Your primer on the Rolex Perpetual Planet campaign - Augustman
Augustman Logo
Style
Culture
Gear
Food & Drink
Travel
Wellness
AM Select
E-Magazine
Most Trending
Your primer on the Rolex Perpetual Planet campaign
Most Recent
Your primer on the Rolex Perpetual Planet campaign
Most Trending
Inspired By The Royal Albert Hall, The Mido Belluna Royal Is A Classic Timepiece With A British Twist
Most Recent
Garmin Launches A New Wearable Tailored For Esports Gamers
  • Fashion
  • Watches
  • Grooming
Most Trending
The Lowdown On Zack Snyder’s Justice League And Where To Watch It On 18 March
Most Recent
Where To Find Upcycled Furniture And Homeware In Singapore
  • Design
  • Events
  • Art
  • Music
  • Film & TV
Most Trending
The Helicopter Celebrates 100 Years, Here’s How It Helped Change The World
Most Recent
What’s New In The 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
  • Tech
  • Motoring
Most Trending
The Best Vintages Of Brunello di Montalcino To Add To Your Cellar
Most Recent
Could This Be The World’s Oldest Mass Production Brewery? Egypt Thinks So
  • Dining
  • Drinks
Most Trending
Consider These Ecotourism Destinations For Your Next Post-Pandemic Adventure
Most Recent
These Are Asia’s Most Stunning Mangrove Forests
  • Travel Guides
  • Hotels & Resorts
Most Trending
Nourishing Superfoods To Add To Your Diet This 2021
Most Recent
Amp Up Your Home Gym With These Designer Fitness Equipment
  • Fitness
  • Health
Most Trending
Uncover Mindful Living with AUGUSTMAN x LIFESTYLEASIA
Most Recent
Social Entrepreneur Josh Tetrick of Eat Just Talks Sustainability And The Future of Food
  • Men of the Year
  • MVMT
  • August Mentors
  • A-Listers
  • Hit List
  • sg
    • MY
    • SG
  • Search
Your primer on the Rolex Perpetual Planet campaign
Sort & Filter
Close Filter
Sort By
Date
Relevance
Filter By Category
All Categories
All
Style
Culture
Gear
Food & Drink
Travel
Wellness
AM Select
Apply
Filter By Location
singapore
All Countries
Style
Garmin Launches A New Wearable Tailored For Esports Gamers
Style
Inspired By The Royal Albert Hall, The Mido Belluna Royal Is A Classic Timepiece With A British Twist
Style
Catch The Onitsuka Tiger FW21 Presentation at Milan Fashion Week
Augustman Logo
sg
Your primer on the Rolex Perpetual Planet campaign
Back
All  Style
  • Fashion
  • Watches
  • Grooming
Back
All  Culture
  • Design
  • Events
  • Art
  • Music
  • Film & TV
Back
All  Gear
  • Tech
  • Motoring
Back
All  Food & Drink
  • Dining
  • Drinks
Back
All  Travel
  • Travel Guides
  • Hotels & Resorts
Back
All  Wellness
  • Fitness
  • Health
Back
All  AM Select
  • Men of the Year
  • MVMT
  • August Mentors
  • A-Listers
  • Hit List
E-Magazine
  • Malaysia
  • Singapore
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Sort & Filter
Close Filter
Sort By
Date
Relevance
Filter By Category
All Categories
All
Style
Culture
Gear
Food & Drink
Travel
Wellness
AM Select
Apply
Filter By Location
singapore
All Countries
Style

Your primer on the Rolex Perpetual Planet campaign

Jamie Tan
04 Mar 2020
Article Hero Image
Trending Now
Where To Find Upcycled Furniture And Homeware In Singapore
CultureRead More
What’s New In The 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
GearRead More
Garmin Launches A New Wearable Tailored For Esports Gamers
StyleRead More
Inspired By The Royal Albert Hall, The Mido Belluna Royal Is A Classic Timepiece With A...
StyleRead More
What's up in the world of fashion, jewellery and watches? Sign up to receive it all.

As we continue to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the world, the nature of exploration has changed accordingly. No longer are we pursuing expeditions primarily to discover and learn about places that we haven’t previously been to. Instead, exploration in the 21st century is increasingly geared towards conservation, with data collected from studies of various ecosystems around the world empowering scientists and policymakers like never before. Rolex has long been a steadfast supporter of explorers and their projects. This goes beyond equipping its partners with watches of the highest quality with which to keep time – the brand has funded and raised awareness of various programmes to maximise their efficacy and impact. With Rolex’s support, German-born American conservationist George Schaller has, for instance, helped to establish over 20 wildlife reserves around the world to protect endangered animals such as Mongolia’s snow leopards.

 

Perpetual Planet

The changing nature of exploration and humans’ place in the world has prompted Rolex to adapt its programmes accordingly. To that end, the brand unveiled the Perpetual Planet campaign last year, as a single aegis under which its various exploration and conservation efforts are subsumed. For now, the campaign consists of three arms: an enhanced partnership with the National Geographic Society to study the effects of climate change, support for Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue initiative to create a network of Marine Protected Areas known as Hope Spots across the world’s oceans, and finally the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

Rolex Perpetual Planet Sylvia Earle photographed David Doubilet.
Sylvia Earle, photographed by fellow Testimonee David Doubilet

None of the programmes under Perpetual Planet are new as Rolex is known for its longstanding partnerships, and its work here is no different. Dr Sylvia Earle, for example, has been a Rolex Testimonee since 1982, and her work on Mission Blue stretches back to 2010. Rolex’s participation since 2014 has seen the number of Hope Spots increase from 50 to over 112 today, to cover eight per cent of Earth’s oceans. Similarly, Rolex has been a partner of National Geographic Society since 1954. Last year, under the name Perpetual Planet Extreme Expeditions, Rolex and National Geographic planned a five-year exploration of the planet’s most extreme environments. The first expedition supported by this partnership is to Mt Everest and ran from April to June 2019.

 

Recognising And Realising Potential

The Rolex Awards for Enterprise is equally established, having been incepted in 1976 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster, the world’s first waterproof wristwatch. Although it was meant to be a one-off celebration, the Awards’ popularity prompted the brand to transform it into an ongoing programme that has to date supported 140 laureates. Their works have contributed to improving lives around the world and/or protecting the environment.

What’s unique about the Rolex Awards for Enterprise is its premise: the programme doesn’t honour past achievements, but recognises new or ongoing projects instead. Without restrictions on gender, nationality, or academic/professional qualifications – applications need only be above 18 – the Awards are incredibly democratic. This has allowed Rolex to support people from outside of established scientific and/or industry circles, to give recognition and support to those who need it. Past laureates have included a Parisian taxi driver who became a world authority on Nepalese ground beetles and an American amateur scientist who enabled school children worldwide to monitor atmospheric data.

Rolex Perpetual Planet João Campos-Silva
João Campos-Silva holding an average-sized arapaima of about 60kg. These fish weigh up to 200kg.

Five Laureates are chosen in each biennial edition of the Awards, with the primary criterion for selection being an original, visionary project that can benefit humanity and/or the planet. Traditionally, the Awards have recognised projects that focus on areas such as technology, the environment, exploration, culture and heritage, as well as science and health. Apart from project funding, awardees are gifted a Rolex timepiece, worldwide publicity that amplifies the effects of their projects, as well as membership of the network of Rolex Awards laureates that makes synergies between projects possible.

Rolex Perpetual Planet Grégoire Courtine
Grégoire Courtine advises a patient
The 2019 laureates

In 2019, the five laureates of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise span various fields in their projects. Brazillian conservationist João Campos-Silva is working to save the arapaima, a gigantic fish endemic to the Amazon, from extinction. French medical scientist Grégoire Courtine, on the other hand, is developing an electronic “bridge” to help patients with spinal injuries to walk again. Meanwhile, Canadian entrepreneur and molecular biologist Miranda Wang is commodifying plastic waste by using them as feedstock to generate useful chemicals using new recycling technologies.

With Perpetual Planet, Rolex isn’t just rebranding existing projects under a single umbrella. This is a clear indication that the brand is committed to long-term efforts that will benefit the planet and all its life. To be sure, this is merely the beginning.

 

 

Rolex
sustainability
Jamie Tan
Talk to Me About:

Up Next For You

Laying Rubber: The Nike SB Dunk Gulf Is Perfect For Motorsports Fans
Richard Augustin
Style
"Escape" Into The Animal Kingdom Digitally With The Burberry Fall/Winter 2021 Collection
Amos Chin
Style
Livestream The Burberry Fall/Winter 2021 Menswear Presentation
Richard Augustin
Style
President Obama’s Nike Hyperdunk Sneakers And Other Ultra-Rare Kicks You Probably Can’t Buy
Richard Augustin
Style
What's up in the world of fashion, jewellery and watches? Sign up to receive it all.
×
Where are you?
Tell us so we can display what you want to see.
  • Malaysia
  • Singapore
Malaysia Singapore
Advertise About Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions
© 2021 Copyright Augustman