Rolex is a Swiss luxury watchmaker and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland.[2] Founded in 1905 as Wilsdorf and Davis by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered Rolex as the brand name of its watches in 1908 and became Rolex Watch Co. Ltd. in 1915.[3][4][5] After World War I, the company moved its base of operations to Geneva because of the unfavorable economy that led to business instability. In 1920, Hans Wilsdorf registered Montres Rolex SA in Geneva as the new company name (montre is French for watch); it later became Rolex SA.[2][4][6][7] Since 1960, the company has been owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a private family trust.[5][8][9]
Rolex SA and its subsidiary Montres Tudor SA design, make, distribute, and service wristwatches sold under the Rolex and Tudor brands. In 2023, Rolex agreed to acquire its longtime retail partner Bucherer,[10][11] and in 2024, Rolex began construction of a new affiliate on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, near Billionaires' Row.[12]
History
Early history
Alfred Davis and his brother-in-law Hans Wilsdorf founded Wilsdorf and Davis, the company that would eventually become Rolex SA, in London in 1905.[13] Wilsdorf and Davis's main commercial activity at the time involved importing Hermann Aegler's Swiss movements to England and placing them in watch cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were sold to many jewellers, who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from Wilsdorf and Davis were usually hallmarked "W&D" inside the caseback.
In 1908, Wilsdorf registered the trademark "Rolex", which became the brand name of watches from Wilsdorf and Davis. He opened an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.[4][13][14]
Charitable status
The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which privately owns Rolex SA, is a registered Swiss charitable foundation and pays a lower tax rate. Unlike publicly traded competitors like Richemont or LVMH, Rolex maintains strict secrecy, disclosing no financials or operational metrics. In 2011, a spokesman for Rolex declined to provide evidence regarding the amount of charitable donations made by the Wilsdorf Foundation, which brought up several scandals due to the lack of transparency.[27] In Geneva where the company is based, it is said to have gifted, among many things, two housing buildings to social institutions in Geneva.[28]
Subsidiaries
Rolex SA offers products under the Rolex and Tudor brands. Montres Tudor SA has designed, manufactured and marketed Tudor watches since 6 March 1946.[29] Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf conceived Tudor to create a product for authorized Rolex dealers to sell that offered the reliability and dependability of a Rolex, but at a lower price.[30] The number of Rolex watches was limited by the rate that they could produce in-house Rolex movements, thus Tudor watches were originally equipped with third-party standard movements supplied by ETA SA while using Rolex-quality cases and bracelets.[31] Since 2015, Tudor has begun to manufacture watches with in-house movements. The first model introduced with an in-house movement was the Tudor North Flag. Following this, updated versions of the Tudor Pelagos and Tudor Heritage Black Bay have also been fitted with an in-house caliber.[31][32]
Production
Each Rolex comes with a unique serial number, which can help indicate its approximate production period. Serial numbers were first introduced in 1926 and were issued sequentially, until 1954, when Rolex restarted from #999,999 to #0. In 1987, there was an addition of one letter to a 6-digit serial number and in 2010, to the present date Rolex introduced random serial numbers.[35][36]
Quartz movements
While Rolex mostly produces mechanical watches, it also participated in development of the original quartz watch movements. Although Rolex has made very few quartz models for its Oyster line, the company's engineers were instrumental in design and implementation of the technology during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968, Rolex collaborated with a consortium of 16 Swiss watch manufacturers to develop the Beta 21 quartz movement used in their Rolex Quartz Date 5100 alongside other manufactures including the Omega Electroquartz watches.[37] Within about five years of research, design and development, Rolex created the "clean-slate" 5035/5055 movement that would eventually power the Rolex Oysterquartz.[38]
Materials
Rolex watches feature various bezel, including smooth, fluted, ceramic, graduated, and gem-set. Rolex also previously produced engine-turned bezels, also referred to its French name guilloché, which denotes a decorative technique whereby an intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into a material via a specialized machine.[39]
Material-wise, Rolex first used its "Cerachrom" ceramic bezel on the GMT-Master II in 2005, and has since then implemented ceramic bezel inserts across the range of professional sports watches. They are available on the Submariner, Sea Dweller, Deepsea, GMT Master II and Daytona models. In contrast to the aluminum bezel which it replaced, the ceramic bezel color does not wear out from exposure to UV-light and is scratch resistant.[40]
Rolex uses 904L grade stainless steel; in contrast, most Swiss watches are made with 316L grade steel. Rolex has used this since 1985, it is more resistant to corrosion and when polished, leaves a more attractive lustre but is softer and easier to scratch.[40]
Notable models
In general, Rolex has three watch lines: Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini (the Cellini line is Rolex's line of "dress" watches). The primary bracelets for the Oyster line are named Jubilee, Oyster, President, and Pearlmaster. The watch straps on the models are usually either stainless steel, yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, or platinum. In the United Kingdom, the retail price for the stainless steel 'Pilots' range (such as the GMT Master II) starts from £9,350. Diamond inlay watches are more expensive. The book Vintage Wristwatches by Antiques Roadshow's Reyne Haines listed a price estimate of vintage Rolex watches that ranged between US$650 and US$75,000, while listing vintage Tudors between US$250 and US$9,000.[41]
Air-Kings
Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf created the Air-Prince line to honor RAF pilots of the Battle of Britain, releasing the first model in 1958. By 2007, the 1142XX iteration of the Air-King featured a COSC-certified movement in a 34mm case, considered by some a miniaturized variant of the 39mm Rolex Explorer as both watches featured very similar styling cues; the 34mm Air-King lineup was the least expensive series of Oyster Perpetual. In 2014 the Air-King was dropped, making the Oyster Perpetual 26/31/34/36/39 the entry-level Rolex line. In 2016 Rolex reintroduced the Air-King, available as a single model (number 116900), largely similar to its predecessors but with a larger 40mm case, and a magnetic shield found on the Rolex Milgauss; indeed the new 40mm Air-King is slightly cheaper than the 39mm Explorer (the Explorer lacks the magnetic shield but its movement has Paraflex shock absorbers that are not found in the Air-King's movement).
Sponsorship
Since 1976, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise of 100,000 Swiss francs has been awarded; a Young Laureates award of 50,000 was added in 2010.[66] The biennial Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative with a grant of about $41,000 was launched in 2002.[67]
Rolex has been the official timekeeper to the Le Mans 24 Hours motor race since 2001.[68] They were also Formula 1's official timekeeper between 2013-2024. Former Formula 1 driver Jackie Stewart has advertised Rolex since 1968. Others who have done so for some years include Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Roger Penske, Jean-Claude Killy, and Kiri Te Kanawa.[69] It is also the sponsor of the Rolex International Jumping Riders Club Top 10 Final competition.[70]
Achievements
Among the company's notable improvements and innovations are:
- In 1926, Rolex produced the Oyster case. While they claim this was the first reliable waterproof wristwatch case based on a screw-down crown, it was not: Depollier's case was patented eight years earlier.[74] To this end, Rolex acquired the Perragaux-Perret screw-down patent, added a clutch and combined the screw-down crown with a threaded case back and bezel.[75] Wilsdorf even had a specially made Rolex watch (the watch was called the "DeepSea") attached to the side of Trieste, which went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The watch survived and tested as having kept perfect time during its descent and ascent. This was confirmed by a telegram sent to Rolex the following day saying "Am happy to confirm that even at 11,000 metres your watch is as precise as on the surface. Best regards, Jacques Piccard".[9] Earlier waterproof watches such as the "Submarine Watch" by Tavannes used other means to seal the case.
- In 1910, the first watchmaker to earn chronometer certification for a small lady wristwatch.[9]
Cultural impact
By the start of World War II, Royal Air Force pilots were buying Rolex watches to replace their inferior standard-issue watches; however, when captured and sent to prisoner of war (POW) camps, their watches were confiscated.[15] When Hans Wilsdorf heard of this, he offered to replace all watches that had been confiscated and not require payment until the end of the war, if the officers would write to Rolex and explain the circumstances of their loss and where they were being held. Wilsdorf was in personal charge of the scheme.[83] As a result of this, an estimated 3,000 Rolex watches were ordered by British officers in the officer camp Oflag VII-B in Bavaria alone.[84] This had the effect of raising the morale among the Allied POWs because it indicated that Wilsdorf did not believe that the Axis powers would win the war.[84] American servicemen heard about this when stationed in Europe during WWII and this helped open up the American market to Rolex after the war.[15]
See also
- Boule de Genève
- List of watch manufacturers
- Swiss Made
- Patek Philippe
- Audemars Piguet
- Omega SA
- TAG Heuer
- Breitling SA
- Rolex Tower
- Geneva Seal
- Rolex v EUIPO
Literature
- Pierre-Yves Donzé: La fabrique de l’excellence. Histoire de Rolex. Livreo Alphil, 2024, ISBN 978-2-88950-241-7.[100]
External links
References
- Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult publish Swiss watch industry's top 50 companies for 2023 28 February 2024, retrieved 14 October 2024^
- History – Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie www.hautehorlogerie.org, retrieved 1 February 2019^
- 1905–1919 Rolex, retrieved 21 December 2018