Book Review:
100 SUPERLATIVE ROLEX WATCHES
By: John B. Holbrook, II
October 10th, 2008

I recently became aware of author John Goldberger’s new book, 100 SUPERLATIVE ROLEX WATCHES from my buddy Jake Ehrlich publisher of JAKE’S ROLEX WATCH BLOG.  Based on his excellent recommendation, I reached out to the publisher, and agreed to review the work myself here on THE ROLEX REFERENCE PAGE.

By way of background, John Goldberger is an elite Italian watch collector who apparently has been collecting vintage watches for the better part of his life, and has clearly amassed one of the most amazing collections of rare, vintage Rolex watches in the world.  Goldberger is no stranger to watch book publishing either, having previously published works on Omega and Longines watches.  So he’s eminently qualified by both experience and geography to write such a book.  In fact, most of the more extensive published works on Rolex (particularly vintage Rolex) come from Italian authors – Guido Mondani being the most prolific.  That’s because Italy is largely responsible for the “Rolex Renaissance” of the past approximately two decades.  Most of largest, most extensive collections of vintage Rolex watches (and the expertise on the topic) reside in Italy. 

 There’s certainly a lot to like about Goldberger’s 100 SUPERLATIVE ROLEX WATCHES.  To begin with, it certainly presents well, having a nice heavy cardboard slip case, and a faux leather cover with stamped reproduction of the rare Rolex moon phase dial, done in classic Rolex green.  The faux leather cover not only gives the book a much higher quality look and feel, it also makes the book easier to hold while reading.  

Stamped into the cover is a reproduction of the famous vintage moon phase dial:

One also cannot help but be impressed with the photography in Goldberger’s book as well – some of the best you’ll see in any Rolex book, and apparently Goldberger did it himself.  One area where Goldberger’s book really stands out from other Rolex books is his extensive photographs of  the pieces he showcases – for nearly every watch shown, the case back is removed and a photograph of the movement is shown.  It is for this reason that I feel Goldberger’s book is one of the best reference tools for anyone looking to buy big ticket vintage Rolex watches, and avoid buying fakes or otherwise altered watches.  Having good reference photographs of case backs, bracelets, and movements goes a long way in helping to avoid costly mistakes.  Many of the watches showcased in this book well exceed $100,000.00 on the collector’s market.  So even if your someone not looking to buy an exceedingly rare and valuable vintage Rolex, Goldberger’s book is certain a great collection of watches many will never see in their lives, much less afford to buy.

I do note some of the same shortcomings I’ve seen of several other Rolex books from Italian authors in the Goldberger book.  Specifically, this book is rather light on text – it’s primarily a picture book.  Not altogether surprising, given that English isn’t Goldberger’s native language.  The opening pages of the book contain some interesting Rolex historical information and timelines, but the majority of the book looks like the below photos – primarily photos with some photo captions:

Goldberger has stated in a podcast interview with Jake Ehrlich that he intends to add more in depth editorial in the next edition of his book, so and based on the excellent interview, Goldberger is an almost endless fountain of information.  I’ll go on record as stating that if Goldberger needs to a good writer with whom to work, my services are available.  “Will work for watches.”

 I also wish that Goldberger’s book contained more content for those interested in contemporary Rolex models – the latest model Rolex you’ll see in Goldberger’s book is a Zenith movement Daytona.  I certainly find vintage Rolex models fascinating, but the accessibility of contemporary models would give this book (and many more like it) a more down to Earth connection with the audience.

 These two minor points aside, I do consider 100 SUPERLATIVE ROLEX WATCHES worth the cover price ($200.00 US) and a worthwhile addition to any Rolex collectors library.  If you’d like to save a few bucks and support my friend Jake Ehrlich, buy the book through this link and Jake will see some affiliate commission dollars which helps support JAKE’S ROLEX WATCH BLOG.