The Story of Elvis Presley's Rolex King Midas [Part 1 or 4]

NailTamie Kasım 09, 2021

I originally published this story back in 2008. This week represents the 40th Anniversary of Elvis Presley's passing, so I thought it would be great to get in the Rolex Time Machine, and explore the wonderful world of The King.

The King's King

Elvis Presley

Rolex King Midas

I would like to thank Graceland for their extremely kind and gracious assistance with taking the exclusive photos of Elvis Presley's Limited Edition Rolex King Midas for Jake's Rolex Watch Blog. Elvis Presley is known as The King of Rock & Roll. Elvis Presley changed the world with his amazing music. Elvis was extremely handsome, charismatic and ultra-talented.

Very few people knew Elvis wore a Rolex, but it was not just any Rolex. Elvis wore a limited edition Rolex King Midas (Model Reference Number 9630) which Rolex only made 1000 examples of. The King Midas at the time was the most expensive Rolex money could buy. As a matter of fact, in 1970 a Rolex Day-Date retailed for $1825 and a King Midas retailed for $2500. In 1975 a Day-Date retailed for $3300 and a King Midas retailed for $5500.

This very, very rare limited edition Rolex King Midas was given to Elvis as a token of appreciation for playing 6 days of sold-out concerts in 1970 at the Houston Astrodome Livestock Show & Rodeo.

Elvis is pictured above with his Rolex King Midas in his right hand along with the special Rolex King Midas case that was shaped like an urn.

The following photos were recently taken by a Graceland photographer exclusively for Jake's Rolex Watch Blog. This first image has Elvis Presley's Limited Edition Yellow Gold Rolex King Midas on top of Elvis & Priscilla Presley's wedding bible. Lisa Marie Presley is in the photo with her father, Elvis Presley kissing her head. All the artifacts in these Graceland photos personally belonged to Elvis.

The Return of The King

As always, you can click on the images to get a better view.

Elvis' beautiful Limited Edition Rolex King Midas is pictured above with matching trademark custom Sunglasses. His custom 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Colt 45 is pictured on the left. In the photo below you see Elvis' Diamond TCB (Taking Care of Business in a Flash) pendant and on the far right you see Elvis' Denver Police Captain's badge next to his Hamilton watch.

In the 1970s Elvis became obsessed with Kung Fu and collecting badges. In Part 3 of The Story of Elvis Presley's Rolex King Midas we will explore Elvis' obsession with badges.

Elvis wore his Limited Edition Rolex King Midas quite a bit and it appears he wore it swimming or in a hot tub because it appears to have water damage on the dial. The King Midas was a hand wound watch that was not an Oyster.

Rolex made 1000 Original King Midas watches and Elvis owned and wore number 343, which ironically was a left handed special for south paws. The back in engraved and reads "To Elvis Presley From The Houston Livestock Show Officers 1970."

The original Limited Edition King Midas was NOT a Rolex Cellini. It had a standard Rolex Midas designation. The words King Midas were engraved on the side of the watch as seen below, and had a winding crown that was shaped like the sun.

When Rolex originally introduced the King Midas in the early 1960s it was the heaviest gold watch money could buy. Years later, Piaget came out with a model named the Piaget Polo that was three grams heavier.

The clasp had KING MIDAS BY ROLEX OF GENEVA etched into the clasp as seen below on Elvis' watch.

In Part 2 of The Story of Elvis Presley's Rolex King Midas, we will look closer at the design details of the Rolex King Midas.

I am currently researching some other Rolex watches that may have been owned by Elvis, but I am not certain they exist. I have some good leads, but I cannot confirm any of them yet. The watch below is a Rolex that Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker allegedly gave Elvis as a Christmas gift, but I cannot confirm its authenticity. If you have photos of Elvis wearing a Rolex, please send them in and I will put them up.