ROLEX WATCHES – Historical luxury watches and their history
About the brand history and iconic Rolex wristwatches
For over 120 years, the brand with the crown (yes, it is a “crown” and not a “crown,” as Hans Wilsdorf himself always referred to it as a “coronet”) has been considered an innovative driver of the watch industry. This applies not only to mechanical watchmaking, but also to the era of the quartz crisis: the quartz movements developed by Rolex from the Oysterquartz movements are still considered some of the most powerful and high-quality quartz movements in history.
But why another book about Rolex? Admittedly, there is a relatively large selection of books about Rolex and the history of the brand. At the same time, most publications omit essential parts of the brand’s early history or focus only on certain aspects of the company’s history. Relatively little is known about the early years of the watch brand and, of course, its founder Hans Wilsdorf – anyone wishing to research this topic in detail will quickly reach the limits of the available material.
This is precisely where this book comes in. The early history of Rolex is not only a prime example of how a shrewd businessman can create a world-famous brand with diligence and sophistication without ever having learned the profession of watchmaking. Hans Wilsdorf had a vision and, from the very beginning, focused the lion’s share of his energy on precisely this vision: wristwatches would sooner or later replace pocket watches as the dominant timekeeping device. The fact that this finally came to pass around 1930 is due in no small part to Wilsdorf and his commitment.
Become an expert on the history of Rolex, Tudor, and Panerai
The history of the legendary watch brand Rolex begins with its equally legendary and visionary founder Hans Wilsdorf, the son of a Bavarian iron merchant. Until the end of his life, Wilsdorf pursued his vision of the perfect wristwatch and, especially in the 1950s, created a series of timepieces that are still among the most significant and iconic models in the world today. From the Explorer to the Submariner and the GMT-Master to the Day-Date: many Rolex models are recognized and admired even by people who otherwise have no particular affinity for high-quality wristwatches. This is also due to the fact that Wilsdorf understood better than almost anyone else how to market the timepieces produced by his company as high-performance, robust, and reliable precision instruments.
Immerse yourself in the world of Rolex and discover the early history of the brand, the development of its most important technologies, and the achievement of the most significant milestones in watchmaking history. Discover the influence of Rolex and Hans Wilsdorf on the early history of the Tudor and Panerai watch brands, which have been inextricably linked to the history of Rolex since their early years. Follow in the footsteps of Hans Wilsdorf through his hometown of Kulmbach in Bavaria and trace the journey of the legendary Rolex founder via London to Geneva – and, of course, beyond his death. Even after Wilsdorf’s passing, the Rolex company, or rather the conglomerate of the respective companies, remained in the best of hands.
This book presents the history of Rolex in detail, thoroughly researched and embedded in its historical context, to convey a realistic picture of the company’s early years and decades up to the present day – so let yourself be enchanted by the exciting and adventurous history of what is perhaps the most important and significant company in the world of watches.
