Happy New Year everyone!
We look forward to your continued patronage in 2023.

Let's start with "Actor's Watch," which focuses on watches worn by actors in movies, television, and other media.
For our 101st installment, we will be introducing the Rolex Sea-Dweller that appeared in the film .

*Source: https://www.rolex.com/

I'm sure you all remember the new Sea-Dweller Deepsea Challenge (Ref. 126067), which Rolex suddenly announced on November 1, 2022.

In addition, director James Cameron, whose new film Avatar: Way of Water (2022) is currently a huge hit, is known for his Deepsea D-BLUE (Ref. 116660) , a watch that he loves to wear. It is known as a model created to commemorate his "achievements," which will be described later.

So, for the first Actor's Watch of 2023, we would like to focus on the Rolex Sea-Dweller, which has close ties to the film industry.

James Cameron's Deep Sea Challenge

DEEPSEA CHALLENGE 3D (2014)

*Source: https://www.nytimes.com

Director James Cameron developed a strong desire to explore the deep sea through the production of ocean-themed films such as " The Abyss " (1989) and " Titanic " (1997). He began searching for shipwrecks and conducting oceanographic surveys around the world, and eventually came up with a plan to dive into the Mariana Trench in a one-man submersible he designed himself, the " Deepsea Challenger ."

Despite encountering numerous problems, the submersible Deepsea Challenger passed its test dive and on March 25, 2012, it began its dive to Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, with director James Cameron on board.

*Source: https://www.hodinkee.com/

James Cameron is known for directing " The Terminator " (1984) and " Aliens " (1986). His ocean documentary film " James Cameron: Deep Sea Challenge " (2014), which is filled with his love for the deep sea, features the Rolex Sea-Dweller Challenge , a prototype model designed by Rolex to withstand the water pressure of the world's deepest depth of 11 km.

The Rolex Sea-Dweller Challenge, which is exceptionally robust with a case diameter of 51 mm, case thickness of 28.5 mm, and sapphire crystal thickness of 14.33 mm in order to withstand water pressure of up to 13.6 tons, was attached to the outside of James Cameron's submersible , the Deepsea Challenger , and functioned normally during the dive, helping him safely return from the deep sea.

As you may already know, the model that Rolex produced to commemorate James Cameron's achievement is the Rolex Deepsea D-Blue (Ref. 116660) .

The Deer Hunter

THE DEER HUNTER (1978)

*Source: https://www.filmlinc.org/

In the 1960s, Michael ( Robert De Niro ), a young man who works at a steelworks in Pennsylvania and enjoys deer hunting as a hobby, is sent to serve in the Vietnam War. However, as the situation in North Vietnam becomes increasingly bogged down, Michael is taken prisoner along with his friend Nick ( Christopher Walken ). In the hut where they are held captive, the North Vietnamese soldiers are making the prisoners play Russian roulette, betting on who will die first. When it is Michael and Nick's turn, Michael uses the gun he was given for Russian roulette to wipe out the guards and escape with Nick, but...

*Source: https://timeandtidewatches.com/

The Deer Hunter (1978) is a human drama that depicts how a good-natured young man from the American countryside is mentally eroded by his war experiences and is ruined without being able to return to his previous daily life. Although it is set during the Vietnam War, there are almost no battle scenes, and instead the " abnormality of war " is depicted by the prisoners of war who are forced to play Russian roulette and are driven to the brink of mental breakdown.

The watch worn by Robert De Niro, who plays the main character Michael in this movie, is thought to be a Rolex Sea-Dweller (Ref. 1665) because it does not have a Cyclops lens. The rugged diver's watch suits his sturdy arms, which are appropriate for the role of a deer hunter.

Unknown

UNKNOWN (2011)

*Source: https://moviesanywhere.com/

American botanist Dr. Martin Harris ( Liam Neeson ) visits Berlin with his wife Elizabeth ( January Jones ) to attend a conference. When Martin realizes that his luggage is missing from the hotel, he leaves the check-in to his wife and makes a U-turn to the airport by himself by taxi, but on the way there, the taxi falls into the river in an accident.

Four days after the accident, Martin wakes up from a coma in the hospital, losing his identity and suffering from memory loss. However, he somehow remembers his wife and sneaks out of the hospital and heads to a hotel. However, when they are reunited, his wife does not know Martin and insists that the stranger is her husband, Martin. In an unclear situation, he gets help from others and begins to uncover the truth. He begins to realize that there is a huge conspiracy hidden behind this mysterious event...

*Source: https://oceanictime.blogspot.com/

In " Unknown " (2011), a man who loses his identity in a traffic accident pursues his true identity and throws himself into the fight against a huge conspiracy. In this film, Liam Neeson plays a scholar who is pursued by a mysterious organization without knowing who he is, and he wears a Rolex Deepsea (Ref. 116660) .

It also serves as a prop that sets the story in motion when Martin, who wakes up from a coma, remembers his wife when he sees the couple's initials and what appears to be their wedding anniversary engraved on the back of the watch, which reminds him of his wife.

Argo

ARGO (2012)

*Source: https://beagle-the-movie.com/

The 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis occurred when the US Embassy in Tehran was taken over and 52 American diplomats were taken hostage. In order to rescue six diplomats who escaped from the embassy and were hiding in the Canadian Embassy just before the incident, CIA operative Tony Mendez ( Ben Affleck ) came up with a plan. It was a bizarre plan to disguise the six as film crew members of the fictional science fiction movie "Argo" and help them escape the country...

*Source: https://www.spotern.com/

Based on a true story that took place in the Middle East in 1979, Ben Affleck played two roles, director and lead role, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2012. Argo (2012) saw his reputation soar not only as an actor, but also as a filmmaker.

In this film, Tony, a CIA agent played by Ben Affleck, wears a Rolex Deepsea (Ref. 116660) . As the film is based on an incident that occurred in 1979, a Ref. 1665 would have been more appropriate, but for some reason the Ref. 116660 was chosen.

The "Ref. 116660" is a model that was manufactured from 2008 onwards, so it is about 30 years off from the historical facts of the film. There are cases where a discrepancy of a few years is overlooked and design takes priority over consistency with the era, but it is rare to see such a discrepancy.

summary

How was your first Actor's Watch of 2023?

It's truly moving for me as a movie and watch lover to think that director James Cameron 's passion for the deep sea led to the evolution of the Rolex Sea-Dweller, eventually resulting in the blockbuster film "Avatar: Way of Water."

Well, at this point, it seems that no actors wearing the new " Sea-Dweller Deep Sea Challenge (Ref. 126067) " have appeared in movies or TV shows yet, but who will be the first actor to appear on screen wearing this overly bulky watch? Dwayne Johnson ? Jason Statham ? Or maybe Sylvester Stallone ? Maybe Eddie Redmayne or Mads Mikkelsen ?

I'm looking forward to watching more movies like this in 2023.

see you!

Actor's watch