The past few articles I’ve written focused on collectors’ guides and more spec-oriented write ups. My latest article ‘Pope Francis' Swatch Watch Coming To Auction With All Proceeds Going To Charity’ is a bit of a deviation from that genre. I feel honored to have been able to write about The Brian LaViolette Foundation, and the story behind how Pope Francis decided to donate his Swatch to the forthcoming charitable auction through Rago/Wright. Over the past few months I have gotten to know Doug LaViolette, and learn about his late son, Brian.
On August 8, 1992, Brian tragically passed away in a swimming accident at the young age of 15. Brian’s family would immediately establish a scholarship foundation in Brian’s memory. The Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation provides 55 scholarships annually. To date over 1058 scholarships have been awarded, some in Brian’s memory, others in honor of our fallen heroes of the past, and others in honor of those close to Brian.
The Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation began in 1992 after the tragic passing of Brian LaViolette at the age of 15 years in a swimming accident. The LaViolette family would go on to pay tribute to Brian’s life by offering over 1,000 scholarships to deserving college-bound students in Northeastern Wisconsin, the United States, and other parts of the world.
The importance of time is not lost on our family and we feel what we do with this time on earth is important by giving back and honoring others.” Kim LaViolette Mosteller, Executive Director of the Brian LaViolette Foundation, would share in correspondence. “The concept of the “Once Upon a Time Watch Project” revolved around Brian LaViolette’s passion for watches and an opportunity to raise funds for the Scholarship Foundation that bears his name for future generations to come. When dreaming up the idea of the Watch Project we thought of who the ‘Holy Grail’ of watch donors could be. We felt it should be someone who was admired for the goodness in their heart and their good deeds to others.”
The LaViolette family would soon decide upon a very ambitious, yet ultimately fitting hypothetical donor. “We kept coming back to one individual, His Holiness Pope Francis. Yet, we realized Pope Francis would be a difficult leader to reach.”
It would turn out that Brian’s childhood best friend, Austin Rios, had become an Episcopal priest and over the past decade had been serving in Rome, Italy. During Rios’ time in Rome, he had met Pope Francis on several occasions and had developed connections with religious leaders in the Vatican.
“Austin literally “opened the gates of the Vatican“ and got things started with a simple conversation, that lead to another, and another” Brian’s father Doug would describe. “After the Vatican validated the purity of the Foundation’s mission, they recommended that Green Bay’s Bishop make the request to Pope Francis. This ultimately led us to our friend Mike Calawerts, who connected us with Bishop David Ricken, the Bishop of the Green Bay, Wisconsin. A few months later, Doug would describe the arrival of a simple Swatch Watch once owned by His Holiness arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin bringing the family to tears.
Read the full article below:
https://www.windvintage.com/blog/2022/5/9/pope-francis-swatch-watch
If you find the charitable auction interesting and would like to support, or donate a watch, please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to connect you to the appropriate parties involved.
What I am Reading:
How Rolex Became Rolex: The Oyster Case Story (Part 1)
By Owen Lawton
Following up to last week’s newsletter I am thrilled to share the aforementioned article by Owen Lawton.
“Owen Lawton is an extremely talented scholar of watches and is currently a Master of Engineering Materials Science student at the University of Oxford. He is somewhat unusual in the world of watch writing in that he analyzes watches from more of a technical, patent-oriented point of view rather than one more focused on aesthetics. Owen’s future is extremely bright in the world of watch scholarship and I am extremely excited he is tackling “How Rolex Became Rolex” from a technical point of view in 3 parts, starting with this story of the Rolex Oyster case.” - Eric Wind
Three innovations propelled Rolex to become arguably the most famous Swiss watchmaker and one of the most famous luxury brands in the world: the automatic winding rotor (“Perpetual”), the Oyster and Jubilee bracelets, and, arguably the most significant, the “Oyster” water-resistant case. In the eye of the general public, Rolex makes durable high-quality watches. This is largely due to their water-resistant “Oyster” cases.
The story of how Rolex was propelled to its current status starts before its founding in 1905 and centers around the famous English Channel crossing of Mercedes Gleitze in 1927. Hans Wilsdorf’s use of this historic event to market the Oyster catapulted Rolex towards becoming the most recognisable watch brand in the world.
Read Lawton’s full article below:
https://www.windvintage.com/blog/2022/9/7/the-oyster-story
Owen Lawton is a watch collector, writer and photographer based in the United Kingdom. Lawton is student at Oxford University writing about productivity, watches and Materials Science. You can find his writing on the OxWatch Newsletter owenlawton.substack.com, and follow him on Instagram @_oxwatch.
