Rolex
The luxury watch manufacturer Rolex, originally registered as Wilsdorf and Davis, was founded in London, England in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis.
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The company registered Rolex as the brand name of its watches in 1908, following the desire to find a name that was short, easy to pronounce and remember in any language, and that looked good on the designs.
When asked how the word Rolex originated, Hans Wilsdorf responded, “One morning, while riding on the upper deck of a horse-drawn omnibus along Cheapside in the City of London, a genie whispered ‘Rolex’ in my ear.”
The company went on to become Rolex Watch Co. Ltd. in 1915 and moved to Geneva, Switzerland in 1919. At the time the company was started, pocket watches were the norm for men and wristwatches were only worn by women. The first wristwatches for men were only pocket watches with wire lugs soldered onto the pocket watch case. In 1926, Rolex developed a whole new watch case, the Rolex Oyster, which would be known as the world’s first truly workable waterproof wristwatch case. The Oyster was a huge technological achievement.
The next major step for Rolex would be the world’s first self-winding mechanism with a Perpetual rotor in 1931. Over time, as the company explored new possibilities and built up its reputation, Rolex watches have been associated with world-leaders and great achievements. Today, Rolex is the largest single watch brand in the world.
