Founded in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, England, the company name “Rolex” was registered on November 15, 1915. The name “Rolex” is easy to pronounce (as Wilsdorf wished) in many languages and because all the letters are of the same size, it is spelled symmetrically. It is also small enough to fit into the dial of a watch.
- The first waterproof “Oyster” watch(1926)
- The first clock with an automatically changing date on the dial (1945)
- The first watch with a waterproof case at 100m (Submariner, 1953)
- The first double time watch (GMT Master, 1954)
- The first watch to gain timer certification.
The Rolex company had produced specific models suitable for diving, mountaineering and aviation. Sport watches include the Rolex Submariner and Rolex Sea Dweller which featured the helium valve, which releases gas during decompression. Explorer and Explorer II watches were developed exclusively for explorers navigating unevn and rough terrain, such as the well-known Everest missions. The Rolex GMT Master watch was manufactured at the request of Pan Am Airlines, providing staff with a dual time indication that could be used to display GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), an international aviation time standard. The company today has started to present the ceramic hoop in the collection of its sport watches. It is available in Submariner, Sea Dweller-Deepsea, GMT Master II and Daytona. The ceramic hoop is not affected by ultraviolet radiation and is very resistant to abrasions. Forbes magazine ranked Rolex in the 57th place in the 2012 list of the most influencial companies in the world. It is the largest independent luxury watch company, producing 2,000 watches a day, watches that are considered to be status symbols.
