In 1905, Hans Wilsdorf establishes a watchmaking firm in London. Three years later, in 1908, Hans comes up with the name Rolex for his watches. In 1926, the Oyster was created, the world’s first waterproof case. A year later, English swimmer Mercedes Gleitze swims across the English Channel wearing the Oyster Rolex watch. In 1931, the Perpetual Rotor came about, which is the first automatic winding mechanism. In 1945, the Oyster Perpetual Datejust was created, a watch that displayed the date as well as the time. In 1953, the Oyster Perpetual Submariner was created, a water resistant watch that can go to depths as low as 100 meters. Two years later, the Oyster Perpetual GMT Master was created, which told time in two different time zones. In 1963, Andre J. Heiniger takes control of the business and remains a crucial element in the Rolex industry for the next thirty years. A building is opened on Fifth Avenue in New York in 1977. Two years later, in 1979, Rolex became the timekeeper for Wimbledon. In 1992, Patrick Heiniger becomes the CEO for Rolex. In 1995, the new headquarters was established in Par Monceau, Paris. Among its collections are the Oyster, the Oyster Professional, Cellini, all of which have several different types of models. The Oyster Perpetual has Air-King, Perpetual, Date, Datejust, Datejust Turn-O-Graph, Day-Date, Lady-Datejust, Lady-Datejust Pearmaster. The Oyster Professional includes the Explorer, GMT-Master II, the Submariner, Submariner Date, Sea-Dweller 4000, Yacht-Master, and the Cosmograph Daytona. And finally, the Cellini collection includes Cellinium, Quartz, Cellissima, Classic, Danaos, Cestello, and Orchid.

1905

Hans Wilsdorf and an associate founded the wholesale watch business, WILSDORF AND DAVIS. In Bienne, he signed a contract with AEGLER, which gave his firm the distribution rights to AEGLER watches in England.

1908

Hans Wilsdorf created his own brand, ROLEX (an abbreviation of the French phrase “horlogerie exquise”).

1914

Jean Aegler’s sons renamed their company the ROLEX WATCH CO. AEGLER S.A.
To finance the cost of the Great War, the British Government decided to impose a 33% tax on imports. Wilsdorf transferred his worldwide export business to Bienne.

1920

Wilsdorf founded MONTRE ROLEX S.A. in Geneva, on 17 January, with himself as sole owner and director.
Henceforth, the movements were made in Bienne. Assembly, testing and sales were in Geneva.

1926

To enhance the water resistance of wristwatches, Wilsdorf registered a patent for a case with screw-down winding crown.

1927

On 17 October, Wilsdorf strapped a new ROLEX OYSTER to the wrist of the typist Mercedes Gleitze before the cross-channel swim that she completed in 15hrs. 15mins.

1931

Thanks to the talented technician Emil Borer, Wilsdorf introduced an automatic permanent rotor winder, the ROLEX PERPETUAL. He retained the exclusive rights, and prohibited the automatic movement’s use by any competitor for the next fifteen.

1945

ROLEX introduced the DATEJUST, the first automatic water-resistant chronometer wristwatch with date viewer.

1953

Launch of the SUBMARINER, the first diver’s watch, water-resistant to 100 meters.
Mount Everest’s conquerors, the team led by Sir John Hunt, were equipped with OYSTER PERPETUAL chronometers.

1954

Launch of the GMT-MASTER.

1956

DAY-DATE, first wrist chronometer to show the days of the week in letters in 25 languages.

1960

Hans Wilsdorf died in Geneva 6 July.
He left his heirs a flourishing business with a multi-million dollar turnover, and one of the largest manufacturing consumers of gold in Switzerland.

A ROLEX OYSTER, with specially reinforced case attached to Professor Jacques Picard’s bathyscaphe, The TRIESTE, reached a depth of 10, 916 meters in the Pacific with no damage.

1971

Underwater record for SEA-DWELLER 2000 –2,000 ft (610 meters).

1980

New underwater record for SEA-DWELLER 4000 - 4,000 feet (1,220 metes) beneath sea.

2000

Introduction of new, entirely in-house DAYTONA chronograph/chronometer, (it formerly used a Zenith movement).

2001

New LADY-DATEJUST in gold and platinum.

2003

50th anniversary of the SUBMARINER, commemorative 50th-year version issued with green lunette known as the 16610LV.