[boulderthrower]

Good morning fellow WIS friends! I am up early here in my home town of Atlanta and am on my way to a needed vacation with my wife. As we arrived at E gate in the international airport in Atlanta I ran across a very cool display of Martin Luther King and in it was his actual watch that he wore while alive.

I know most people would have just over looked it but we WIS would have taken notice and appreciated it. A cool watch from a great and legendary man.

Enjoy the photos of his Timex. Anyone know the model or have one like it? know what year it is from?

 

[little big feather]

Every picture I've seen he wore a Yellow gold DateJust on a Jubilee bracelet...Picture from Jake's Rolex Forum

 

[boulderthrower]

Well, I can't say that it is not his watch. I can only take what the display says as fact. I'm sure he wore several watches

 

[little big feather]

Well, I can't say that it is not his watch. I can only take what the display says as fact. I'm sure he wore several watches

History...Is always as written, not as it was actually lived.

 

[boulderthrower]

Just trying to share something interesting not trying to start a debate. If you feel it is not his watch then that's the way you feel. However I am not going to speculate.

 

[little big feather]

Just trying to share something interesting not trying to start a debate. If you feel it is not his watch then that's the way you feel. However I am not going to speculate.

No...You stated a fact based upon a Public Relations display....I stated a fact based upon actual photo of that person, that's all.
It's like school children being taught about the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Never happened.
Betsy Ross and the American flag...A lie.....History is seldom as we read it, it is as the PR people write it.

 

[novedl]

I recall photos of MLK wearing this watch on a flexible bracelet. This photo is on the 2nd floor of my daughter's school and I see it every Thursday while participating in their STEM Program.
Ironically there is also a photo of Gandhi wearing a Rolex.

 

[shameless]

if you were a family member and had the choice to incarsurate a watch in an airport display for all time -would you choose the rolex or a timex ! i'm sure anyway , great a man as he was it wouldn't be pc to associate a gold rolex with a man of the people - the timex is there to symbolise humility

 

[TheWalrus]

I'm sure he wore multiple watches. I have no doubt that he wore that Timex as much as his Rolex. Either way, the watch he wore doesn't take one ounce away from who he was.

I recall seeing Gandhi wear a Rolex - the Dalai Lama too. Probably helps that the watches were much more accessible to people of average means back then.

 

[little big feather]

I'm sure he wore multiple watches. I have no doubt that he wore that Timex as much as his Rolex. Either way, the watch he wore doesn't take one ounce away from who he was.

I recall seeing Gandhi wear a Rolex - the Dalai Lama too. Probably helps that the watches were much more accessible to people of average means back then.

So true....But it comes back to a PR issue....Just like U.S. Presidents...Past couple wear cheap watches while running for office and while
in the White House, but as soon as there out of office, on comes the good stuff. It's allot of B.S....In one of his earliest marches, King
can be seen wearing the Rolex....The truth is the PR experts want to simply portray him as something different from the truth.....
If you write it...then it must be true, you simply rewrite history, just as many of the Watchmakers have done....It's been done thru out
history, all history, everywhere.

 

[Donf]

Simple everyday Timex, simple everyday Rolex. No big diff.

And just because he carried that transistor radio sometimes doesn't mean he didn't have a pair of 901's wired to the back of a big ass tube amp in his den.
Looks like french cuffs too, but he likely wore t-shirts once in a while.

 

[flyingpicasso]

This thread took a weird, unexpected turn.

 

[ljb187]

He does seem to be closely associated with that Datejust, but Rolex also has a way of swallowing up the story. Wonder if it's like anything else and he wore certain watches for certain occasions...sort of like the glasses. Sometimes a humble Timex when meeting with more regular folks - like the ones walking through airports; often an all gold watch when he wanted to project a more authoritative image. I'm not specifically equating Rolex with authority or status in this case...It'll help to remember that Rolex wasn't exactly Rolex back then and wearing gold / gold plated watches was much more the norm than it is now. It's just the type of thing esteemed guys (from local branch managers to astronauts) would have been likely to wear at the time.

Just a thought: Lots of famous people have worn Timex watches (including I imagine King). I'd love to see Timex release updated editions of the watches worn by these individuals. Timex gets some press, places /foundations like the King Center see some deserved revenue and every now and then I'd be able to strap on a little piece of history.

...there is also a photo of Gandhi wearing a Rolex.

You could have just as easily said that ljb187 wears a Rolex. I'm curious as to why you'd opted to reference Gandhi at my expense.

 

[boulderthrower]

This post was not meant to be a political ploy or a play form for people to voice their dislike for government PR failures. It was meant to show off what I say that day that pertains to watch enthusiasts.