Che Guevara Rolex GMT 1675...

The Cuban Rolex Revolutionaries

Che Guevara & Fidel Castro

Communism for the Masses–Capitalism for the Bosses

Yesterday, the Obama administration lifted a half-century travel ban against Cuba so I thought it would be fitting to examine the two most significant Cuban revolutionaries.

The story of Communism in the America's and in Cuba is a strange one. Communism is a pie in the sky ideal. In Karl Marx & Fredrick Engel's book titled, The Communist Manifesto, they state in order for a country to reach a utopian state of Communism, the country's economy has to go through a mature state of advanced capitalism, known as imperialism, where the means of production exceed demand–and then everybody kind of just trades everything for everything.

In other words, if I am a car-maker and you are a shoe-maker, we can somehow trade a car for a pair of shoes. I understand this does not make much sense and it proves why Soviet Communism ultimately failed.

The irony with Soviet Communism, and the reason it failed, was due to the fact that, after the Bolshevik Revolution, Russia's economy was nowhere near a mature state of advanced capitalism, known as imperialism. The most supreme irony, is the United States economy today is far closer to Marx and Engel's ideal than the Soviet Union ever was.

This brings us to Che Guevara and Fidel Castro who ironically both wore and were inspired by their Rolex watches. Rolex always frowned upon Communist states and refused to sell watches to them. Rolex, if you think about it, is really the ultimate Capitalist statement, and Che Guevara wore a Rolex GMT 1675.

In my personal opinion, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro were both revolutionaries who felt they were standing up for people who could not stand up for themselves, and that is probably the truest definition of a hero–a man who tries to protect other men from perceived injustice.

Do I think Che and Fidel were true Communists? No. For the simple fact there is no such thing as Communism. I think they were socialists who tried to help others in the best way they saw fit. My job as a historian is not to judge, but to simply put forward the facts as I find them.

The following video will give you a pretty good idea of who Che Guevara was. Erik Ku and I were having a conversation about the single most valuable Rolex on Earth, and he said he though it would be Che Guevara's Rolex GMT 1675. I disagreed with Erik (without being disagreeable) and argued that in my opinion, President Dwight Eisenhower's Rolex Datejust would or should be the most valuable.

Erik said he believed ultimately, the "pop culture" aspect of Che would win over Eisenhower, and then he pointed out that was only because Che was more handsome, and thus more appealing–but isn't that what makes more collectible Rolex watches more collectible?

It appears that Fidel Casto is wearing a Rolex Datejust on a President bracelet in the photo below. I don't recall ever seeing this combo before, but I can't see the day wheel?