Rolex

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Coordinates:  46.19284°N 6.13349°E

For other uses, see Rolex (disambiguation).

Rolex SA

Industry Watch manufacturing

Founded London, United Kingdom

(1905; 115 years ago) (Wilsdorf and Davis)

1915 (Rolex Watch Co. Ltd)

1920 (Montres Rolex S.A.)

Hans Wilsdorf
Founder
Alfred Davis

Headquarters Geneva

, 

Switzerland

Area served Worldwide

Key people Bertrand Gros (Chairman)

Jean-Frédéric Dufour (CEO)

Products Watches

Production output More than 800,000 pieces (2016)[1]

Revenue $4.6 billion (2016)[1]

Number of employees 6,000+[2]

Parent Hans Wilsdorf foundation

Subsidiaries Montres Tudor SA

 Website rolex.com

Rolex SA (/ˈroʊlɛks/) is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland.

 Originally founded as Wilsdorf and Davis by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, England in
[3]

1905, the company registered Rolex as the brand name of its watches in 1908 and became Rolex
Watch Co. Ltd. in 1915.  After World War I, the company moved its base of operations to Geneva,
[4][5][6][7]

Switzerland in order to avoid heavy taxation from a recovering post-war Britain, and in 1920 Hans
Wilsdorf registered Montres Rolex SA in Geneva as the new company name which eventually
became Rolex SA in later years.  Since 1960, the company has been owned by the Hans Wilsdorf
[3][5][8][9]

Foundation, a private family trust. [6][10][11]

Rolex SA and its subsidiary Montres Tudor SA design, manufacture, distribute and service
wristwatches sold under the Rolex and Tudor brands. In 2018, Forbes ranked Rolex as the world's
71st most valuable brand.  As of June 2019, among the world's top ten most expensive watches
[1]

ever sold at auctions, three are Rolex watches. In particular, Paul Newman's Rolex

Daytona currently holds the title of the second most expensive wristwatch and the third most
expensive watch ever sold at auction, fetching 17.75 million US dollars in New York on October 26,
2017.  Rolex is the largest manufacturer of Swiss made certified chronometers. In 2005, more
[12][13][14]

than half the annual production of watches certified by Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres
(COSC) were Rolexes.  To date, Rolex still holds the record for the most certified chronometer
[15]

movements in the category of wristwatches. [11]

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Early history
o 1.2Recent development
o 1.3Tudor SA
 2Motto and slogan
 3Watch manufacturing
o 3.1Notable inventions and patents
o 3.2Counterfeits
o 3.3Environmental rating
 4Notable models
o 4.1Most expensive pieces
o 4.2Air-King
o 4.3Oyster Perpetual
o 4.4Sports collections
 5Historic events
o 5.1POWs and the Great Escape
o 5.2Murder investigation
 6Sponsorship
 7The Rolex Institute
 8Rolex.org
 9See also
 10References
 11External links

History[edit]
Early history[edit]
Rolex Submariner

Alfred Davis and his brother-in-law Hans Wilsdorf founded Wilsdorf and Davis, the company that
would eventually become Rolex S.A., in London, England in 1905.  Wilsdorf and Davis' main
[16]

commercial activity at the time involved importing Hermann Aegler's Swiss movements to England
and placing them in watch cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were sold
to many jewellers, who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from Wilsdorf and
Davis were usually hallmarked "W&D" inside the caseback.
In 1908, Wilsdorf registered the trademark "Rolex", which became the brand name of watches from
Wilsdorf and Davis, and opened an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.  Wilsdorf wanted [5][16][17]

his watch brand's name to be easily pronounceable in any language.  He also thought that the
[4][18]

name "Rolex" was onomatopoeic, sounding like a watch being wound. It is easily pronounceable in
many languages and, as all its upper-case letters have the same size and can be written
symmetrically. It was also short enough to fit on the face of a watch. [4][18]

In 1914, Kew Observatory awarded a Rolex watch a Class A precision certificate, a distinction

normally granted exclusively to marine chronometers.  In November 1915, the company changed
[4][18]

its name to Rolex Watch Co. Ltd.  After World War I, Hans Wilsdorf left England in 1919 due to
[7]

heavy post-war taxes levied on luxury imports, as well as to the high cost driven by exporting duties
on the silver and gold used for the watch cases. As a result, Wilsdorf moved the company
to Geneva, Switzerland, where the company's name was officially changed to Montres Rolex S.A. in
1920, and eventually to Rolex S.A in later years. [9][11][16]

With administrative worries tended to, Wilsdorf turned the company's attention to a technical
concern : the infiltration of dust and moisture under the dial and crown, which in turn damaged the
movement. To address this problem, in 1926 Rolex developed and produced the first waterproof and
dustproof wristwatch, giving it the name "Oyster". The watch features a hermetically sealed case
which provided optimal protection for the movement.  [19]

Consumers at the time remained sceptical, however, of a fully waterproof watch. As a

demonstration, Rolex submerged Oyster models in aquariums, which it displayed in the windows of
its main points of sale. Then, in 1927, a young British swimmer named Mercedes Gleitze swam
across the English Channel with an Oyster on her wrist, becoming the first Rolex ambassador. To
celebrate the feat, Rolex published a full-page advertisement on the front page of the Daily Mail
proclaiming the watch's success during the over-ten-hour swim.  [20]

In 1931, Rolex patented a self-winding mechanism they called a Perpetual rotor, a semi-circular
plate that relies on gravity to move freely. Its system was the first wristwatch to use a 360° winding
rotor and would become the basis of all future automatic watches throughout the industry. In turn,
the Oyster watch became known as the Oyster Perpetual.  [21]

Upon the death of his wife in 1944, Wilsdorf established the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a private
trust, in which he left all of his Rolex shares, making sure that some of the company's income would
go to charity. Wilsdorf died in 1960, and since then the trust has owned and run Rolex SA. [11]

Recent development[edit]
In December 2008, following the abrupt departure of Chief Executive Patrick Heiniger for "personal
reasons", Rolex SA denied that it had lost 1 billion Swiss francs (approx £574 million, $900 million)
invested with Bernard Madoff, the American asset manager who pleaded guilty to an approximately
£30 billion worldwide Ponzi scheme fraud.  The company announced Heiniger's death on March 5,
[22]

2013.
Rolex SA is owned by the private Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which is registered as a charity and
does not pay corporate income taxes. In 2011, a spokesman for Rolex declined to provide evidence
regarding the amount of charitable donations made by the Wilsdorf Foundation.  In Geneva where [23]

the company is based, it is said to have gifted, among many things, two housing buildings to social
institutions of Geneva. [24]

According to the 2017 Brand Z report, the brand value is estimated $8.053 billion.  Rolex watches [5]

continue to have a reputation as status symbols.  It produces more than 800,000 timepieces
[25][26][27][28]

each year.  It is said that "The power of the Crown is never more felt than when trying to negotiate
[1]

space in a retail environment for the product of another brand". [29]

Tudor SA[edit]

Wristwatch Tudor Prince Date Day, Ref.: 76200

Rolex SA offers products under the Rolex and Tudor brands. Montres Tudor (SA) has designed,
manufactured and marketed Tudor watches since 6 March 1946.  Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf[30]

conceived of the Tudor Watch Company to create a product for authorized Rolex dealers to sell that
offered the reliability and dependability of a Rolex, but at a lower price.  The number of Rolex
[31]

watches was limited by the rate that they could produce in-house Rolex movements, thus Tudor
watches were originally equipped with off-the-shelf movements while using similar quality cases and
bracelets. [32]

Historically, Tudor watches have been manufactured by Montres Tudor SA using movements
supplied by ETA SA. Since 2015 Tudor has begun to manufacture watches with in-house
movements. The first model introduced with a in-house movement was the Tudor North Flag.
Following this, updated versions of the Tudor Pelagos and Tudor Heritage Black Bay have also been
fitted with an in-house caliber. [33][32]

Tudor watches are marketed and sold in most countries around the world. Montres Tudor SA
discontinued sales of Tudor-branded watches in the United States in 2004, but Tudor returned to the
United States market in the summer of 2013 and to the UK in 2014. [34][35]

Motto and slogan[edit]

One of Rolex's company slogans is "A Crown for Every Achievement". [36][37]

Watch manufacturing[edit]

Rolex GMT Master II gold and stainless steel (ref. 116713LN)

Rolex mostly produced mechanical watches, but it has also participated in the development of the
original quartz watch movements. Although Rolex has made very few quartz models for its Oyster
line, the company's engineers were instrumental in design and implementation of the technology
during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968, Rolex collaborated with a consortium of 16 Swiss
watch manufacturers to develop the Beta 21 quartz movement used in their Rolex Quartz Date 5100
alongside other manufactures including the Omega Electroquartz watches.  Within about five years [38]

of research, design, and development, Rolex created the "clean-slate" 5035/5055 movement that
would eventually power the Rolex Oysterquartz. [39]

Material-wise, Rolex first used its "Cerachrom" ceramic bezel on the GMT-Master II in 2005, and has
since then implemented ceramic bezel inserts across the range of professional sports watches. They
are available on the Submariner, Sea Dweller, Deepsea, GMT Master II and Daytona models. In
contrast to the aluminum bezel which it replaced, the ceramic bezel color does not wear out from
explosure to UV-light and is very scratch resistant. [40]

Rolex also uses 904L grade stainless-steel. Most Swiss watches are made with 316L grade steel.
Rolex uses the higher grade, as it is more resistant to corrosion and when polished, leaves a
beautiful luster.  [41]

Notable inventions and patents[edit]

Among the company's innovations are:

 In 1910, the first watchmaker to earn chronometer certification for a wristwatch. [11]

 In 1926, produced a waterproof wristwatch, Rolex Oyster.  But it was far from the first
[42]

company to do (see, for example, the "Submarine Watch" from the First World War, which was
made by Tavannes and retailed by Brook & Son in Edinburgh). Wilsdorf even had a specially
made Rolex watch (the watch was called the "DeepSea") attached to the side of Trieste, which
went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The watch survived and tested as having kept perfect
time during its descent and ascent. This was confirmed by a telegram sent to Rolex the following
 day saying "Am happy to confirm that even at 11,000 metres your watch is as precise as on the
surface. Best regards, Jacques Piccard". [11]

 In 1931, a self-winding Rolex wristwatch was offered to the public (the so-called the
"bubbleback" due to the large caseback). However, as with so many alleged Rolex "firsts" it was,
in fact, not the first and was preceded to the market by Harwood which patented the design in
1923 and produced the first self-winding watch in 1928. This was powered by an internal
mechanism that used the movement of the wearer's arm. As well as making watch winding
unnecessary, it also kept the power from the mainspring more consistent, resulting in more
reliable timekeeping.
 In 1945, introduced a wristwatch with an automatically changing date on the dial (Rolex
Datejust Ref. 4467).  Again, it was not the first company to do so: Mimo made them in the
[18]

1930's -- some twenty years earlier.

 In 1953, released the first wristwatch case waterproof to 100 m (330 ft) (Rolex Oyster
Perpetual Submariner Ref.6204, 1953) [43]

 In 1954, produced a wristwatch which showed two time zones at once (Rolex GMT
Master ref.6542, 1954)  Yet again, it was not the first company to do so, as the Longines
[44]

DualTime preceded the GMT by a full quarter of a century.

 In 1956, made a wristwatch with an automatically changing day and date on the dial (Rolex
Day-Date, 1956) [45]

Counterfeits[edit]
Rolex watches are frequently counterfeited, and these are often illegally sold on the street and
online. Counterfeit Rolex watches vary in quality: some use the cheapest of movements, while
others use automatic movements, and some use an ETA movement. However, the majority of these
counterfeit watches are easily identifiable by jewellers and other experts.  O. J. Simpson wore a
[46]

counterfeit Rolex during his 1994 murder trial. [47][48][49][50]

Environmental rating[edit]

Top 5 gold producing nations

In December 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released an official report giving
environmental ratings for 15 major watch manufacturers and jewelers in Switzerland.  Rolex, along
[51][52]

with 7 other manufacturers including Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Breguet, was given the

lowest environmental rating as "Latecomers/Non-transparent", suggesting that the manufacturer has
taken very few actions addressing the impact of its manufacturing activities on the environment
and climate change. [51]

There are concerns over the lack of transparency in manufacturing activities and the sourcing of
precious raw materials such as gold, which is a major cause of environmental issues such
as pollution, soil degradation and deforestation.  The situation is especially serious in
[51][52]

the developing countries which are top producers of gold, including China, Russia and South Africa.

 It is estimated that the watch and jewelry sector uses over 50% of world's annual gold
[53][54][55][56]
production (over 2,000 tons), but in most cases the watch companies are not able to or are unwilling
to demonstrate where their raw materials come from and if the material suppliers use eco-
friendly sourcing technologies. [51]

Notable models[edit]
In general, Rolex has three watch lines: Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini (the Cellini line is
Rolex's line of "dress" watches). The primary bracelets for the Oyster line are
named Jubilee, Oyster, President, and Pearlmaster. The watch straps on the models are usually
either stainless steel, yellow gold, white gold, or rose gold. In the United Kingdom, the retail price for
the stainless steel 'Pilots' range (such as the GMT Master II) starts from GBP 5,600. Diamond inlay
watches are more expensive. The book "Vintage Wristwatches" by Antiques Roadshow's Reyne
Haines listed a price estimate of vintage Rolex watches that ranged between US$650 and
US$75,000, while listing vintage Tudors between US$250 and US$9,000. [57]

Most expensive pieces[edit]

See also: List of most expensive watches sold at auction

Rolex Daytona chronograph stainless steel, white dial (ref. 6263)

 On October 26, 2017, a Rolex Daytona (Ref. 6239) wristwatch, manufactured in 1968, was
sold by Phillips in its New York auction for US$17.75 million.  The watch was originally
[58][59][60]

purchased by Joanne Woodward in 1968 and was given by Joanne to her husband Paul
Newman as a gift.  The auction price set a record at $15.5-million, plus buyer's premium of
[61]

12.5%, for a final price of $17,752,500 in New York City.  As of 2018, it is the most expensive
[62]

wristwatch and the second most expensive watch ever sold at auction.  Notably, "[a]t the time
[63][60][64]

that Newman gave the watch to James Cox [as a gift], the watch was selling for about $200." [65][66]

 On May 28, 2018, a Rolex Daytona "Unicorn" Ref. 6265 was sold in auction by Phillips for
US$5.937 million in Geneva, making it the second most expensive Rolex timepiece ever sold at
auction (as of 2018). [67][68]

 The most expensive Rolex (in terms of retail price) ever produced by the Rolex factory was
the GMT Ice reference 116769TBR with a retail price of US$485,350. A Forbes magazine article
on the Swiss watch industry compared the retail value of Rolex to that of competing
brands Corum, Universal Genève and IWC. [69]

Air-King[edit]
Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf created the Air-King line to honor RAF pilots of the Battle of Britain,
releasing the first model in 1958. By 2007, the 1142XX iteration of the Air-King featured a COSC-
certified movement in a 34mm case, considered by some a miniaturized variant of the 39mm Rolex
Explorer as both watches featured very similar styling cues; the 34mm Air-King lineup was the least
expensive series of Oyster Perpetual. In 2014 the Air-King was dropped, making the Oyster
Perpetual 26/31/34/36/39 the entry-level Rolex line. In 2016 Rolex reintroduced the Air-King,
available as a single model (number 116900), largely similar to its predecessors but with a larger
40mm case, and a magnetic shield found on the Rolex Milgauss; indeed the new 40mm Air-King is
slightly cheaper than the 39mm Explorer (the Explorer lacks the magnetic shield but its movement
has Paraflex shock absorbers that are not found in the Air-King's movement). [70][71][72][73][74]

Oyster Perpetual[edit]
The name of the watch line in catalogs is often "Rolex Oyster ______" or "Rolex Oyster Perpetual
______"; Rolex Oyster and Oyster Perpetual are generic names and not specific product lines,
except for the Oyster Perpetual 26/31/34/36/39 and Oyster Perpetual Date 34.The Rolex Oyster
Perpetual watch is a direct descendant of the original watertight Rolex Oyster watch created in 1926.
Within the Oyster Perpetual lineup, there are three different movements; the 39 features the Caliber
3132 movement with the Parachrom hairspring and Paraflex shock absorbers (the Oyster Perpetual
39 is a less sporty variant of the Rolex Explorer 39mm as they share the same case, same bracelet
and buckle, same bezel and same movement, with a different dial and different hands), while the 34
and 36 models have the Caliber 3130 featuring the Parachrom hairspring, and the smallest 28 and
31 models have Calibre 2231.  The Oyster Perpetual Date 34 (or simply Date 34) adds a date
[75][76]

display and date movement, plus the options of a white gold fluted bezel and diamonds on the dial.
Certain models from the Date and Datejust are almost identical, however the Datejust have 36 mm
and 41 mm cases paired with a 20 mm bracelet, compared to the Date's 34 mm case and 19 mm
bracelet. Modern versions of the Oyster Perpetual Date and Datejust models share Rolex's 3135
movement, with the most recent change to the 3135 movement being the introduction of Rolex's
"parachrom bleu" hairspring, which provides increased accuracy. As the Date and Datejust share a
movement, both have the ability to adjust the date forward one day at a time without adjusting the
time; this feature is not confined to the Datejust. Compared to the Date, the Datejust has a much
wider range of customization options, including other metals beyond stainless steel, various
materials for the dial, and optional diamonds on the dial and bezel. The Datejust II, which was
released in 2009, has a bigger case (41mm diameter) than the standard Datejust and it also features
an updated movement, being only available in steel with white, yellow or rose gold on an Oyster
bracelet.  In 2016, Rolex released the Datejust 41, which has the same 41mm diameter case as the
[77]

Datejust II, however the Datejust 41 has smaller indexes and a thinner bezel compared to the
Datejust II. [78]

Sports collections[edit]

Rolex Sea Dweller Deepsea with 3,900 m depth rating (ref. 116660)

Rolex produced specific models suitable for the extremes of deep-sea diving, caving, mountain
climbing, polar exploration, and aviation. Early sports models included the Rolex Submariner (1953)
and the Rolex Sea Dweller (1967). The latter watch has a helium release valve, co-invented with
Swiss watchmaker Doxa, to release helium gas build-up during decompression.
The Explorer (1953) and Explorer II (1971) were developed specifically for explorers who would
navigate rough terrain, such as the world-famous Mount Everest expeditions. Indeed, the Rolex
Explorer was launched to celebrate the successful ascent of Everest in 1953 by the expeditionary
team led by Sir John Hunt.
The 39 mm Rolex Explorer was designed as a "tool watch" for rugged use, hence its movement has
Paraflex shock absorbers which gives them higher shock resistance than other Rolex watches.  The [74]

42mm Rolex Explorer II has some significant differences from the 39mm Explorer; the Explorer II
adds a date function, and an orange 24-hour hand which is paired with the fixed bezel's black 24-
hour markers  for situations underground or around the poles where day cannot be distinguished
[79]

from night.
Another iconic model is the Rolex GMT Master (1955), originally developed at the request of Pan
Am Airways to provide its crews with a dual time watch that could be used to display GMT
(Greenwich Mean Time), which was the international time standard for aviation at that time (and still
is) and was needed for Astronavigation during longer flights. [11]

Historic events[edit]
POWs and the Great Escape[edit]
By the start of World War II Royal Air Force pilots were buying Rolex watches to replace their inferior
standard-issue watches. However, when captured and sent to prisoner of war (POW) camps, their
watches were confiscated.  When Hans Wilsdorf heard of this, he offered to replace all watches that
[18]

had been confiscated and not require payment until the end of the war, if the officers would write to
Rolex and explain the circumstances of their loss and where they were being held. Wilsdorf was in
personal charge of the scheme.  As a result of this, an estimated 3,000 Rolex watches were
[80][81]

ordered by British officers in the officer camp Oflag VII-B in Bavaria alone.  This had the effect of
[80]

raising the morale among the allied POWs because it indicated that Wilsdorf did not believe that
the Axis powers would win the war.  American servicemen heard about this when stationed in
[80][82]

Europe during WWII and this helped open up the American market to Rolex after the war. [18]

On 10 March 1943, while still a prisoner of war, Corporal Clive James Nutting, one of the organizers
of the Great Escape, ordered a stainless steel Rolex Oyster 3525 Chronograph (valued at a current
equivalent of £1,200) by mail directly from Hans Wilsdorf in Geneva, intending to pay for it with
money he saved working as a shoemaker at the camp.  The watch (Rolex watch no. 185983)
[80][82][83] [83]

 was delivered to Stalag Luft III on 10 July that year along with a note from Wilsdorf apologising for
[84]

any delay in processing the order and explaining that an English gentleman such as Corporal
Nutting "should not even think" about paying for the watch before the end of the war.  Wilsdorf is [80][82]

reported to have been impressed with Nutting because, although not an officer, he had ordered the
expensive Rolex 3525 Oyster chronograph while most other prisoners ordered the much cheaper
Rolex Speed King model which was popular because of its small size.  The watch is believed to
[80]

have been ordered specifically to be used in the Great Escape when, as a chronograph, it could
have been used to time patrols of prison guards or time the 76 ill-fated escapees through tunnel
'Harry' on 24 March 1944.  Eventually, after the war, Nutting was sent an invoice of only £15 for
[80][82][85]

the watch, because of currency export controls in England at the time.  The watch and associated
[82]

correspondence between Wilsdorf and Nutting were sold at auction for £66,000 in May 2007, while
at an earlier auction in September 2006 the same watch fetched A$54,000.  Nutting served as a [82][84]

consultant for both the 1950 film The Wooden Horse and the 1963 film The Great Escape.  Both [80]

films were based on actual escapes which took place at Stalag Luft III. It was also reported that in
November 2013 the Rolex Speed King owned by Flight Lieutenant Gerald Imeson during the Great
Escape was sold for £60,000. [86]

Murder investigation[edit]
See also: Albert Johnson Walker
In a famous murder case, the Rolex on Ronald Platt's wrist eventually led to the arrest of his
murderer, Albert Johnson Walker—a financial planner who had fled from Canada when he was
charged with 18 counts of fraud, theft, and money laundering. When the body was found in
the English Channel in 1996 by a fisherman named John Coprik,  a Rolex wristwatch was the only
[87]

identifiable object on the body.  Since the Rolex movement had a serial number and was engraved
[87]

with special markings every time it was serviced, British police traced the service records from Rolex
and identified the owner of the watch as Ronald Platt. In addition, British police were able to
determine the date of death by examining the date on the watch calendar. Since the Rolex
movement was fully waterproof and had a reserve of two days of operation when inactive, they were
able to determine the time of death within a small margin of error.[87][88]

Sponsorship[edit]
In tennis, Rolex is the official timekeeper of Wimbledon, the Australian Open, the US Open, and
the French Open, all four Grand Slams. In golf, it is the official time keeper for two of the
four majors, The Open Championship and the U.S. Open, as well as the PGA Tour and European
Tour; the presenting sponsor for one of the five senior majors, The Senior Open Championship; and
the official sponsor of the Women's World Golf Rankings.

Rolex Yacht-Master

Rolex is the title sponsor to the 24 Hours of Daytona, from which the Daytona model takes its name,
along with the Rolex Sports Car Series. In 2013, Rolex became the official timekeeper to
the FIA Formula 1 motor racing championship. Rolex has also been the official timekeeper to the Le
Mans 24 Hours motor race since 2001.  Ex-Formula 1 driver Sir Jackie Stewart has advertised
[89]

Rolex since 1968. Others who have done so for some years include Arnold Palmer, Roger Penske,
Jean Claude Killy, and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.  It is also the sponsor of the Rolex International
[90]

Jumping Riders Club Top 10 Final competition. [91]

Tenzing Norgay and other members of the Hunt expedition wore Rolex Oysters in 1953 on Mount
Everest but the only watch that Hillary wore to the summit was a Smiths De Luxe (currently on
display at the Clockmakers' Museum within the Science Museum, London). Both Rolex and Smiths
had claimed to the first to the summit and while feasible (eg if Hillary and/or Tenzing had carried
both or if one had a Smiths and the other a Rolex) it was later admitted by Mr. R. A. Winter, Director
of the Rolex Watch Co., Ltd that Hillary was only wearing one watch at the summit, "and that a
Smiths watch." He goes on to congratulate Smiths "on the fact that their Smiths de Luxe ordinary
wind wrist watch reached the summit with Sir Edmund Hillary." (BHI's Horological Journal, Letters,
October 1953, 651)
Also on the year 1953, one or several Rolex Oyster Perpetual (ref. 6098) whatches have been given
to members of the Italian expedition "Sesto Continente", an exploration in the Red Sea, either
underwater and on coasts of the surrounding countries- The expedition, organized and directed by
Bruno Vailati, has been filmed in the homonymous documentary that was shot in the Red Sea and
the Dahlak Islands and presented at the 15th Venice International Film Festival in 1954. The
expedition included commander Raimondo Bucher as director of the sports section, accompanied by
his wife Enza, Italian underwater hunting champion, Silverio Zecca, known as the amphibious man,
the painter Priscilla Hastings, who would make her own works directly on the sea bed, the journalist
Gianni Roghi, the hydrobiologists Francesco Baschieri Salvadori and Luigi Stuart Tovini of the
University of Rome, dr. Alberto Grazioli, expedition doctor, film operator Masino Manunza and
photographer Giorgio Ravelli. The Sesto Continente is a (edited 1954) film directed by Folco Quilici
during the "National Underwater Expedition in the Red Sea" well organized by Bruno Vailati, the first
in color in the history of Italian underwater cinema. The Rolex Oyster watches have been precious,
and perfectly proper for the hard job to dive for thousand hours.
Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh had a specially designed experimental Rolex Oyster Perpetual
Deep-Sea Special strapped to the outside of their bathyscaphe during the 1960 Challenger Deep /
Mariana Trench dive to a world-record depth of 10,916 metres (35,814 ft). When James
Cameron conducted a similar dive in 2012, a specially designed and manufactured Rolex Oyster
Perpetual Sea-Dweller Deep Sea Challenge watch was being "worn" by his submarine's robotic arm.
[92]

Rolex is currently partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as a founding
supporter of the upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, which will explore
the history of film. The brand has also partnered with four Oscar-winning film directors - Kathryn
Bigelow, James Cameron, Alejandro G. Inarritu and Martin Scorsese - in a campaign aimed to
inspire the next generation of filmmakers to pursue their craft. [2]
Mercedes Gleitze was the first British woman to swim the English Channel on 7 October 1927.
However, as John E. Brozek (author of The Rolex Report: An Unauthorized Reference Book for the
Rolex Enthusiast) points out in his article "The Vindication Swim, Mercedes Gleitze and Rolex take
the plunge", some doubts were cast on her achievement when a hoaxer claimed to have made a
faster swim only four days later. Hence Gleitze attempted a repeat swim with extensive publicity on
21 October, dubbed the "Vindication Swim". For promotional purposes, Hans Wilsdorf offered her
one of the earliest Rolex Oysters if she would wear it during the attempt. After more than 10 hours,
in water that was much colder than during her first swim, she was pulled from the sea semi-
conscious seven miles short of her goal. Although she did not complete the second crossing, a
journalist for The Times wrote "Having regard to the general conditions, the endurance of Miss
Gleitze surprised the doctors, journalists and experts who were present, for it seemed unlikely that
she would be able to withstand the cold for so long. It was a good performance". As she sat in the
boat, the same journalist made a discovery and reported it as follows: "Hanging round her neck by a
ribbon on this swim, Miss Gleitze carried a small gold watch, which was found this evening to have
kept good time throughout". When examined closely, the watch was found to be dry inside and in
perfect condition. One month later, on 24 November 1927, Wilsdorf launched the Rolex Oyster
watch in the United Kingdom with a full front page Rolex advert in the Daily Mail. The Vienna
Herald described the 1969 Apollo moon landing as: 'an event almost as significant as the time a
woman swam most of the English Channel with a waterproof watch on.' [93]

The Rolex Institute[edit]

The Rolex Institute was created by the brand to help support specific people and events in line with
the brand's values, through two distincit programs. 
[94]

The first is the Rolex Awards for Enterprise. Founded in 1976 to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the Oyster watch, the awards recognise and support enterprising individuals from around the
globe who initiate projects aimed at making the world a better place. Winners receive a cash grant to
advance their projects, along with international media coverage. (Rolex Awards for Enterprise).  [95]

The second is the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, a biennial philanthropic programme
launched in 2002 that brings together gifted young artists with globally recognised masters in the
fields of architecture, dance, film, literature, music, theatre and visual arts, for a year of creative
collaboration and one-to-one. (Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative)  [96]

Rolex.org[edit]
Rolex.org is the website for the brand's philanthropic arm, whose goal is to positively impact future
generations within the fields of science, the arts and the environment. The website, in complement to
but entirely separate from the brand's commercial site, aims to be a source of inspiration and
education, presenting Rolex's past and present initiatives in support of individuals and organisations
from around the world. The keyword "Perpetual" is regularly repeated throughout the website,
evoking Rolex's Oyster Perpetual watch collection while underlying the brand's commitment to
preserving humanitarian domains.  [97][98]

See also[edit]
 List of watch manufacturers
 Rolex Awards for Enterprise
 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
 Rolex Tower

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