WT_2004_05: ROLEX: THE STATUS SYMBOL

Some early Rolex models. The one at the far left dates from 1915.
“The Rolex Watch Company Ltd.” in November
1915. More than 60 employees took care
of worldwide sales here. They keenly felt the
consequences of the war in 1919, when more
or less overnight, the British government decided
to impose a 33.3% duty fee on imports.
Wilsdorf wasn’t very happy with Davis, so he
bought out his partner’s share in the business.
Wilsdorf and his wife moved to Geneva, and
from this epicenter of luxury watchmaking,
Wilsdorf planned to deliver his watches to a
rapidly growing global market. The name
“Montres Rolex S.A.” was registered on January
17, 1920. The company’s sole proprietor
and director explained the reasons for his decision
to settle in the Rhône metropolis: “We settled
in Geneva because we want to let our factory
in Biel devote itself exclusively to the manufacture
of watch movements, while we in
Geneva concentrate on creating case models
that suit the cultivated tastes of cosmopolitan
Geneva. Components for Rolex movements
will be made in Biel, but the calibers themselves
will be assembled in Geneva, where they’ll be
56 WatchTime October 2004
The first chronometer
tested in Kew
subjected to the most meticulous testing.” Rolex’s
familiar crown-shaped trademark was first
officially registered in 1925. The five points on
the crown represent the letters in the brand’s
name and simultaneously symbolize the five
fingers on a human hand.
Business flourished steadily until September
21, 1931, when the British pound was drastically
devalued in the wake of the worldwide
economic crisis. This devaluation had a dire effect
on Rolex. Prices charged to customers
throughout the Empire, which was still the
company’s most important market, had to be
adjusted upwards. Exports declined by more
than 60%. If Rolex were to survive, the brand
would have to acquire clientele not living under
the Union Jack. Wilsdorf established subsidiaries
in Paris, Buenos Aires, and Milan. He
also commenced business activities in the Far
East. The expansion paid off, as production of
Oyster models gradually increased from 2,500
to roughly 30,000 watches per year.
Fate dealt Wilsdorf a harsh blow in 1944,
just one year prior to the planned anniversary
celebration, when his wife May Florence died
unexpectedly. The couple had always spent
the winters at Hotel des Bergues in Geneva,
where they resided in a suite of rooms that was
furnished with their own furniture and their
own piano. In accord with his wife’s will, the
childless Wilsdorf transferred his shares of
Montres Rolex SA to the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation,
thus ensuring that his business would
outlive him. Establishing the foundation also
entailed the hiring of two additional directors.
This finally gave Wilsdorf free time for extended
journeys to meet with customers in Africa,
South America, and the U.S.A.
The gigantic Rolex Festival, which lasted for
several days in 1951, celebrated the 70th
birthday of the beloved patron. It also commemorated
his 50 years in the service of time
measurement, the 25th anniversary of the
Oyster case, and the 20th anniversary of the
ROLEX’S BIG BREAKTHROUGH CAME WITH
THE LAUNCH OF THE WORLD’S FIRST WATER-RESISTANT
WRISTWATCH IN 1926.
“Perpetual” rotor winding system. At this
time, Rolex already had subsidiaries in Bombay,
Brussels, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Havana, Johannesburg,
London, Milan, Mexico City, New
York, Paris, Sao Paulo and Toronto. Rolex provided
workspace for some 400 employees in
Geneva. Payrolls from the early 1960s list
roughly 250 people on the staff in Biel.
Wilsdorf didn’t live long enough to witness
his firm’s unavoidable move into a new building
on Rue François-Dussaud. This building,
which is surrounded by a manmade watercourse,
opened in 1965, roughly five years after
Hans Wilsdorf passed away on July 6, 1960
in Escale Fleurie, his summer home on the
southern shore of Lake Geneva.
Wilsdorf insisted that all Rolex movements
be good enough to earn official rate certificates.
No fewer than 48,347 of the 54,799
certificates issued prior to 1944 were awarded
to Rolex chronometers. The firm was awarded
its 50,000th rate certificate in 1945, the same