Rolex

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Rolex SA
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryWatch manufacturing
Founded1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London
Headquarters
Geneva
,
Switzerland
Key people
Patrick Heiniger, CEO
ProductsWristwatches, accessories
RevenueUSD $3 billion (2003)
Number of employees
9,000 (2024) Edit this on Wikidata
WebsiteRolex.com

Rolex SA is a Swiss manufacturer of wristwatches and accessories. Rolex watches are popularly considered status symbols.[1][2][3][4] Rolex is the largest single luxury watch brand by far, producing about 2000 watches per day, with estimated revenues of around US$ 3 billion (2003).[5] BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex #71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most important global brands, top among all watchmakers.[6]

History

Contemporary Yacht-Master

In 1905 German watchmaker Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law, Alfred Davis founded "Wilsdorf and Davis" in London.[7] In 1908 Wilsdorf registered the brand name "Rolex".[7] In 1919 he moved the company to Geneva where it was established as "Montres Rolex S.A.[7] Contrary to popular belief, Hans Wilsdorf was neither Swiss, nor a watchmaker. Wilsdorf & Davis was the original name of what later became the Rolex Watch Company. They originally imported Hermann Aegler's Swiss movements to England and placed them in quality cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were then sold to 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.

Hans Wilsdorf registered the trademark name "Rolex" in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, in 1908, with the company name Rolex registered on 15 November 1915. The word was made up, and its origin is obscure. Wilsdorf was said to want his watch brand's name to be easily pronounceable in any language. One story, which was never confirmed by Wilsdorf, is that the word "Rolex" came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning exquisite clockwork. Another story claims that Wilsdorf was riding a bus when he realized that "rolex" was the sound a watch made while being wound.[8] In the book The Best of Time Rolex Wrist Watches by J.Hess & J. Dowling the authors state the name was just made up. A Movement in Time with Breitling & Rolex an Unauthorized History, a 2007 book by Mark A. Cooper, claims the name was made by Wilsdorf & Alfred Davis using a combination of Rolls Royce, a maker of motor cars known for quality and perfection of engineering, and Timex, the watch brand. They put these names together to make the name Rolex. It has been claimed that, "this account is possible as Rolls Royce was a well known make, and although the Waterbury Watch company did not use the Timex name in America until 1950, but they appear to have used Timex on watches sold in the UK from 1879." Until evidence in the form of company records, advertisements, or actual examples of what would have been English market Timex pocketwatches from the late 19th century can be produced in substantiation of the claim that "Rolex" is a portmanteau of Rolls Royce and Timex, the assertion must be considered speculation. The company name was changed to the Rolex Watch Company during 1919. It was later changed to Montres Rolex, SA; and finally Rolex, SA.

Vintage Daytona

The Wilsdorf & Davis company moved out of the United Kingdom in 1912 as taxes and export duties on the case metals (silver and gold) were driving costs up.[9] From that time on, Rolex has been headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, though it owns facilities in other cities (Biel/Bienne, etc) and continents (North America, Asia, Australia, etc).

Rolex SA is owned by a private trust, and shares are not traded on any stock market.[10] .

Other innovations

The Rolex Submariner Date Professional

Among the company's innovations are the first waterproof watch case;.[11] the first wristwatch with a date on the dial;[12] the first watch to show two timezones at once;[13] and the first watchmakers to earn chronometer certification for a wristwatch.[14] To date, Rolex still holds the record for the most certified chronometer movements in the category of wristwatches.[15]

Rolex participated in the 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.[16] Within about five years of research, design, and development, Rolex created the "clean-slate" 5035/5055 movement that would eventually power the Rolex Oysterquartz.[17] The first self-winding Rolex watch was offered to the public in 1931, preceded to the market by Harwood which patented the design in 1923 and produced the first self-winding watch in 1928, powered by an internal mechanism that used the movement of the wearer's arm. This not only made watch-winding unnecessary, but eliminated the problem of over-winding a watch and harming its mechanism. Rolex was also the first watch company to create the first water resistant watch to 330 feet.[18] Wilsdorf even had a specially made Rolex watch attached to the side of the Trieste bathyscaphe, 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".[19]

Rolex has also made a reputation in watches suitable for the extremes of deep-sea diving, aviation and mountain climbing. Early sports models included the Rolex submariner and the Oyster Perpetual Sea Dweller 2000 (in 1971). This watch had a helium release valve, co-invented with Swiss watchmaker Doxa, to release helium gas build-up during decompression. Another sports model is the Rolex GMT Master II, originally developed at the request of Pan Am Airways to assist pilots in transcontinental flights.[20] The Explorer and Explorer II were developed specifically for explorers who would navigate rough terrain — such as the world famous Everest Expeditions.

Rolex in murder case

In a famous murder case the Rolex that a victim wore on his wrist eventually led to the arrest of his murderer. When a body was found in the English channel in 1996 by a fisherman who caught the body, and the 4.5 kg anchor attached to it through the victim's belt, in his net about 10 km from the English coast,[21] a Rolex wristwatch was the only identifiable object on the body.[21][22] Since the Rolex movement had a serial number and was engraved with special markings every time it was serviced, British police traced the service records from Rolex, and Ronald Joseph Platt was identified as the owner of the watch and the victim of the murder. In addition British police were able to determine the date of death by examining the date on the watch calendar and since the Rolex movement had a reserve of two to three days of operation when inactive and it was fully waterproof, they were able to determine the time of death within a small margin of error.[23][21]

Rolex and the Great Escape

On 10 March 1943 corporal Clive James Nutting, one of the organisers of the Great Escape, ordered a stainless steel Rolex Oyster 3525 Chronograph valued at a current equivalent of £1200 by mail directly from Hans Wilsdorf in Geneva, intending to pay for it with money he saved working as a shoemaker at the camp.[24][25][26] The watch, (Rolex watch no. 185983),[24][27] was delivered to Stalag Luft III on 4 August along with a note from Wilsdorf apologising for any delay in processing the order and explaining that an English gentleman such as corporal Nutting "should not even think" about paying for the watch before the end of the war.[26][28] Rolex had initially extended this wartime offer to all British officers prisoners of war and Hans Wilsdorf, who believed that a British officer's word was his contract, was in charge of the program.[25][29] As an example, an estimated 3,000 Rolex watches were ordered by British officers in the Oflag (prison camp for officers) VII B pow camp in Bavaria.[28] This offer had the effect of raising the morale among the allied prisoners of war because it indicated that Wilsdorf did not believe that the Nazis would win the war.[26][25] Wilsdorf is reported to have been impressed with Nutting, because although not an officer, he had ordered the expensive Rolex 3525 Oyster chronograph while most other prisoners ordered the much cheaper Speed King model which was popular due to its small size.[28] The watch is believed to have been ordered specifically to be used in the Great Escape, where as a chronograph it could have been used to time patrols of prison guards or time the 76 escapers through tunnel "Harry" on 24 March, 1944.[25][26] Eventually, after the war, Nutting was sent an invoice of only £15 for the watch, due to currency export controls in England at the time.[26] The watch and associated correspondence between Wilsdorf and Nutting were sold at auction for £66,000 in May 2007 while at an earlier auction on September 2006 the same watch fetched 54,000 AUSD.[27][26] Nutting served as a consultant for both the 1950 film The Wooden Horse and the 1963 film The Great Escape.[28] Both films were based on actual escapes which took place at Stalag Luft III.

Rolex in popular culture

The Rolex name is popular in popular culture for being the name knock-off Rolex brands. Being called by names like "Bolex", "Rolox" or "Folex".

Paul Newman has worn a Rolex Cosmograph "Daytona" since at least 1972 and the dial on certain rare Daytona watches is named after him. The Paul Newman dial on a Daytona from the 1960s or 1970s is a collectible. Paul Newman actually wore a Rolex Daytona in the 1969 movie "Winning" about Indy car racing..[30]

Ian Fleming's James Bond character wore a stainless steel luminous dial Rolex Oyster Perpetual in the series of spy novels. That watch came to an unfortunate end in the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service when he used it as an improvised knuckle-duster. In many of the early EON produced Bond films, Bond wore a Rolex Submariner. Rolex models were used from the first Bond film Dr. No until 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun. Thereafter Seiko digital watches were worn by Bond until the Rolex Submariner reappeared in 1989's Licence to Kill. Since 1995's GoldenEye, Omega Seamaster watches have been 'product-placed' in the Bond films.

British artist Wiley refers to Rolex in his 3rd UK single release "Wearing My Rolex".

CNN chief Jim Walton is known to compare CNN to a Rolex watch.[31] He is quoted as saying: "Rolex means something to people; It's a quality product, it's expensive." [31]

Watch models

The 116520 stainless steel Rolex Daytona

Rolex SA has three watch lines: Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini. Among modern Rolex Oyster watch models are the:


The primary bracelets for the Rolex Oyster line are named Jubilee, Oyster and the President. Rolex "dressy" watches are from their Cellini line. The third brand in the Rolex empire is the less expensive, but high quality, Tudor brand. It was started by Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf, in 1946. While still sold in Europe and the Far East, the Tudor line was discontinued in the United States as of 2004.

Rolex is the largest manufacturer of Swiss made certified chronometers. In 2005 more than half the annual production of COSC certified watches were Rolex.[32]

Rolex counterfeits

Main article: Counterfeit watch
A low-quality fake Rolex Daytona watch bought on the streets in New York City. Notice how all the O's are misspelled as Q's and the misspelling of "perpetual" as "rerpetual". Also, the Rolex crown logo has six points instead of five.

Like many high-priced, brand-name accessories, Rolex watches are among the most counterfeited brands of watches, often illegally sold on the street and on the internet. These fakes are mainly produced in China due to the ease in copying the general design (EU figures show that 54% of fakes seized in 2004 originated in China),[33] and retail anywhere from $5 upwards to $1000 -- for high end replicas fabricated in solid gold. By some accounts, over 75% of all replica watches produced annually are copies of Rolex Oyster Perpetual designs. These fake watches have been nicknamed "Folex" or "Fauxlex", or "Trolex" in Spain (faux means fake in French, trola means fake in Spanish).[34]

Significant events in Rolex history

  • Rolex is the official time keeper of Wimbledon and The Australian Open tennis grand slams
  • Jacques Piccard and his Rolex Oyster: 1960, Mariana Trench, depth of 11,000 m
  • Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay carried a Rolex Oyster: 1953, altitude 8,848 m, Mount Everest
  • Mercedes Gleitze was the first British woman to swim the English channel on 7 October 1927. Some doubts were cast on her achievement when a hoaxer claimed to have made a faster swim only four days later. To silence her critics, Mercedes Gleitze attempted a repeat swim on 21 October in the full glare of publicity. Hans Wilsdorf knew a good marketing opportunity when he saw one, and offered her one of the earliest Rolex Oysters if she would wear it during the attempt. After more than 10 hours, in water that was much colder than during her first swim, she was pulled from the sea semi-conscious seven miles short of her goal. Although she did not complete the second crossing, a journalist for The Times wrote "Having regard to the general conditions, the endurance of Miss Gleitze surprised the doctors, journalists, and experts who were present, for it seemed unlikely that she would be able to withstand the cold for so long. It was a good performance." This silenced the doubters, and Mercedes Gleitze was hailed as a heroine. As she sat in the boat, the same journalist made a discovery and reported it as follows: "Hanging round her neck by a riband on this swim, Miss Gleitze carried a small gold watch, which was found this evening to have kept good time throughout." When examined closely, the watch was found to be in perfect condition, dry inside and ticking away as if nothing had happened. One month later, on 24th November 1927, Wilsdorf launched the Rolex Oyster watch in the United Kingdom as the focal point of a full front page Rolex advert in the Daily Mail, and the Rolex Oyster began its rise to fame.

Company

By 2007 Rolex had their United States headquarters in New York and select direct points of sale in New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, and Miami.

In Australia Rolex's head office is located in Melbourne on Collins Street on the Melbourne Skyline. A service centre is also there. Similar regional offices of Rolex exist throughout the world.

The top executives of Rolex are:

Name Title
Patrick Heiniger CEO
Michael Phillips Head of Service
Masie Ball Head of distribution
Thomas Collins Head of Employees
Leslie Goodard Marketing Executive
Masie Ball Finance Executive
Thomas Karadimos Demand Manager
Mary Sumpton Head of Business Management
George Henry-Smith Strategic Sourcing Manager

Pricing

Rolex watches vary in its prices according to the model and/or the materials used. The Submariner gold models varies from 20,000 to 28,000 USD where the Oyster Steel model varies from 4,500 to 6,000 USD.

The Rolex sign around the world

See also

References

  1. ^ CNN Money Quote: That explains why big recognizable brands like Cartier, Patek Philippe and Rolex rule. They can be thought of, in fact, as portable status symbols, owing to their tradition of quality workmanship.
  2. ^ Time Magazine: China Most often mentioned luxury brands: In this society of sudden economic freedom, newly rich capitalists are eager to clarify their social standing, so they turn to the obvious luxury must-haves: traditional French labels and expensive watches. That explains why Chanel, Lacoste and Dior rank in the top five brands with the highest level of recognition. Chanel 42% Rolex 36%... and In a fast-growing economy, status symbols are the easiest way to demonstrate wealth and power.
  3. ^ New York Times Magazine quote: ...became as much a status symbol as a silver Porsche or a gold-faced Rolex watch.
  4. ^ Guardian UK: What is it with men and their watches? quote: It used to be so simple - rich men adorned themselves with that ultimate macho status symbol the Rolex, while the less well-to-do strapped on Timex or Casio.
  5. ^ Rolex Business Report: What makes Rolex tick?
  6. ^ The 100 Top Brands., BusinessWeek magazine, 2007-08-06, retrieved on 2007-08-31.
  7. ^ a b c hautehorlogerie.org
  8. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  9. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  10. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  11. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  12. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  13. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  14. ^ Rolex official website. Follow menu path: World of Rolex/Timeline/1910: In Switzerland, Rolex obtained the first official chronometer certification ever awarded to a wristwatch
  15. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  16. ^ The Quartz Date 5100, Oysterquartz.net, Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
  17. ^ The 5035 movement, Oysterquartz.net, Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  18. ^ GQ magazine GQ: How to Buy a Watch The Classics Buy any one of these signature watches and you can’t go wrong 1. Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner Unveiled in 1953, the Submariner was the first watch water-resistant to 330 feet. Its combination of unparalleled elegance and spy-friendly versatility appealed to Sean Connery’s James Bond and none other than Che Guevara.
  19. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  20. ^ Stone, Gene (2006). The Watch. Harry A. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-3093-5.
  21. ^ a b c thecanadianencyclopedia.com: Walker Money Hunt from Maclean's Magazine
  22. ^ Stolen lives
  23. ^ Discovery Channel Documentary on Ronald Platt's murder
  24. ^ a b Picture of the watch and Rolex certificate with Nutting's name
  25. ^ a b c d Antiquorum press release Quote: Important wristwatches Lot 311 POW Watch Rolex 3525 Oyster chronograph sold with original Certificate and the complete correspondence with Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex and PW Mr. Nutting who ordered the watch on March 10, 1943. It was eventually sent on July 10 with a gratis invoice. As a chronograph, it could well have been useful in timing the patrols of the goons (prison guards) or the despatch of 76 escapers through tunnel “Harry” in the Great Escape of March 24, 1944. Estimate: SFr. 150,000 – 200,000
  26. ^ a b c d e f Times online For sale: Rolex sent by mail order to Stalag Luft III by Bojan Pancevski in Vienna May 12 2007
  27. ^ a b Australian auction house
  28. ^ a b c d Antiquorum information release
  29. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald Time on your hands by James Cockington September 27, 2006
  30. ^ 30 Year Love Affair, The Paul Newman Daytona, by John E. Brozek, Infoquest Publishing 2005; Rolex Daytona 90 by James Montgomery
  31. ^ a b We're a Rolex, says CNN chief Broadcasting & Cable Date: July 14, 2003 Author: Romano, Allison Retrieved 21-07-2008
  32. ^ Rolex production news from Swiss Watch News 2005
  33. ^ Cost of Piracy, manufacturingtalk.com, 2007-02-06, Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  34. ^ Case Studies, Fake Rolex Facts, retrieved on 2007-05-12.

External links

  • Rolex, Official Rolex site
  • Rolex Forums, a non-commercial website for the discussion of all aspects of Rolex, with reviews, photo galleries and other information, e.g. an online Rolex reference library.
  • oysterinfo, a non-commercial website about Rolex history, models and other information e.g. serial numbers=year of manufacture, workshops.
  • Rolex Watch Index, a handy reference index of current Rolex watches, listing by calibre, case material, water resistance, diameter, thickness(height) and model number.
  • Rolex Reference Page, a website on Rolex, with articles, reviews, images, wallpapers and other information.
  • Rolex Information & Tidbits Comparisons between Rolex watches, Rolex price list and watch maintenance information.
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