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The History of Rolex- A Brief History of the World's Best-Known Watch Brand

The History of Rolex- A Brief History of the World's Best-Known Watch Brand

 JULY 31, 2020 ADMIN

This Swiss company is today the most symbolic figure of luxury and high-precision watchmaking. Rolex is the fruit of the collaboration between H. Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis, his brother-in-law. They moved to London in 1905 and founded Wilsdorf & Davis, a company producing pocket watches in Switzerland. Wilsdorf, a pioneer, constantly seeks to improve the quality of its products by producing luxury watches and goes against the fashion of the time by seeking miniaturization. He then finds a parts supplier that meets his requirements: Aegler. In 1908, the Rolex brand was launched and will gradually replace Wilsdorf & Davis.

The name of Rolex raised many debates. Officially, this name was chosen for the ease of its pronunciation in all languages and its small size, ideal for easily integrating into a watch dial. Other sources argue that Rolex is the contraction of “Exquisite Watchmaking,” or “Excellence Watchmaking. Anyway, all of these terms apply to the brand. In 1910, Rolex had its movements certified by the Swiss Chronometry Society, a guarantee of undeniable quality. Four years later, an English institute also certifies Rolex. In 1924, the company moved to Geneva because taxes were becoming too high in the United Kingdom.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual

Precision is no longer a problem; Rolex tackles a thorny problem that will make its glory: sealing. The year 1926 marked a decisive step with the creation of the Oyster model. The name Oyster means “whitish-yellow”. It is quite simply the first waterproof watch in the world.

To promote the Oyster and prove its effectiveness, the windows of the jewelry stores are equipped with aquariums in which Rolex watches UK are bathed. Further, in 1927, the British swimmer Mercedes Gleitze crosses the English Channel with an Oyster on her wrist. The brand then surfs on the feat by being the first advertiser in the industry to publish an advertisement on the front page of the Daily Mail moreover. The Rolex Prince watch was released in 1928. Its double dial made it a commercial success.

Rotor

In 1931, Rolex drew once again by creating the Rotor. It was the best Rolex watch. This new innovation will allow Rolex to create the first automatic winding. The Rotor is a semicircle of metal driven by wrist movements that automatically allows the watch to be wound. This ingenious system was to become a model and is still used today to manufacture modern automatic watches. The Perpetual rotor, Rolex, invents automatic winding.

In 1945, the Oyster was the first watch to indicate the date (i.e., the day of the month). This version of the Oyster is called Oyster Perpetual Datejust. It was the best vintage watches the UK. In 1953, the Oyster Perpetual Submariner model introduced that could boast of resisting a depth of 100 m.

Two years later, the Oyster Perpetual GMT Master model allows the time to be read from two different time zones. In 1956, the date and the day of the week were displayed in full on the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date. In 1959, Rolex sponsored the 24 Hours of Daytona, a car race taking place at Daytona Beach. Rolex has entered sports sponsorship.

The new record in 1960:

Professor Jacques Piccard reached 10,910 meters deep in Mariana's trench with a Rolex Deep Special attached to his underwater vehicle. The Rolex Deep Sea Special, an extraordinary diver.

Bottom Line

Rolex's headquarters are in the canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Now, the brand value of Rolex is around a billion. Rolex produces over 0.8 million timepieces each year. The Rolex watches are the best watches for men re continue to have a good reputation around the world. These luxury watches are considered a status symbol.

Buy Pre-Owned Rolex Watches at www.wilsonwatches.co.uk

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