There would be no Rolex, without its spirited and legendary founder Hans Wilsdorf. As a 19-year-old correspondent with Messrs, Hans was first introduced to the world of timekeeping in 1900. Then in 1905, the 24-year-old Hans partnered with his brother-in-law Alfred Davis and set up a watch company that catered to the needs of high-end customers. The duo imported quality make movements from Hermann Aegler and fitted them into equally premium-quality watch cases by reputed companies like Dennison. To their delight, the watches were very well-received and demand for them grew.

In 1908, Hans came up with the name “Rolex”, while he was riding the horse-drawn omnibus in Cheapside, London. The brand’s goal was to introduce a line of wristwatches that focused on chronometric precision. In 1910, they created their first wristwatch which won a Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision. In 1914, the company was awarded the prestigious distinction “A” precision certificate by Kew Observatory. This cemented Rolex’s place as one of the most precise timekeeping technologies available.

 In 1919, Wilsdorf and Davis moved Rolex to Geneva, Switzerland and registered the company there. In 1926, the company created the legendary Rolex Oyster – a waterproof and dustproof wristwatch that arrived in a hermetically sealed case. In 1927, the Oyster was used by Mercedes Gleitze to cross the English Channel in a 10-hours swim.

 A few years later in 1931, Rolex created the world’s very first perpetual rotor with a self-winding mechanism. This is the standard technology in most watches today. In 1945, Rolex released its exclusive Datejust, which boasted of a Jubilee bracelet and fluted bezel.

 During the period between 1930 and 1980, Rolex watches have served as the official timekeepers for adventure sports enthusiasts, mountain climbers, deep-sea divers and global visionaries. It was for this reason that Rolex was renowned as the “watch of achievers”. In fact, the first Everest Summit by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay was done with a Rolex Oyster Perpetuals in tow. The range of Perpetuals soon birthed other Rolex variants such as The Explorer, The Submarine, The Explorer II and COMEX.

 In 1976, to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary, the company launched the Rolex Awards for Enterprise. This is an award that is given to anyone who has contributed an outstanding achievement that has had a positive effect on humanity.