Article by Francesca Bocchi. “The Rolex is made entirely by hand, which is why it takes over a year to make one. And that is why it will last you a lifetime.”
At a time when pocket watches were the norm, Wilsdorf had a different idea. He wanted to create wristwatches that were not only elegant, but also accurate and reliable. This was a challenge because, in those days, wristwatches were not as accurate as pocket watches. Wilsdorf's vision led to the creation of the first Rolex watch in 1908. The name “Rolex” was chosen because it was easy to pronounce in several languages and fit well with the dials and watch movements. Wilsdorf wanted his brand to be easily recognisable and memorable.
He recounted: “I tried combining the letters of the alphabet in every possible way. This gave me a hundred names, but none seemed right. One morning, as I stood on the upper deck of a horse-drawn omnibus along Cheapside in the City of London, a genie whispered in my ear ‘Rolex”.
1927 was a decisive year for Rolex. A young British secretary named Mercedes Gleitze swam across the English Channel. She was the first British woman to accomplish this feat, and at that moment her name not only entered the record books but also the annals of watchmaking history. The 26-year-old swimmer tackled the difficult crossing wearing a Rolex watch which, after being submerged for more than ten hours in the icy waters of the stretch of sea between France and Great Britain, re-emerged in perfect working order. Hence the myth.
It was a Oyster (oyster, in English): the world's first totally hermetically sealed and waterproof wristwatch. “The most important invention in recent years in the field of watches”, as Rolex's visionary founder Hans Wilsdorf said at the time when he presented it to a meeting of dealers. An exceptional event that the Geneva-based company celebrated by having it published on the front page of the British newspaper Daily Mail an advertisement announcing the success of the waterproof watch Oyster (“the miracle watch that defies the elements”, the advertisement read) and which Mercedes Gleitze herself remarked in a letter to Hans Wilsdorf. “The reason I wear a Rolex Oyster wristwatch when I swim: it is the only watch I know of that is absolutely water-resistant and protected from damage by sand or salt. Moreover, I know that no other watch could withstand the harsh conditions of long-distance swimming”, said the young athlete.
That was when Mercedes Gleitze became Rolex's first endorser and the company began a long and successful association with sports personalities and adventurers. “You can keep your Oyster on your wrist whatever happens, it will never leave you”, Hans Wilsdorf was fond of repeating to those characters as to all possible customers. And so it was. Since then, thanks to its case equipped with a patented screw-down bezel, case back and winding crown system guaranteeing optimum protection for the movement, the’Oyster reached the highest peaks and the deepest oceans. But also the pulse of so many.
On the market for almost a century, it has become a reference timepiece for explorers and pioneers in every field, whose exploits have helped to create the status of this watch, and, above all, it is one of the best-selling models. In all its many variants. From the elegant and prestige ones to those for professional use, from those in steel to those with more precious materials, from those designed for him to those designed for her. Models with timeless aesthetics, balanced between elegance and ergonomics, in which the task of marking time is entrusted to the movements Perpetualself-winding mechanisms, entirely manufactured by Rolex and certified by the Cosc (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres), which have contributed to the fame of this iconic timepiece. A piece of watchmaking history that Rolex, collection after collection, has been reinventing for almost a hundred years, with as a reminder the words that Hans Wilsdorf, amid pride, confidence and a hint of pride, used in 1927 to present the first Oyster: “Gentlemen, we make the best wristwatch in the world”.
