Rolex is where it is now because it led the way for many innovations and milestones in the history of watchmaking. In 1910, the company earned a chronometer certification – the first ever to be given to a wristwatch – and they have not stopped since. How many of today’s most common watch features were actually introduced by Rolex? Stay tuned, to find out!
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Transcript:
From SwissWatchExpo…
Spotlight on: the many firsts in the history of Rolex. Firsts in watchmaking, that Rolex introduced.
Rolex has long established itself as a leader in watchmaking. Ask just about anyone of their top-of-mind watch brand; and the answer is sure to be Rolex!
Rolex is where it is now because it led the way for many innovations and milestones in the history of watchmaking. In 1910, the company earned a chronometer certification – the first ever to be given to a wristwatch – and they have not stopped since.
How many of today’s most common watch features were actually introduced by Rolex? Stay tuned, to find out.
Let’s start with the Oyster. Launched in 1926, the Rolex Oyster was the world’s first truly waterproof and dustproof watch.
To protect the dial and movement from elements, the Oyster was developed with a hermetically-sealed case, closed by a screw-down crown and screw-down caseback, each lined with rubber gaskets.
The following year, Rolex founder Hans Wildorf, famously gave swimmer Mercedes Gleitze one of the earliest Rolex Oysters to wear in her attempt to repeat her swim across the English Channel.
After 10 hours in icy cold water, her Rolex was still dry inside. It was a feat that paved the way for water resistant and diving watches of the future.
Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual movement, created in 1931, was the first self-winding mechanism with a perpetual rotor.
Ever wondered why it’s called “perpetual”? Instead of being manually wound, the Oyster Perpetual Movement has the ability to run on the energy provided by the motion of the wearer’s wrist.
The activity of the wearer causes the rotor to move back and forth, thus winding the mainspring and powering the watch. It was because of this advancement that we have automatic watches today.
Did you know? The ever popular Rolex Datejust was the first watch with a date window on the dial.
As simple as it can be today, the quick-changing date on the dial was a gamechanger during its time.
Rolex was celebrating their 40th anniversary in 1945, so they wanted to commemorate the occasion with a groundbreaking timepiece.
The result was the Datejust – the first self-winding, water resistant wristwatch, with a date window at 3 o’clock.
Aside from displaying the date on the dial, it automatically changes at midnight, without the need for adjustment. At long last, the date will always be just!
Rolex has long made watches for professionals, and that includes explorers.
Rolex wanted to test the robustness of their watches by exposing them to elements -- and in 1969, a Rolex became the first watch to reach the peak of Mt. Everest.
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary became the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, along with expedition partner Tenzing Norgay.
On his wrist was a Rolex watch, an Oyster Perpetual that would end up being the ancestor of what is now known as the Rolex Explorer.
With the goal of creating watches that can withstand elements, Rolex started sending their Oyster Perpetuals to Himalayan expeditions. The pre-Explorer eventually accompanied Norgay and Hillary to the peak.
To commemorate the feat, Rolex released the Oyster Perpetual Explorer that same year. The Explorer story continues until today, as the line of robust watches for exploration and every day wear.
The Rolex Submariner is not only the world’s most recognizable timepiece – it was also the first watch that was waterproof to 100 meters or 330 feet, and equipped with a rotatable bezel, for divers to read time underwater.
Rolex already had water-resistant watches since the late 1920s, after they launched the innovative waterproof Oyster case.
But René P. Jeanneret (john, a passionate diver and one of Rolex’s directors, thought it was time for a dedicated watch for diving.
Through Jeanneret’s insight, the Submariner was launched with the distinct honor of being the first water-resistant dive watch, one that was waterproof up to 100 meters.
And not only that. Jeanneret’s idea was for the Submariner to be a diving watch, that could also be used as a dress watch.
The Submariner, of course, became one of the most successful Rolex models in history – and one that set the benchmark for all other dive watches.
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