History of Rolex
| Founded
in London in 1905 by the Bavarian Hans Wilsdorf and his English Brother
in Law William Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis; it began life as nothing
more than one of hundreds of small importers buying movements, cases
& dials and assembling them into finished watches. Wilsdorf's great
breakthrough was deciding to specialize in wristwatches after 4 or 5
years of getting nowhere fast in making his company stand out from all
the others. Just prior to the outbreak of WW 1, Wilsdorf sent one of his watches for testing by one of the Swiss observatories, no one had ever attempted this before and his faith was rewarded with the issuing of the world's first timing certificate for a wristwatch. The following year, 1915, he submitted a watch for the famed "Kew A" test; then as now, the world's toughest timing test; 45 days later the certificate was in his hand; Rolex wristwatches had proved themselves as accurate as the world's finest pocket watches; and just in time. World War One turned out to be the market opportunity Rolex had been waiting for, officers found that a wristwatch was so much easier to use than a pocket watch in the trenches. Whilst almost all previous Rolex watches had been made for ladies (including the two watches sent for testing) now Rolex produced mainly watches in the 13 ligne size specifically for men. By the end of the war, wristwatches were an accepted part of a man's accoutrements and no longer seen as solely for the ladies. Wilsdorf, who has never been given the credit he deserves as one of the 20th century's greatest marketers, realized that the problem with wristwatches was that being much smaller than pocket watches they were more susceptible to dust & other objects entering the case. He had experimented with screw back & front cases during WWI but he realized the problem still remained the winding button and as long as that was not hermetically sealed watches would still have difficulties. When he saw the patent for the screw down crown first proposed by Perret & Perregaux, he knew his difficulties were at an end. He bought all rights to the patent and the first "Oyster" watch was introduced in late 1926. Now he had a product that sharply differentiated his company from all others and he was determined to promote it in the best way he could. Mercedes Gleitze was the first English woman to swim the English Channel; however there was some controversy over her swim and so she offered to do it again in the full light of publicity. Recognizing the value this would have, Wilsdorf offered a new Rolex Oyster watch to Miss Gleitze. She then wore the watch on her successful "confirmation" swim and a month later Wilsdorf launched the watch in the UK with a full page advertisement on the front cover of the Daily Mail, the first time a watch company had ever done this. Wilsdorf had now bought out his erstwhile partner and had entered into a joint shareholding with the Aegler family of Bienne whose movements Rolex now used exclusively. There was just one small problem with the Oyster, people had to unscrew the winding button each day in order to wind it. There were two side effects of this; sooner or later the customers would forget to screw the winder tightly again and then get water in the watch and in time the gaskets or the threads would wear out and the same result would happen. The answer to this was found in 1931, when Emile Borer, son in law of the Aegler family and head of R&D at the Rolex Bienne factory patented the perpetual winding mechanism. Now the winder was no longer needed, except for the occasional adjustment of time, and the watch remained waterproof for much longer. The next major invention from Rolex was the addition of a date window at 3 o'clock; this was introduced in 1945 and with it came a new model name, the Datejust. Now over 55 years later the Datejust is still in production and is probably the most recognized watch in the world. Over the next 20 years Rolex introduced a number of major new watches, the Submariner (the world's first diving watch); the Day-Date (otherwise known as the President); the Explorer (an extra tough watch made for sportsmen) and the GMT Master (the world's first dual timezone watch). Interestingly every one of these watches has been copied by other watch firms, to say nothing of the legions of fakes of varying quality. With the introduction of the Cosmograph Perpetual in 1988 and the Yachmaster in early 1990 Rolex has continued its tradition of innovation and conservatism. Rolex has never followed the market, rather it has always led and its leadership has been confirmed not only by the market but also by a panel of the leaders of the Watch Business, who voted the Rolex Oyster "The Watch of the Century". |
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Screen Idols - Rolex watches on Film |
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All The
President's Men (1976) - Robert Redford wears a stainless steel Rolex
Submariner. His editor wears a Rolex GMT.
Carlito’s Way (1993) - Rolex Day-Date worn by Sean Penn. Color of Money, The (1986) - A nice close-up of a stainless steel Rolex Datejust with Jubilee bracelet worn by Paul Newman and handled by Tom Cruise. Courage Under Fire (1996) - Denzel Washington is clearly shown wearing a stainless steel Rolex Submariner with date on his right wrist. Crossroads (1985) - A stainless steel Rolex Datejust is traded for a guitar and hat. Deep, The (1977) - Nick Nolte wears a stainless steel Rolex Submariner or Rolex Sea Dweller . |
| Deer
Hunter (1978) - A Rolex Submariner worn by DeNiro. Other
Rolexes appear throughout the movie. Namely a stainless
steel and gold GMT-Master which can be seen during the Russian
Roulette scene. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) - Michael Caine wears a Rolex Day-Date. Disappearance, The (1977) - Donald Sutherland wears a gold Rolex Submariner. Distinguished Gentleman, The (1992) - Eddie Murphy wears a Rolex Day-Date. "Oh, another Rolex, I collect these, mine is a slightly older model!" 15 Minutes (2001) - DeNiro wears a stainless steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. "There's blood all over your watch". Kelsey Grammer wears a Jaeger Le Coultre Reverso with a stainless steel braclet. A gold Rolex Day-Date is also seen. Firefox (1982) - Two good close-ups of a steel and gold Rolex GMT on a Jubilee bracelet worn by Clint Eastwood. 44 Minutes (2003) - There's a
close-up of a Rolex Submariner with date. Also there's a
few close-ups of a Giopini watch. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - A gold Rolex Day-Date worn by Alec Baldwin. "You see this watch? You see this watch? This watch costs more than your car!" Goodfellas (1990) - One of the gold watches that Ray Liotta wears on his right wrist is a Rolex Day-Date. Gotti (1996) - Good shots of an Omega Speedmaster Professional , a steel and gold Rolex Datejust with Jubilee bracelet and white dial and one with black dial. Hard To Kill (1990) - A gold or stainless steel and gold Rolex GMT II worn by Steven Seagall. Hunter, The (1980) - Steve McQueen wears a Rolex Submariner with date on his right wrist. Jaws (1975) - A Rolex Submariner and an unknown diving watch (Omega?) worn by Richard Dreyfuss. In The Line Of Fire (1993) - A steel & gold Rolex Datejust worn by Clint Eastwood. L.A. Confidential (1997) - Kevin Spacey wears a Bulova while Guy Pearce wears a Rolex Oyster. Leaving Las Vegas (1995) - Rolex Cosmograph Daytona pawned by Nicholas Cage. "$500 for a ‘93 Rolex Daytona? - I’ll do it!" Liquidator (1966) - Rod Taylor wears a Rolex Submariner. Lost in Translation (2003) - Bill
Murray wears a two tone Rolex DateJust. Marathon Man (1976) - Rolex GMT with black bezel and Jubilee bracelet given as a present to Dustin Hoffman. He then trades it for a taxi fare and some change. Marked For Death (1991) - Rolex Day-Date worn by Steven Seagall for the first part of the movie. He then wears a TAG Heuer stainless steel chronograph. Mechanic, The (1972) - A close-up of Rolex Submariner without date worn by Charles Bronson. He also wears an unknown chronograph. North Sea Hijack (1975) - Roger Moore wears a Rolex Submariner and a Seiko Quartz Professional Diver. Anthony Perkins wears an Omega Speedmaster(?). One Night at McCool's (2001) - Having his Swatch stolen, Matt Dillon steals a two-tone Rolex Datejust. Outbreak (1995) - Kevin Spacey wears a Rolex Submariner. Rain Man (1988) - Rolex Day-Date pawned by Tom Cruise. Revenge (1990) - Kevin Costner's character receives a green Rolex box containing a stainless steel Submariner with date which he wears throughout the film. Rocky II - (1979) - Whilst shopping for watches, Sly is holding a Rolex Day-Date and a Lady Datejust with diamond bezel in his left hand. In his right, he's holding a gold Rolex GMT with Jubilee bracelet. Schindler’s List (1994) - Rolex Prince worn by Liam Neesom. Tequila Sunrise (1988) - Both Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson wear gold Rolexes, a Datejust and Submariner respectively. One of the watches is also mentioned in the film. They Drive By Night (1940) - Humphery Bogart wears a Rolex Prince. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) - Rolex Submariner worn by Nigel Tuffnel played by Christopher Guest. Thunderheart (1992) - Val Kilmer wears a stainless steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. Titanic (1998) - Bill Paxton wears a gold Rolex Submariner . Unlawful Entry (1992) - Kurt Russell’s lawyer wears a Rolex Day-Date. When Time Ran Out (1980) - Paul Newman wears a Rolex GMT. Wild Things (1998) - Matt Dillon wears a stainless steel Rolex Submariner Date. |
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James Bond and Rolex I'm not sure whether Ian Fleming specified 007's watch as a Rolex in the James Bond Novels. When the films were produced, Sean Connery was first to introduce the Rolex Submariner to the big screen in Dr No. Roger Moore carried the mantle in to the mid-70's but allegiances and product placement pressures forced a change of allegiance to Omega when Pierce Brosnan took on the role in the 90's. In Dr. No, Sean Connery is seen wearing a Rolex Submariner, Rolex Reference No. 6538 or 5508 which is now known amongst collectors as the James Bond Submariner. Listed below are the Rolex watches seen in the James Bond films. Dr. No (1962) - A Rolex Submariner From Russia With Love
(1963) - A Rolex Submariner. Thunderball (1965) - Rolex Submariner. O.H.M.S.S. (1969) - Rolex Submariner with steel bracelet. George Lazenby takes off his Submariner, places it on top of a photo-copier and then peruses a Playboy magazine. A Rolex chronograph with a silvered dial and a stainless steel Oyster bracelet is also worn by Lazenby in the film. Live And Let Die
(1973) - Roger Moore's Rolex Submariner Model 5513, takes a
starring role in the film when the serrated bezel turns into a fast
spinning buzz saw and a built in super magnet provides a useful tool for
unfastening the zip on Jane Seymour's dress.
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