History of Rolex

The Antecedents

Hans Wilsdorf was the brain behind Rolex brand. In the year 1905 in the company of his brother-in-law Alfred Davis opened a watch business firm in the city of London with their names “Wilsdorf and Davis” with the sole aim of importing some watch producing raw materials from Switzerland to the United Kingdom where they are restructured and turned into finished products with their name initials “W&D inscribed inside the watch.



The Birth of the Rolex brand

As Wilsdorf and Davis continued their business of restructuring, Wilsdorf in 1908 developed the idea of registering their product with a new trademark known as “Rolex” with a new office opened for it La Chaux-de-Fonds Switzerland.

The Meaning of the Name Rolex

Wisdorf chose the name “Rolex” for a purpose. The name “Rolex” was coined from the French phrase “horlogerie exquise” which means “exquisite clockwork”.

Breaking grounds

Rolex became one of the very few watches with chronometers. As a result of its efficiency, Rolex began receiving awards barely 6 years after its debut. In the year 1914, it got the prestigious “Class A precision Certificate” which by then an enviable award.

The ultimate breaking of new grounds came in the year 1919 when the company moved to Geneva, Switzerland. It was there that Hand Wilsdorf officially established the “Rolex Watch Company. As time when on the name was changed into “Montres Rolex SA” and later it was also changed finally into “Rolex, SA”. The movement to Geneva saw the termination of the initial London firm. Wilsdorf did that to curtail expenses arising from the United Kingdom taxes together with the export and import duties. He also did that to maintain all focus into one direction. This singular strategy made the Rolex Company to soar like the eagles in the watch business. However, like every other original watch brand, the Rolex watches became too costly because of the high quality materials used in their production.