Leonardo DiCaprio Joins the Rolex Family of Ambassadors
Rolex’s longtime alignment with cinema extends to its sponsorship of the Academy Awards since 2017 and its status as a founding supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures — and now the luxury watch brand has welcomed Leonardo DiCaprio into the Rolex family.
The Oscar-winning actor was named on Tuesday as the latest Rolex “Testimonee,” the watch brand’s appellation for its stable of brand ambassadors. In an announcement on Rolex’s site, the Geneva-based brand referred to DiCaprio as a “Hollywood icon and climate champion … renowned for his transformative performances and his tireless advocacy for environmental causes.”
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Known for developing relationships with Testimonees who embrace global interests and causes often outside their chosen professions, Rolex put an emphasis on DiCaprio’s environmental commitments in its announcement, pointing to the actor’s establishment of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998, a non-profit devoted to wildlife protections and sustainable efforts. “He has produced numerous documentaries such as Before the Flood (2016) and Ice on Fire (2019), which highlight the urgency of environmental action,” the announcement continues. “DiCaprio also serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, using his platform to address climate change at global summits and directly support various conservation projects worldwide.” In recent years DiCaprio also has thrown his support behind sustainability in the watch community, including a 2023 partnership with Swiss watchmaker ID Genève.
While Rolex tends to avoid splashy announcements, eagle-eyed watch fans were clued into DiCaprio’s newfound status as a Testimonee when the watch brand released its latest “Reach for the Crown” campaign, which indeed features the star of Titanic, The Great Gatsby and The Revenant not once, but twice, including the one-minute video’s final moment. “Reach for the Crown” will air during Sunday’s 2025 Academy Awards; a second Rolex ad will highlight “Rolex + Cinema” and will air just prior to the announcement of the best director Oscar winner.
Among arts-related ambassadors, DiCaprio joins James Cameron, whose work as a deep-ocean explorer has been showcased by Rolex since he was named a Testimonee in 2012, and Martin Scorsese, whose passion for both filmmaking and preserving the art of cinema has been the focus of his status as a Testimonee since 2017. The legendary director also has taken part in the Rolex Mentor & Protégé Arts Initiative, an ongoing program that pairs renowned artists with budding creatives.
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