2023 Pebble Beach Best of Show: 1937 Mercedes. (Credit: Rolex)
Rolex said it sponsors events which share a set of strong founding values with the brand, such as the perpetual quest for excellence, the desire for technical precision and passion for innovation.
But the yearly vintage cars gathering taking place mid-August in Monterey, Calif., will include none of the values typically linking golf, tennis, equitation, yachting and car races.
Participants compete for “automotive elegance,” Rolex said. The winner — last year, the owner of a 1937 Mercedes — will earn a two-tone Datejust.
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance by Rolex, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering, are all Rolex-sponsored sports events. But they celebrate a “glorious step back in time,” Rolex said.
They tie the brand uniquely to the past, a marketing message Rolex uses more and more. In contrast, Rolex is abandoning Formula 1, Coronet was first to report, the peak innovation in motor sports.