When was rolex watches made

Legend has it that the name comes from the date jumping just before midnight. After the war, Rolex was uniquely poised to supply an increasingly affluent civilian market that wanted futuristic products, and the brand found innovations. To this day, no watch is as instantly recognizable as a Rolex with a Cyclops and a fluted bezel, making the Datejust, Day-Date and Sky-Dweller horological icons. By launching the Cyclops on the Datejust, Wilsdorf literally magnified one modernization with the other, a brilliant marketing move that capitalized on his well-honed instinct for titillating his customers with exclusive introductions.

It would be how Wilsdorf marketed these midcentury icons that would put Rolex high up on the horological throne. But Wilsdorf would repeatedly make sure his watches were on the wrists of some of the bravest people that accomplished some of the most daring feats of the day.

Wilsdorf put those doubts to rest by submerging Rolex Oysters in aquariums he had set up in the windows of high-traffic department stores such as Harrods , in London, while ads brought images of submerged Oysters to a much broader international customer base. In , Wilsdorf made sure that an Oyster was on Mercedes Gleitze, who swam the English Channel in over 10 hours—but she wore the watch around her neck rather than her wrist.

Below is a list of accomplishments that Rolex attached themselves to and, subsequently, pushed into the public via testimony ads:. Everest at an altitude exceeding 33, feet with the first team to do so, as part of the Houston Expedition. A few months later, he would break the mph barrier at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.

Sir Malcolm Campbell Courtesy of Rolex. Rolex releases a version of that watch called the Explorer in the same year. Johnson famously sports a Rolex Day-Date, and Rolex advertises heavily around the ensuing association with world leaders.

Ads announcing this were targeted toward engineers and scientists. With the race for space slowing down and most corners of the world mapped, the digital age was moving our frontiers into an increasingly virtual realm.

Simultaneously, the tools of exploration were becoming digital, leaving mechanical watches to increasingly become anachronistic devices. Rolex shifted gears at this point, focusing on star athlete ambassadors, sporting event sponsorships particularly tennis, golf, motorsports and yachting , and Rolex upped its role as a benefactor to art and science.

A brief overview of these initiatives includes the following:. Wilsdorf maintained the freedom to lean into initiatives that, at times, seemed to diminished the importance of the bottom line. Such initiatives are often hard to reconcile with quarterly shareholder interests, even if one argues for the marketing bump. Operational and development expenses would, of course, eat up a significant portion of the annual revenue as well.

At that time, Wilsdorf had all his company's components produced by Swiss manufacturers, most notably, the Maison Aegler in Bienne. This was the only manufacture Wilsdorf deemed adept enough at producing parts to the quality he desired. Eventually, this factory would become Manufacture des Montres Rolex S.

The Rolex Company has been in business since and has a long history of innovative and successful watch designs. Rolex had many firsts including being the first company to offer a wristwatch that would automatically change the date and day on the dial, the first watch case that was waterproof up to m, the first wristwatch to display two time zones at once and the first wristwatch to earn chronometer certification. Some of the numerous innovations include:.

Previous to Rolex produced watches that required manual winding. In , however, a self-winding model was offered called the "bubbleback. The new self-winding technology not only made it more convenient but also made time keeping more reliable. During the late 's as well as 's the engineers at Rolex were critical to the quartz movement technology.

Rolex collaborated with 16 manufacturers where they were eventually able to produce the Beta 21 quartz movement, found in the Rolex Quartz Date reference Rolex has produced countless watches over its long history. Just do a quick search for shop used Rolex watches and you will find a number a variations that include both vintage and modern variations. While some have been discontinued and are now considered vintage and collectible, other modern models are continuously developed and offered to the public.

There are a wide range of Rolex models that are geared towards specific types of wearers. For example, if you enjoy swimming and diving, the Rolex Submariner may be the best option for you. This model is specifically designed to withstand water pressure and remain accurate.

If you enjoy racing, the Rolex Daytona is a better option. The Daytona was specifically designed for racing enthusiasts and is even named after one of the most popular annual racing events. In London, England in , a year-old Hans Wilsdorf had a vision to create a wristwatch that was as elegant as it was reliable.

Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis had already established their own shop and were importing Swiss movements and placing them in quality cases. But Wilsdorf wanted more. He envisioned a name for his timepieces that would be easy to remember and pronounce in any language. He called it Rolex. One theory is that he believed the name "Rolex" was onomatopoeic, which sounded like a watch being wound. He registered the name and quickly opened an office in Switzerland and by the name Rolex was registered.

The most important factor to the Rolex Company in creating these new watches was that the movements be of the highest quality. Rolex soon received the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision, granted by the Official Watch Rating Centre in Bienne — the first wristwatch in the world to receive this prestigious mark.

From that moment on, these quality watches became synonymous with precision. The company then moved to Geneva in , and Rolex began waterproofing its timepieces. Given the name the Oyster, this watch featured a hermetically sealed case, providing optimal protection. Proving its amazing craftsmanship, the first Rolex lasted 10 hours in the water, when Mercedes Gleitze, a young English swimmer, crossed the English Channel wearing her Rolex.

The watch was in perfect working condition when she arrived on shore. Throughout the years, motorsports, aviation and other sporting expeditions were the real-life laboratories that tested the quality of Rolex watches. Of course, the brand always exceeded even the loftiest aspirations. This masterpiece was waterproof to a depth of meters, or feet, while its rotatable bezel allowed divers to read their immersion time.

Despite some new editions the GMT-Master has not lost its fascination to this day. Just as with the Porsche , the designers of the Rolex house also make the latest model look like one of its predecessors. In the visionary genius Hans Wilsdorf died. He left a considerable lifework. In Rolex introduced the Daytona.

Named after the city of Daytona in Florida, which looks back on a long racing and motor sport tradition. Since Rolex is the main sponsor of the Daytona Beach race. Sir Malcom Campell, one of the most successful racers on the track, who improved his own world records year after year, was an enthusiastic ROLEX sponsor.

The Daytona Cosmograph is considered the sport chronograph par excellence. The arrangement of the auxiliary dials for the hours and minutes on the three and the nine is still relevant in terms of clarity and functionality.

The COSC certification speaks for the accuracy. The quality seal of the Swiss testing institute guarantees a deviation of a few seconds during the day. In the past 25 years, the market price for a PN Daytona has risen and is now traded for the multiple of the original selling price.

The fact is that there are no pictures showing him with this watch on the wrist, instead there are evidence showing Steve McQueen with a Rolex Submariner. However, exact sales figures are not published - discretion is a top priority.

The opening of the ,square-meter production facility in Plan-les-Quates in shows the size of the industrial enterprise. The brand with the crown in the emblem, is one of the few companies that manufactures almost all parts of the watches themselves. No processing is left to chance. From the moulding of the gold alloys, e. A predominant theme in the manufacture is that things are checked, re-checked, and then checked again.

It feels as though their goal is to ensure that if a Rolex watch fails, it does so before it leaves the factory. Large teams of watchmakers and assembly people work on every single movement that Rolex produces. This is before and after their movements are sent to COSC for chronometer certification. And on top of that, Rolex re-tests their movements for accuracy after they are cased for several days while simulating wear before they are sent out to retailers.

Rolex makes their own gold. While they have a small handful of suppliers that send them steel Rolex still works the steel in-house to make all the parts , all the gold and platinum is made in-house. Large kilns under hot flames are used to melt and mix the metals which are then turned into cases and bracelets. Because Rolex controls the production and machining of their gold, they are able to strictly ensure not only quality, but the best looking parts.

To our knowledge Rolex is the only watch manufacture that makes their own gold or even has a real foundry in-house. The philosophy at Rolex seems to be very pragmatic, if a human does it better, then let a human do it, if a machine does it better, then let a machine do it. In fact the reason more watchmakers don't use machines is two-fold. First of all machines are huge investments and in many instances keeping people around to do it is less expensive.

Second, they don't have the production demands that Rolex does. In fact, Rolex is fortunate to have the ability to equip its facilities with robotic help where needed.

The epicenter of Rolex's automation prowess is the master supply room. Massive columns of parts are attended to by robotic servants that store and retrieve trays with parts or complete watches. A watchmaker needing parts must simply place an order with the system, and it is delivered on a series of conveyer systems to them in about minutes. Robotic arms populate the Rolex manufacture locations when it mostly comes to repetitive or highly detailed tasks that require consistency.

Many Rolex parts are given an initial machine polish by a robot, but amazingly they are hand-finishing and polished as well. The fact is that while modern technology is a huge part of the "Rolex manufacturing machine," robotic equipment is there to assist what is a very real, human watch making operation.

I noticed that rank and file watch assembly employees have an interesting system on their desks that required their ID badge be docked at all times after being identified with a fingerprint scan. Everything is scanned and cataloged. In fact, each Rolex watch movement has a unique serial number that is photographed and matched with a case that also has a different unique serial number.

In the future when the watch is serviced, a watchmaker can learn everything there is to know about it. Accessing the Rolex safe requires entering a bank vault door and passing an iris scanner that identifies you via your eyes. When Rolex parts move from location to location, they are transported in highly discreet unmarked and likely heavily armored trucks.

Rolex is very serious about their safety, and for a really good reason since it is often said in truth that Rolex watches are just as good as money. All Rolex Oyster case watches are thoroughly tested for water resistance. The way that this is often done at watch manufactures is with an air-pressure tank. A watch is placed in a small chamber that is filled with air, and if the pressure changes at all, it means that air leaked into the case.

Each Rolex Oyster, as well as Oyster dive watches begins with this air pressure treatment. In fact, each case is tested both before and after a movement and dial are placed inside of it. Dive watches receive a separate treatment all together. After being air pressure tested, Rolex proceeds to test the water resistance of each and every Rolex Submariner and Deep Sea watch in actual water. This type of test is much less common.

Submariner watches are placed in large tubes that are filled with water to ensure that they are water resistant to meters. The test is extremely complex because Rolex employs a complex system for testing if water entered the case.