GQ: How the Domino's Pizza Rolex Helped Make Branded Watches Desirable

In his latest article for GQ ‘How the Domino's Pizza Rolex Helped Make Branded Watches Desirable” Cam Wolf covers the rising interest in vintage Rolex watches with corporate dials and the inspiration behind the latest Rowing Blazers collaboration with TUDOR.

“Carlson started scouring through eBay listings, getting them vetted by Wind. He ended up buying a Domino’s Air-King for himself and a ladies Air-King with the Domino’s dial on it, both for only a few thousand dollars each. Together, Wind and Carlson bought several more when their value was still ascending. Carlson started featuring them prominently in campaigns for Rowing Blazers while selling some on his site. Wind put out a video helping collectors understand the different eras of the DRs, which was suddenly crucial information.

As the value of the DRs started to rise, in no small part thanks to Wind and Carlson’s efforts, Frankensteined versions of the watches started to emerge. “Now, because all these dealers found, ‘Oh, I've got a couple of Domino’s dials back in my drawer,’ they’re putting them back in watches over the last three years,” Wind says.

Getting a customized Tudor involves some pretty masterful hoop jumping. Carlson and Wind first sent the brand in application back in September 2021 and were then tasked with creating a presentation to explain the background of Rowing Blazers and why they wanted to do a watch. The pair created over one hundred designs—some of them with bold red-and-blue designs inspired by the Domino’s Rolex— before whittling it down to their favorites. Their first design was rejected but they apparently cleared Tudor’s bar on the second try. And after all that, Carlson and Wind still had to submit the list of every single person who would receive the watch. (None of these watches are ever put up for sale publicly.) The pieces are then engraved with the approved recipients’ names to squash any secondary market shenanigans.“

Read the full article below:

https://www.gq.com/story/logo-branded-watches-dominos-rolex-rowing-blazers-tudor