Rolex

Hans Wilsdorf founded Wilsdorf & Davis in London in 1905 with his brother-in-law Alfred Davis, importing Swiss movements and casing them in England. He registered the name Rolex in 1908 — short, pronounceable in any language, and easy to fit on a dial.

Wilsdorf's conviction was that the wristwatch, then regarded as a woman's ornament and hopelessly fragile, could be made accurate and durable. He proved the first half in 1910 by obtaining the first chronometer certification for a wristwatch, and the second in 1926 with the Oyster case, sealed by a screw-down crown and caseback. Mercedes Gleitze swam the Channel wearing one in 1927, and Wilsdorf bought the front page of the Daily Mail to say so — arguably the first modern watch marketing campaign.

The Perpetual rotor followed in 1931, giving automatic winding in a form the whole industry eventually copied. The company relocated to Geneva during the First World War to escape British wartime duties.

The professional models arrived in a compressed burst in the 1950s: Submariner, Explorer, GMT-Master, Milgauss, and later the Daytona. Each was built for a specific job — diving, exploration, aviation, laboratory work, racing — and each became a design template.

Wilsdorf left his shares to a private foundation on his death, so Rolex answers to no shareholders. It remains the largest producer of certified chronometers in Switzerland by a wide margin.

Rolex holds 69 models, from £5,350 to £125,000. Half cost less than £30,450, and a quarter less than £9,550. 68 of 69 are automatic. 40 are stocked by more than one retailer, giving 228 offers in total. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1905

Hans Wilsdorf founds Wilsdorf & Davis in London.

1908

The Rolex name is registered.

1926

The Oyster case introduces genuine water resistance.

1931

The Perpetual rotor brings modern automatic winding.

1953

The Submariner and Explorer launch.

1963

The Cosmograph Daytona arrives.