The 1976 remake of King Kong took the basic premise of 1933 classic and made it more in line with the 1970s. Instead of a ragtag film crew on a mission to make an unsanctioned movie, it’s a greedy capitalize on an oil barge hauling a stowaway scientist to discover an unknown island. Little do they know, it’s not oil hidden on the island. This week, the blockbuster Godzilla vs. King Kong opens in theaters and on HBO Max. Meanwhile, we spent a week with Rolex’s newest Submariner. 124060, taking it on a tour of King Kong’s playground, New York City.
What’s the connection between the two? Look no further than Jeff Bridges, who starred as scientist Jack Prescott in the 1976 film. In the film, he plays a bushy-tailed paleontologist bent on discovering the mysterious primates rumored to exist at “Skull Beach.
Bridges is actually a known Rolex enthusiast who has worn many different watches – including the two-tone Submariner – both on and off-screen. In King Kong, Bridges wears what appears to be a Rolex Submariner 5513 with an oyster strap. In the 1970s, this was still very much a tool watch – and without the expensive price tag. If you were to choose a watch to travel to the middle of the Indian Ocean to meet a giant monkey, this would be a reasonable choice.
The film opens at a shipping terminal in Indonesia. The camera introduces us to a group of dirty characters ready to enter the open water. On cue, “The Dude” himself stumbles out of a cab, wearing a skin-tight T-shirt appropriate to the era – with a conspicuous submarine on his wrist. He proceeds to bribe security and slip aboard, where his adventure begins.
Late in the film, as King Kong dismantles the New York City subway, Bridges and co-star Jessica Lange ride off on a motorcycle. The two inexplicably find time to enter an empty bar for a drink and a conversation about the state of their relationship. It’s hard not to notice the sub, both inside and outside the bar. Bridges’ character doesn’t wear many shirts with sleeves in the movie (and when he does, they’re rolled up), so the watch gets a lot of screentime – particularly in the scenes where he’s filming some sort of ritual on the island.
The ’70s King Kong is a relic, but it’s still fun to revisit – especially if you’re excited about the new King Kong movie. It features Jeff Bridges at the top of his game before Lebowski, Jessica Lange in her screen debut, and comedian Charles Grodin as the villain. Plus Submarines and, of course, a great ape.

In the early days of Baltic watches, there was certainly a sense that if you knew, you knew about the Paris-based watchmaker that tapped into the zeitgeist of the 1940s steel chronograph and Calatrava aesthetic that swept the vintage watch world. Tastemakers such as Bulang and Sons were early collaborators of founder Etienne Malec and his team, and if you see a post on IG, it will almost certainly have a whiff of #IYKYK. Half a year is not a long time in many aspects of the replica watch industry, and big brands plan their new products that far in advance. So it’s quite a feat that Baltic has not only become one of the hottest names in watch collecting but has so many models under its belt; it’s a powerful display of agility indeed.
One watch that is particularly close to the collective heart at Revolution is the salmon-dialed Baltic Bicompax Pulso Revolution, which sold out within minutes at the end of 2021. This watch was heavily inspired by the prototype that Baltic donated to our Pink Dial Project auction, which performed incredibly well. This production version has a classic 1940s steel step case and a stunning pink scalloped dial with pulsating indexes and the iconic “Revo Star”. These 250 watches sold faster than you can say “Bicom… ” even faster! You can read more about the watch and the Baltic’s history here.
Baltic Bicompax is an exciting brand with a line of chronographs that are hard to beat in terms of looks and value, and a replica Rolex watch that has seen more iterations than a ship has seen port, the brand is admirably established in the industry, but it still has a cool collection among collectors, and many brands would give their left leg for it. In its half-century journey around the sun, the brand is celebrating with a splash of color inspired by the 90s, the decade in which its founder grew up.
The Baltic Aquascape is available in several versions, including the Classique, Bronze, and GMT, in a range of colors and bezel options. There is also a double crown version, which is inspired by the vintage compressor case dive watch on which Baltic built its birthday present. As with all Baltic watches, the Aquascape Double Crown 5th Anniversary Edition is hand-assembled in France and features a dial-in of three 90s streetwear colors, one chosen by each of the founding team. The double crown design features one crown for winding and setting the time, and the other for rotating the inner bezel.
Etienne, Paul, and Clement each chose a color, making the black dial steel fake watch a little more fun for the big event. Designed specifically for summer, the inner bezel features a purple scale between 12 and 4 o’clock, with the hour and minute hands surrounded by a summer hue of turquoise and the second’s hand-dipped in a burst of orange. To really accentuate these colors, the copy watch will come with two rainforest-like rubber straps, one in turquoise and the other in purple. Of course, its shades are the same as the dial – these boys are all about the details.
The watch will be available in 200 pieces, each numbered and with a unique engraving on the case back. There is no doubt that this will be a future collector’s item that will never be repeated. So just hurry up…