The Rolex Watch Company
For over 100 years, Rolex has developed to be one of the most prominent companies in the history of watch making. Its reputation is the product of the continuous effort by the people behind the brand. Currently, besides being one of the top luxury watch brands, Rolex is highly recognized for manufacturing highly accurate wristwatches.
The company that eventually would become Rolex was founded by an intriguing European combination of a German national and a British native, bringing the best of two diverse cultures into play. Hans Wilhelm Wilsdorf and Alfred James Davis founded Wilsdorf and Davis Ltd in 1905.
Wilsdorf’s job as a correspondence writer with the watch exporter Cuno Korten of Geneva, Switzerland gave him direct exposure to the international watch industry. He became focused intensely on Horology--the study of creating timepieces. His initial work was so successful he was able to make three watches that passed rigorous accuracy testing. After such initial success, he decided to start his own watch company. His English partner Alfred Davis would later marry his younger sister, turning the business into a family affair.
During its early years, Wilsdorf and Davis focused on selling only two types of watches: pocket and travel clocks since they were extremely popular at the time. However, Wilsdorf did not want to confine himself and his company to only pocket and travel watches. He instead took the initiative and began to manufacture wristwatches for men, which at the time were considered a feminine item. The company's first decade was driven by its founder's relentless obsession with precision. "Wilsdorf wasn't content merely to invent the first wristwatch. He wanted to invent the first truly accurate wristwatch, one that you could actually run your life by. This decision was in response to the Boer War in South Africa when soldiers began to wear small pocket watches on their wrists. Since it was too hot for them to wear jackets carrying a pocket watch, the soldiers wore the watches attached with a leather strap. By strapping the watches around their wrists, they could free their hands.
By the end of the World War II, Rolex had established itself as the manufacturer of one of the most reliable and accurate wristwatches in the world. In addition, Rolex proved its exceptional expertise in creating jeweled movements. This only fueled more ambition and drove Rolex into a benchmark period in which they came up with a series of special watches that had never before been built, making the brand the “King” in watchmaking and the luxury goods industry.
They designed the first model that displayed the date on a small aperture after the three o’clock mark and later incorporated the Cyclops lens over the aperture making it easier to read by magnifying it 2 ½ times.
Rolex manufactured one of the first waterproof watches, called the “submariner” which was worn by the leading stars of the James Bond movies and which created a craze for them among the masses. It became an Icon of “cool”. This campaign created an enormous brand awareness for Rolex. Since then, Rolex has continued to be at the forefront of the watch making industry. Today, almost every watch manufacturer followed Rolex and offers waterproof watches
Even to this very day, with the world watch market flooded with cheaper quartz watches and second-rate imitations, Rolex continues to manufacture its highly accurate, chronometer certified mechanical watches. In fact, with the beginning of the 21st century, it has created an institute called the "Watch Technicum" in the small town of Lititz, Pennsylvania where 12 students are trained every year in the art of mechanical watch repair. The supreme engineering of Rolex in making quality watches places it among the top 100 companies in the world. Today, it is the single largest luxury watch brand! Rolex has continuously improved the functionality and look of different Rolex models under all of the three major categories: Oyster Perpetual, Professional, and Cellini. In the future, you may hope to come across even better versions of the current models and be able to lay your eyes on altogether new models offering never-before-seen features. It is rightly said that tradition meets innovation at Rolex. Perhaps no other company in the world has such a tradition and consistent legacy of both innovation and high qualitative standards. Without question, Rolex is the place where luxury and precision are one.
http://www.melrosejewelers.com/history-of-the-rolex-watch-company.htm
http://www.brittonswatches.com/new_site/history_dating/History_Rolex.asp
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