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The Rolex History (Part I)

“Obsessed with perfection” is the very apt slogan of the highly popular Rolex; a brand that has always been one of the most famous and imitated in the world of watchmakers.
The history of this status symbol originates with its official German founder, Hans Wilsdorf. Having been involved with watchmaking since he was a child, in 1905, at the age of  24, he decided to found his own company in London. Known as “Wilsdorf & Davis”, it specialised in manufacturing watch cases and the commercial distribution of wristwatches.
From the very beginning, the young Wilsdorf understood the innovative potential of a wristwatch and ordered from Herman Aegler (an excellent watch manufacturer at that time), a huge quantity of watch movements. He had such success that on 2nd July 1908 Wilsdorf registered the Rolex brand name, whose official site was in  “La Chaux de Fonds”. After this, it was transferred to Bienne in 1912 and, in 1919, to Geneva where it became “Montres Rolex Manufacture”. In 1926, Wilsdorf registered the Rolex five-peaked crown, adopted as its official logo.
The origin of the term “Rolex” derives from the French idiomatic expression “horlogerie exquise”;exquisite clockwork. According to others, however, the name was chosen as it can be easily pronounced in many languages.

The story of the success of Rolex dates back to 1910 when a movement created by the brand received the first official chronometer certification awarded to a wristwatch by the Watch Making School in Bienne. (This school would become one of the “Bureaux Suisses de Controle Officiel de la Marche des Montres”).
In 1926, the patent of the “Oyster” was registered, the first truly-waterproof watch case. As testimony of its impermeability, Wilsdorf chose Mercedes Gleitz, the London swimmer to wear the Rolex Oyster when she swam the Channel, which turned out to be in record time.
In 1929, the Rolex “Prince” model was launched, followed by the Rolex “Perpetual” in 1931. This model was equipped with an automatically-wound rotor mechanism that increased the precision of the Rolex watch.

In 1937, the first Rolex “Precision” model was released into the market, and in 1941 saw the launch of the Female “Oyster Perpetual” (reference 420). In 1945, the Rolex “Date Just” was created; the first self-winding, water-resistant wrist-chronometer, which also showed the date. In 1950, Rolex launched the “Turn-O-Graph”, followed by the Rolex “Submariner”, which guaranteed water-resistance to the depth of 100 metres. In the same year, Sir Hedmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered Everest whilst wearing a “Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer”.
In 1954, the Rolex “GMT Master” was created, which displays time simultaneously in any two time zones. The Rolex “Milgauss” anti-magnetic model was also released in this year.
The year 1956 marked the launch of the Rolex “Day-Date”, displaying the date and the day, available in 26 languages.
In 1959, Rolex launched the new “Rolex Submariner” (ref. 5513), which guaranteed  water-resistance to a depth of 200 metres.

In 1963,three years after the death of Hans Wilsdorf, his favourite apprentice, André Heiniger, took charge of the Rolex business. Heiniger successfully continued the positive philosophy of the company, handing it on to his son Patrick, the Rolex company manager since 1992.
In 1960, Rolex launched into another “mission impossible” when it anchored a special Rolex Oyster to the hull of the Trieste U.S. Navy bathyscaphe. Here, the watch was dragged down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest oceanic trench in the world. The watch kept on working, whilst going both down and coming back up, demonstrating the excellence of the Swiss brand. Through such explorations, Rolex endeavoured to show the reliability of its watches, whether put through oceanic immersions, aviation or mountain climbing. It also formed a bond between the company and the sporting world that exists to this day.

Returning to a historical account of the brand, 1961 marked the launch of:  the “Rolex Cosmograph Daytona”, the first Oyster chronograph (ref.6239), followed by the Oyster model (ref.6241). In 1971 the Rolex Sea-Dweller was created, the first watch that guaranteed water-resistance to a depth of 610 metres (in 1980, the limit would reach up to 1200 metres). This advance was possible thanks to a helium valve which allowed the watch to decompress.
In the same year, the first Rolex Oyster Chronometer Daytona was launched, with water-resistant and  screw-down pushbuttons. This model was initially made in steel, then in 14CT gold, and finally in 18CT gold with a black (ref. 6263) or engraved (ref.6265) bezel.
A memorable year for Rolex was 1973 when Tom Sheppard wore a “Rolex Oyster GMT Master” during the first crossing of the Sahara across Majabat Al Kubra in Mauritania. This Rolex model thus demonstrated its resistance to the hell-like Saharan temperatures and frequent sandstorms.

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