WT_2004_05: ROLEX: THE STATUS SYMBOL

Rolex’s headquarters on Rue François-Dussaud in Geneva.
rate group of components for the automatic
winding mechanism can also be regarded as a
trailblazing innovation. Modular architecture
meant that it wasn’t necessary to disassemble
the entire movement whenever the winding
system required servicing. To guard against
over-winding, a safety mechanism consisting
of a slip-spring prevented the system from
over-tightening and ultimately snapping the
steel mainspring.
Wilsdorf still had to market the new watch,
and encountered many jewelers and watch
merchants who still remembered their bad experiences
with the Harwood; the first serially
manufactured self-winding wristwatch. Fortunately
for Wilsdorf, his was a much better
2004: The Latest Models
The new Datejust models
for 2004 include (left)
Ref. 116 238 in yellow
gold ($17,250). Bigger
hands distinguish the
newcomers. The rehaut
has also been updated:
it’s now engraved with
the brand’s name and (at
the “6”) the individual
case number. The same
details apply for the
Turn-O-Graph (right),
Ref. 116 264 in stainless
steel with rotating white
gold bezel ($5,425).
64 WatchTime October 2004
watch in every respect, and eventually the Perpetual’s
inherent excellence, coupled with
well-targeted advertising campaigns, overcame
any hesitations.
The 15 years of the original patent protection
came to an end in 1948, but Rolex still
held a commanding lead over nearly all its
competitors. After all, for the past decade and
a half, rotor winding and other refinements in
Rolex’s Perpetual had been off limits to them.
Only after 1948 were competitors permitted
to introduce their own systems. Rolex wanted
to debut a date display watch to mark the
firm’s 40th birthday in 1945. The Datejust (caliber
740) was a world’s first, becoming an archetype
that would influence the technology
Four decades of continuity: André J. Heiniger
(1921-2000) led Rolex from 1963 to 1992,
when his son Patrick Heiniger took the reins.
and appearance of generations of subsequent
watches. The watch’s name was carefully selected:
“Date” is self-explanatory, while “Just”
stands for “just in time.” And this means that
the date display advances to show the next
day’s date without delay at midnight. The
watch was the world’s first fully water-resistant
men’s wristwatch with automatic rotor winding,
central seconds, and window-type date
display whose accurate rate was verified by an
official chronometer certificate.
The Datejust featured a central secondshand
and a readily legible date display inside a
window at the “3,” a location chosen for a
very good reason: most people wear a wristwatch
on their left wrist, so the date display at
the “3” is the first indicator that comes into
view when the timepiece peeks out from under
your shirt cuff.
WatchTime would like to thank Wempe
Jewelers for granting us permission to
reprint portions of Gisbert L. Brunner’s upcoming
book on Rolex.