, including a rooftop garden, to inspire other organic-urban developments around the city. 

For Dallas, this sets a whole new standard of environmental qualities. The way Mr. Kuma uses natural light, space and subtly modulated surfaces in his approach to buildings – "dissolution and disintegration," as he puts it – continues to be unique. His architecture has been featured at five editions of the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. 

"We create a mockup for every project so I can feel the materiality," Mr. Kuma said. "I don’t trust drawings. Drawings are just lines, but mockups have material. They allow us to check effective natural light and shadow. Also, I often go to the construction site. In the 1980s, many star architects would send drawings to Japan without visiting because clients just wanted a brand, not architecture. And I saw how that produced buildings without any heart, so I try to visit the site as much as possible and communicate with locals directly." 

And though he is not wearing a timepiece at the moment, Mr. Kuma has a lot of respect for the Swiss watchmaker. "I've always admired Rolex," he finally told me. "Particularly because it is perfectly matching the image of Switzerland."

Rolex Coolness: Larry Hagman From I Dream Of Jeanie to J.R. Ewing on Dallas...

...Now & Then...

Rolex Coolness: Larry Hagman

From

Major Nelson on I Dream Of Jeanie

to

J.R. Ewing on Dallas

4 Decades with Rolex Keeping The Time Of His Life

Larry Hagman has had an amazing career, and he has been wearing a Rolex Day-Date for the past five decades. In this recent photo below, we see him sporting his trademark yellow gold Day-Date on some kind of custom black and gold strap.

Larry Hagman became extremely famous for his role on the TV show I Dream Of Jennie, where he played Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson. I Dream Of Jennie debuted in 1965 and ran for five seasons through 1970. Season 1 was shot in black and white the next four seasons were shot in color.

Here is the first episode in black and white

When I was a small child I spent countless hours watching I Dream Of Jeanie, which was one of my favorite shows. What man in his right mind would not want a super ultra-hot blond jeannie following him around gladly calling him "Master!?!" while wearing that over-the-top sexy jeannie outfit!?!? In many ways, I Dream Of Jeannie was every man's fantasy come true.

Here is one of the most classic episodes from 1967 of "I Dream Of Jeannie:

Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing on Dallas

CBS 1978-1991

Larry Hagman did not do that much after I Dream Of Jeannie, until 1978 when he played the role of J.R. Ewing on Dallas. One of the things that surprised everybody was how dramatically opposed his role as Major Nelson was to J.R. Ewing on Dallas.

Larry Hagman is pictured below with his fellow cast members from the hit TV show Dallas

Larry Hagman wore a yellow gold Rolex Day-Date on Dallas as seen in the two following screen-shots:

As I mentioned earlier, it is profound how juxtaposed and antithetical Larry Hagman's character of Anthony Nelson was on I Dream Of Jeannie, versus, playing, J.R. Ewing on Dallas. Larry Hagman really defeated being pigeonholed and typecast by Hollywood, and both of his roles were played brilliantly. Larry Hagman's achievements as an actor are profound, and he will forever be a part of the American TV psyche...