“E=mc2” The famous Einstein’s formula…we all have heard about it even if we fail to understand its significance!! In the same vein, when it comes to watches, there is one brand which has managed to create an image in the mind of the “masses” as the epitome of luxury watch is ROLEX. !!
There is a reason why I choose to highlight the word “masses”. If one asks any watch aficionado whether they would like to own a Rolex, answer would be “Hell ya”. If you ask whether it is the best in terms of horology brilliance, answer would be “maybe not!!”.. Shocking isn’t it, well there are brands like Patek Phillipe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Söhne etc. which are considered to be the finest watches ever made but none of them managed to become a household name like Rolex did!! Rolex is not a watch, but synonym for luxury…
Let’s roll back the time… 21 March 1881, Kulmbach, Germany, the birth of the founder or Rolex Mr. Hans Wilsdorf. He was orphaned at the age of 12, after which he was sent to Coburg, Germany to complete his education. Although being a German, he was quite fluent in English. Infact this quality of his handed him a job of translator at a firm named Cuno Korten in Switzerland. The firm was one of the largest exporters of time pieces. Hence he got the opportunity to meet various elites of the horology field. One of the acquaintance was Herman Aegler who had inherited a large Ébauche factory after his father’s death. The word literally means unassembled watch mechanisms.
1905, Hans decided to shift base from La Chaux-de-Fonds to London and founded the company called “Wilsdorf & Davis”. Davis was Han’s brother in law who was also the chief financier. Hans wanted to trade in wrist watches but one must remember it was 1905. Those were the era of tuxedos and pocket watches. Wrist watches back then were flimsy, in accurate and were chiefly considered as a women’s accessory!! But Hans was a visionary and had judged that wrist watches were the next big thing.
So he contacted his friend Herman Aegler (who by then had started making wrist watches in his inherited factory). Hans used to import watches from Switzerland and sale them to retailers in England. Hans was a person ahead of this time, though people bought the watches due to its higher quality than those made locally, he knew that “brand loyalty” was the ultimate thing. Hence in 1908 he registered the name “ROLEX”. The criteria were that the name should be small, easy to remember and pronounce!!
Hence he started printing the name ROLEX on the dials. But that was not enough, Hans wanted to create an image that ROLEX stood for nothing else than quality hence in 1910 he got the “Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision” and in 1914 it became the first wrist watch to get “Class A Precision Rating” from London’s observatory.
1914 another thing happened.. yes the War world I was brewing up. Wrist watches weren’t a part of standard military equipment and soon ROLEX became popular among the armed personnel. But the government decided to impose a 33% import duty on watches which drove up the prices and lowered the profitability.
Hence in 1919 Hans moved to Geneva and founded the “Montres Rolex” whose main focus was evolution.
Their first goal was to create a waterproof watch. A concept which had failed previously for two reasons. One the case needed to be hermetically sealed and secondly the crown too had to withstand the pressure and prevent leakage. Aeger’s competent workers found solution to both the problems and in 1926 the famous “oyster case” was born. Both the short comings were addressed and technology was patented (Patent No. 120851 for the case and Patent No. 120848 for the crown). Another feather in the cap was in 1931 they managed to create the perpetual rotor. Hence you no longer needed to manually wind the watches, your hand movement was enough to keep the watch running.
But all products need advertisement to send it off the shelves and onto the consumer’s hand. So hans decided to gift one off the watch to a girl named “Mercedes Gleitze” who swam across the English Channel in 1927. The watch performed as expected..the water didn’t sip in nor did it effect the accuracy.
Maybe it was the start of the modern era were celebrities were used for endorsement. In 1933 Lord Clysdale became the first man to fly over Everest and in 1935 Malcolm Cambell became the first person to reach the speed of 300 miles per hour on land and BOTH HAD A ROLEX ON THEIR WRIST WHEN THEY ACHIEVED THE FEAT!!
Hans wated to expand his client base and in 1946 he created the brand TUDOR, which is quite close to ROLEX but comparatively cheaper and was often referred to as “poor man’s rolex”.
For you James Bond freaks (like me) Sean Connery wore a Rolex Submariner in the first ever bond movie Dr. NO
Sadly Hans Passed away in 1960 and the company’s ownership passed on to his foundation which still donates considerable sum to charity. Hans death was ill-timed as 1960’s and 70’s was the era of quartz. Those battery operated watches which were way cheaper made their presence felt and sales of the old brands plummeted. The quartz watches were not only cheaper but also more accurate. The quartz watches were made mostly in USA and Japan, but as we know Swiss hit back and made a comeback in 1980’s but that is another story.
The watch industry owes a lot to Hans, not only he brought in innovations in the products but also paved way for other brands to follow. From water proof casings to rotors, from sponsoring and using celebrities to promote the watches, he changed the perspective of the people by venturing into uncharted territories. The world would have been different without him.
The Enigmatic Pen 