In 1905, a 24-year-old German named Hans Wilsdorf founded his own company in London. At the time, he likely never imagined that he would rewrite the history of watchmaking. The company originally imported Swiss movements to be cased and sold in Britain, but he had a visionary and radical idea: to wear precise timepieces on the wrist.
Three years later, in 1908, he registered the name "ROLEX"—short, punchy, easy to remember, and elegant enough to appear on a watch dial. The word had no meaning, yet it was destined to define the standard for "top-tier watches."
In 1910, Rolex became the world's first watch brand to receive the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision, and four years later, it earned a Class A precision certificate from the Kew Observatory in Britain. These were not mere marketing claims; they were official certifications. From that point on, Rolex became synonymous with precision.
In 1926, they created the first waterproof wristwatch, the Oyster case. The following year, Wilsdorf had English swimmer Mercedes Gleitze wear a ROLEX while crossing the English Channel. After she swam for over 10 hours, the watch remained unharmed; once the news broke, all of Europe was asking, "What kind of incredible watch is this?"
Then, in 1931, they invented the Perpetual rotor, a self-winding movement that eliminated the need for daily winding, keeping time through the natural movement of the wrist. These technologies may seem taken for granted today, but at the time, they were groundbreaking.
Since then, the Submariner, Daytona, Datejust, GMT-Master, Explorer, and other collections have been born, conquering high mountains, deep seas, polar regions, and outer space. Every ROLEX is backed by a story of humanity pushing its limits.
The Rolex you wear today is not just a watch; it is a century of engineering, countless breakthroughs, and a symbol of an uncompromising spirit.
Share:
Rolex country codes
The History of Panerai｜The Italian Tough Guy from the Arsenal