Up for auction is a 1940s Rolex sold to a prisoner of war while he was incarcerated.

A 1940s Rolex chronograph that belonged to a British prisoner of war at the Stalag Luft III camp in Nazi Germany is coming up for sale at Antiquorum in Geneva on May 13 and 14. With it is the logbook Corporal Clive Nutting of the Royal Corps of Signals kept during his wartime captivity. It’s a collection of unpublished cartoons, illustrations and photographs revealing a new insight into camp life and the mass breakout of 76 POWs made famous in the movie, The Great Escape.

Included in the papers is Nutting’s correspondence with Rolex, confirming the remarkable marketing campaign the Geneva brand launched during World War II.

Swiss watch sales were badly hit by the war, especially after Germany invaded unoccupied Vichy France in November 1942, and neutral Switzerland found itself completely encircled by Axis powers. Watch companies were cut off from their best customers, the British and Americans.

Rolex, however, discovered that there were plenty of British and Americans right on Switzerland’s doorstep — literally a captive market — in German prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag Luft III, for example, housed up to 10,000 Allied airmen, shot down in operations over occupied Europe. Thousands more Allied officers were interned in the various Oflag (officer’s POW camps) scattered throughout the German Reich.

POW Rolex Part 1 - TimeZone

I doubt they’ll make it — Rolex knows not to bastardize their brand — but it is pretty interesting.

You’ll have to trust me on this one, as I wasn’t allowed to take photographs inside LG’s mobile demonstration room. But one wall has a display of concept mobile phones, including a model that’s basically a phone with a Rolex watch-face embedded in the casing.

Korea/Japan Week: LG reveals concept Rolex mobile phone [Tech Digest]

I’m slowly starting to dig Rolex more and more. Sure, it’s “common,” but they’re well made and have history. I’d put them on par with Omega for class and provenance.

The Milgauss comes in the new, slightly larger case size of 40mm, with the 3131 movement. There are white and black dial versions available, both with a nifty and surprisingly modern lightning shaped second hand and ‘ROLEXROLEXROLEX’ around the face on the chapter ring. (As Christian noted, for better or worse, the new models are more heavily branded than their predecessors.) One difference between the two versions is that the black dial has a sapphire crystal that is slightly green at an angle, as you can see from the image gallery on their site. List price on both is rumored to be $5,900.

The New Rolex Milgauss [WatchReport]

For $5, the price of a cup of Starbuck’s coffee, you can help some douche buy himself a Rolex. The world, it seems, is full of all kinds.

BIDDING ON THIS AUCTION WILL, I HOPE, GIVE YOU THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING YOU PERSONALLY HELPED A HARD WORKING FATHER OF TWO AFFORD HIS TIME PIECE DREAM.

YOU ARE BIDDING ON:

* A FUND TO ALLOW ME TO FULLY PURCHASE AND PLACE ONE OF THESE FINE TIMEPIECES ON MY WRIST.

What a joke… “Give Me Money To Buy A Rolex” [Watchuseek Watch Forums]

War, Rolexi, and classice movies. Quite a combo.

A 1940s Rolex chronograph that belonged to a British prisoner of war at the Stalag Luft III camp in Nazi Germany is coming up for sale at Antiquorum in Geneva on May 13 and 14. With it is the logbook Corporal Clive Nutting of the Royal Corps of Signals kept during his wartime captivity. It’s a collection of unpublished cartoons, illustrations and photographs revealing a new insight into camp life and the mass breakout of 76 POWs made famous in the movie, The Great Escape.

POW Rolex Part 1 - TimeZone

An AMAZING look at restoring an old Rolex.

Alright, further examination of the watch confirms the above - there’s really nothing wrong with the exterior of the watch that a good cleaning and polishing won’t fix. There’s no rust or major physical trauma. And it looks like the watch hasn’t been polished much before, which is a good thing - some watches of this age have been over polished. So with the cursory inspection complete, it’s now time to begin disassembling the watch for cleaning and further inspection. The first order of business is to remove the bracelet and check between the lugs.

The Restoration of a Rolex “Red” Submariner 1680 - Part I

The kooks over at the Rolex Forum let a Bahn run over a fake Rolex. The results are quite striking.

R-L-X Haupt-Forum | Die Bahn kommt!! (viel Bilder) [Das Rolex Forum]

When a man falls out of his car, this is what happens. Then, when the man sends his Rolex in for repair, they charge him $2000 and send him on his way. Read the whole sordid story at Fratello.

He cried because the bracelet broke down (only the bracelet replacement is probably around 7500 Euro), the saphire crystal shattered and didn’t know what more was wrong… Claus asked the R-L-X.de members what to do and brought the watch to Rolex Deutschland GmbH (which seem to be cheaper than Rolex Switzerland).

The Horror [FratelloWatches]

Wow. RJ over at Fratellowatches paused Kill Bill Vol. 2 to find that Uma is wearing a fake Rolex Daytona. What madness! Couldn’t maybe they call someone cool and get a watch in there? I know Fossil would KILL to get their best stuff on Bill’s wrist. Anyway, I hope it was just an inside joke.

Kill Bill Vol.2 [Fratellowatches.com]