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Rolex history

The world of Rolex watches.

Watches are a very important accessory for men today. They are not only practical for their use but also bring beauty and distinction to the wearer. Choosing a brand that matches our social status and at the same time is a guarantee of quality is not so difficult. We propose you to approach one of the most recognized brands in the world and that has a wonderful history, we refer to the Rolex.

Rolex history

Rolex was founded in the year 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis, his brother in law. Many believe that Hans Wilsdorf was Swiss and watchmaker, however he was not. He worked for a watchmaker and then moved to London where he established his first company called Wilsdorf & Davis which would later become the Rolex Watch Company.

Where did the brand name come from?

The company’s name, Rolex, holds its own mysteries. Wilsdorf said the name “Rolex” was devised in 1908 by combining the letters of the alphabet in every possible way.

He stated that he got about 100 names but none liked him. Until one morning sitting on the bus, at the time, pulled by horses, to along Cheapside, London, the word came and whispered in his ear: Rolex.

It sounded good , easy to pronounce in any language , easy to memorize , had style and authority, and was exact on a watch face. A few days later the trademark was deposited and was subsequently registered in Switzerland officially by Wilsdorf & Davis.

Hans Wilsdorf, visionary and entrepreneur

Wilsdorf was a visionary because he believed in the potential of the wristwatch before anyone else and dedicated his life to popularizing them. In 1905, he traveled to Bienne, Switzerland, and placed an order with Hermann Aegler, the largest wristwatch order ever. Thus it began a partnership between Rolex and Aegler, until one hundred years later Rolex acquired Aegler.

In 1914 he changed the brand name from Wilsdorf & Davis to The Rolex Watch Company Ltd. , and thirteen days before the start of World War I, he obtained the first high-precision certificate awarded to a wristwatch.

In that same period, he confidently declared that pocket watches would disappear and be replaced by wristwatches. A year later they moved the international Rolex headquarters to Bienne, Switzerland and in 1919, to Geneva where it remains to this day.

Chronometric precision, a Rolex challenge

From the beginning, in addition to establishing wristwatches, Rolex pursued chronometric precision . It was an almost instant result as in 1910, he received the first Certificate Swiss Official Chronometric, the Official Watch Rating Center , the official body of control gear watches gave a wristwatch.

Later, in 1914, the Rolex wristwatch was awarded a class a high-precision certificate by the Kew Observatory of Great Britain, a distinction that until then was only available for marine chronometers, the most reliable watches of the time.

Among its first innovations was the first waterproof wristwatch, the Oyster in 1926 and the Datejust model in 1945, the first stopwatch with an automatic date change mechanism.

Rolex SA

Much has happened to date and today Rolex SA is a Swiss company of luxury wristwatches and accessories, created after the merger of Montres Rolex SA and Rolex Industrie SA. It is a watchmaking manufacture because its watches are made by the company itself.

It is considered by many to be the highest expression of Swiss watchmaking, one of the most famous and largest stock watch brands in the world, producing more than 2000 watches a day.

Suffice it to note that in 2003 the company earned three billion dollars in revenue and in 2007, BusinessWeek magazine ranked it number 71 in its ranking of the 100 most important brands.

Items leaving this company are therefore considered symbols of high economic status.

Rolex Oyster

It was the first dust and water tight watch . It was called Oyster and was equipped with a sealed box impenetrable guaranteeing optimum protection of the movement.

That happened in 1926 and a year later a specimen of the brand crossed the English Channel on the wrist of Mercedes Gleitze , an English swimmer. The tour lasted over 10 hours, and when it was over, the watch was still working perfectly.

Oyster Perpetual

Rolex invented and patented the Perpetual rotor the first automatic mechanism of the world in 1931 a system today found in all watches s of the globe.

Mechanical and self-winding, all rigorously certified as a Stopwatch, are entirely designed and manufactured by Rolex. Precision, reliability, shock resistance, efficient automatic winding and ease of maintenance are its main characteristics.

Rolex Sponsorship

Rolex at sporting events

Rolex officially sponsors 3 ATP Masters 1000 series tennis tournaments: the Monte Carlo Masters, the Shanghai Masters and the Paris Masters.

It was named in 2003 the official timekeeper and watch for Wimbledon, the Australian Open for Grand Slam tennis and as of 2013 Formula 1.

Rolex designed and developed a new prototype dive watch in 2012 in an attempt to help pilot the DSV Deepsea Challenger to the deepest point in the oceans. It was designed to be waterproof to 12 thousand meters deep, they achieved it with total success.

Rolex in the cinema and the Oscars

Rolex supports the art of cinematography, and is also the Founding Supporter of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. It maintains ties to Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Alejandro G. Iñarritu and Martin Scorsese , emblematic directors of the big screen, winners of all 57 Oscars.

The Rolex appear in movie scenes, targeting the characters as rugged, accurate, and excellent, which are the watch’s own characteristics.

The Rolex in other sectors

The brand is also linked to exploration, art and elite sports such as golf, tennis, sailing, horse riding, motor racing and skiing. Back up to numerous athletes, renowned artists, events and reference institutions that reflect , like Hans Wilsdorf, the passion for perfection and the search for self-improvement.

Rolex Institute

Rolex Institute provides support to those who make significant contributions to the arts , science, innovation, education, conservation and exploration.

The Rolex Awards

They are awarded to encourage the ingenuity, quality, determination and entrepreneurial spirit of the company since its inception. This aluro helps exceptional people from anywhere in the world with little or no sources of resources and who respond to great challenges with original and innovative projects to improve the knowledge and well – being of human beings.

The Rolex Art Initiative for Mentors and Disciples

It is a humanitarian program to make contributions to culture. Search for talented young artists from around the world and rigged with teachers to help them individually in open collaboration for a period of time. It has done so in dance, film, literature, music, theater, visual arts, and architecture.

The Perpetual Planet campaign

As it can be seen Rolex maintains a sustained commitment to innovation, self-improvement and discoveries, but now added another: conservation.

That is why it created the Perpetual Planet campaign started in 2019. Through it, establishes relationships with people and organizations interested in caring for the planet.

Involves a partnership of the National Geographic Society to investigate and collect information tprint to and add their efforts to the marine biologist Sylvia Earle for Mission Blue initiative, designed to protect and preserve the marine areas which called Hope areas.

It includes the Rolex Initiative Awards, which the brand has awarded for more than four decades to projects on exploration, science and humanism, and are now guided by the objectives of the Perpetual Planet.

Rolex on the internet

Rolex.org is a web page that emerged in 2018 as a complement to the official page that you can find at www.rolex.com . This new version introduces the Perpetual Spirit, Hans Wilsdorf’s idea of unlimited human potential, in constant development and capable of exceeding limits with a long-term perspective. Also related supports initiatives with environ entity, science, education, arts and culture.

Rolex achievements from innovation

Rolex made the first waterproof wristwatch , the Oyster , in 1926 . This brand also includes the first wristwatch with automatic date change on the dial and the first hermetic wristwatch 100 meters deep.

The first wristwatch with automatic date change on the dial is the work of Rolex and also the first wristwatch to show two time zones at the same time. It was the first watchmaker to obtain a stopwatch certification for a wristwatch.

Rolex, pioneer of marketing and extreme events

When Rolex was bidding for ownership, Cartier watches were already very famous. It was not an easy competition, but Hans Wilsdorf made sure to place it in certain places, such as fish tanks in full view and with certain names that would catapult it to fame. A strategy widely used by others, but Wilsford did very well.

Setting records was an obsession in the 20th century, so the creator of Rolex dedicated himself to equipping all those in search of adventure with watches at the height of his project.

He used innovative marketing techniques by immersing the Rolex Oysters in aquariums installed in the windows of high-traffic department stores . The result was to cross the Canal de la Mancha with complete success.

Then watch accompanied the expedition Houston to Mount Everest in 1933. Was at a higher altitude to 33,000 feet with the first team to do it, years later established the world speed record on the ground 276 miles per hour together the famous driver Sir Malcolm Campbell. Months later borke the records 300 miles per hour in Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.

In 1953 a company of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay was a Rolex at the first successful summit of Mount Everest. It was the excuse for that same year they launched a version of that watch which they called Explorer.

Rolex watches also accompanies ron the first transcontinental commercial flights in 1955 and equipped to the Pan American pilots GMT Masters.

A Rolex Day-Date was used by Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States in 1956, in fact, many, many presidents of the world have used it.

A Rolex Deep Sea Special descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench aboard the record-breaking submarine Trieste in 1960, a feat outlined by the world’s top newspapers.

What sets Rolex apart?

Rolex is distinguished by its simplicity. They are accessories with useful functions in a time when complications prevail. It is versatile, nor is damaged if it gets wet or stops because we forgot to wind it . Simplicity is transferred to the design, whose elements always respond to a functional criterion.

The investment focuses on the technical parts and the estetic have gradually built, is one of the very few companies that can be considered a profitable investment. The firm develops, produces and assembles all its movements and these are used solely and exclusively by the house.

Although he keeps his earnings a secret, these can be deducted by the chronometrics certificates , or an obsession with Rolex . For this reason they have spread to the whole world, with a network of official distributors that have the obligation to solve any problem or realization of maintenance anywhere in the world. If your watch has problems, you should only contact where you are with an official distributor and your problem will be solved.

Precision, luxury, accuracy, economic position, all this distinguishes Rolex, but there is more. But what really makes Rolex stand out is that after Wilsdorf’s death in 1960, the ownership of Rolex SA was transferred to the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation.

The purpose is to keep Rolex SA indefinitely. By law, it pays no taxes on the $ 4 billion it earns each year and is under no obligation to disclose any financial records.

Therefore , the firm’s business practices cannot be clearly appreciated and it also has the fact of maintaining its charities, but everything still points to a lot of money. It is simply a company that does not offer information and manages a lot of money.

Selectivity or strategy

There is a shortage on the market of professional classic Rolex steel models. The company has shortened modern versions or they do so to create that aura of exclusivity around the brand .
Today , Rolex boutiques lack specific steel versions of their professional models : GMT Master, Submariner, Deep Sea, Explorer II, Sky-Dweller, Yacht-Master I and II, and especially the Daytona. Explorer I, Milgauss, and Air-King, often called entry-level Rolex, are relatively easy to come by.

How to choose your first Rolex?

Investing in a quality watch like the Rolex can be tricky. That is why we propose a series of steps for you to successfully achieve it.

You should avoid any overly fancy watch. Keep it simple and timeless with a classic design, something that would look good with a suit or clothing for any occasion.

It should not look small on your wrist and the straps should not extend beyond the wrist.

Don’t think of the pledge as a financial investment, it should only be emotionally important to you.

Be careful with the prices exorbitant, precious metals and jewels are not the only important features. Choose it yourself , so you can feel comfortable and identified with that very personal garment.

Other features to consider when buying a Rolex

If you are one of those who intends to start a luxury collection, you will want to choose a unique piece that will always occupy a very important place in your life.

Take your budget into account. The amount of money you want to invest will give you a margin to discard among those available in the market. We recommend you do so in luxury watch store, never online. You can choose for a classic watch, do not forget that there are also luxury watches dive of aviation, racing, with new designs and bold.

Technical characteristics are very important in this task. Take into account the type of movement, mechanical or quartz. Check the mechanism that compensates for the effect of gravity on the mechanism, if it has a stopwatch, if it marks the moon phases or if it is waterproof.

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