120 Years Of Rolex: 10 Surprising Facts You Didn’t Know About The Brand
10 min read
I’ll begin with a confession as predictable as it is sincere: I’m a devoted Rolex fanatic. As much as my love affair (with Rolex) emanates from my regard for the brand’s horological contributions, a lot of it has got to do with the somewhat functional appeal of its offerings. Personally, it’s an inclination to the tool-ish nature of its creations that draws me closer to Rolex and has registered in me a lifelong affinity for the rotating bezel aesthetic. I’m an absolute sucker for a two-tone GMT bezel and you can guess where this intimacy found its genesis.
In its marketing lingo that occurs as a significant aside from the conventional Swiss watch industry practices, Rolex has always pitched the utilitarian competence of its watches higher than their heritage and craftsmanship. Their models have been advertised as being capable of “working perfectly 660 feet under the sea,” ideal for “taming oil well fires,” and perfect to wear when “looking for lost empires under the ocean.” They have never been the hand-crafted marvels to look after for the next generation. When a watch (Rolex Deepsea Challenge) can descend 10,908 meters (35,787 feet) to the Mariana Trench, there’s no debate that the next generation would be left wrist-deprived. And this is the exact reason why Rolex is special. Undeniably meriting this designation, their Submariner was announced to the world in a typically genius marketing move, when it was affixed to the hull of Auguste Piccard’s submarine in 1953, where it reached a depth of nearly 2 miles or 3,150 meters successfully. That is bold!
In 2025, Rolex celebrates its 120th anniversary and there’s no doubt that it has been a wonderful and bankable adventure for the self-crowned Manufacture. At least there’s numbers that testify. In an estimate of the total turnover and retail/wholesale values of Swiss watch brands in 2023, Rolex took major sweepstakes. The brand was valued at approximately $10.7 billion in this report by Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult. Moreover, the brand captured a remarkable 30.3% share of the total retail market of Swiss watches. Impressive!
On the Forbes profile of the brand, Rolex is introduced as, “the leading name in luxury wristwatches.” Well, deservingly so. Hence, without any doubt and unless you have been holed up in polar caps for the past 75 years, Rolex is the luxury watch brand that everyone knows. Oh, while there definitely are brands with histories that stretch back nearly three hundred years, none has attained the permeating and generic prominence that Rolex has since the 1950s.
From Roger Federer and Warren Buffett to John F. Kennedy and Grace Kelly, it’s no surprise that many of the world’s greatest have fallen for the tempt of Rolex. Sir Winston Churchill too applauded Rolex with this famous quote, “My Rolex is a continual pleasure, and works admirably.” These simple words eloquently echo Rolex’s core sentiment: enduring, innovative and practical watchmaking that has lasted the better part of a century.
120 Years of Rolex: A Chronological Synopsis
Tracing the total expanse of Rolex’s timeline is a job best left to horological historians. To be honest, such an undertaking would spawn volumes and volumes of books with chapters and chapters of text documenting the brand’s progression over a hundred and twenty years. Well, that certainly is above pay grade for me, and in fact there is a library-worth heft of books chronicling the in-depth evolution of Rolex. Hence, I won't reinvent the wheel, but a quick rundown couldn’t harm. So, here goes the story of Rolex.
10 Rolex Facts That You Didn’t Know
Already established, Rolex is the most well-known watch brand in the world. Even if you are oblivious to the existence of a wrist-wearable commodity tracking the progression of hours and minutes, there’s a solid chance that you’ve at least heard the name ‘Rolex.’ That’s how integrally familiar the brand is, impervious to geographical, generational and gendered divides. So, by purely tolerable delusion, any average watch snob would argue that they know all there is to know about Rolex. In reality, beneath the familiar facts, there’s more unknown than known about Rolex.
Here are ten things you didn’t know about Rolex.
All Rolex dial markers and hands are in gold
In 1984, the markers on all Rolex dials (steel as well as precious metal Rolex watch models) were switched from painted to applied with white gold surrounds. Also, no longer are the hands steel, they are white gold. The metal was chosen not only for its corrosion resistance, but its reflectivity as it returns 95% of the light in comparison to steel's 60%. However, case matching gold and platinum is used for non-white gold and platinum models. So, it’s precious metal all the way.
The fluted bezel was actually function oriented
We all are familiar with the ridged design of the Rolex fluted bezel on let’s say the Datejust, Day-Date and Sky-Dweller models. This serrated edge, commonly known as ‘fluting,’ is a true Rolex hallmark and yields a brilliant ocular delight. Well, its origins are more utilitarian than aesthetic. The fluted bezel made its debut on the Rolex Oyster in 1926 and was screwed onto the case to ensure watertightness. These bezel ridges acted as teeth on which the tools would grip on to get the required tightness or sealing. While the techniques have evolved, the fluted bezel has survived as a decorative feature on specific Rolex watch collection models. Now it’s exclusively crafted from precious metals to further enhance the sheen and luster.
Although not first, Rolex did land on the moon
At 02:56 GMT on 21 July 1969, two men walked on the moon for the very first time. We know who they were and the “Moonwatch” they wore. While a Rolex watch wasn’t the first NASA-qualified timepiece, Astronaut Edgar Mitchell wore his personal GMT-Master ref. 1675 on the Apollo 14 mission on February 5, 1971, although in unofficial capacity. He also wore the standard issue Speedmaster around the spacesuit while the Rolex was worn underneath it.
The Rolex Day-Date is available in 26 languages
With the Rolex Day-Date, timekeeping is as global as it gets. The modern Day-Date is available in 26 languages following the most writing systems – Latin, Arabic, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese ideograms and even the Ge’ez alphasyllabary used in the Horn of Africa. Then there’s the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 which speaks the language of ‘emotions.’
Rolex is a charity owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation
When Hans Wilsdorf passed away in 1960, the ownership of Rolex S.A. and its affiliated brands, including Tudor, was inherited by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, established in 1945. As Swiss law exempts non-profit entities of tax, Rolex receives a major cut in taxes on its estimated $10.7 billion annual revenue. However, the foundation which is Europe's largest scholarship fund supports several institutions and initiatives. Rolex also buys a lot of real estate. Its real-estate arm, Marconi Investment S.A. owns more than CHF734 million’s worth of properties.
Modern Rolexes offer the perfect date change
The date on a modern Rolex always clicks over exactly at midnight. This is owing to the fact that the factory uses a machine that detects the engagement of the date change mechanism by sound, so the watchmaker can align all the hands dead on midnight to within a second. Also, in photographs, Rolex always has its watches set at 10 minutes past 10 and 31 seconds on the 28th.
Hans Wilsdorf registered more than 20 brand names
In addition to registering the name Rolex in 1908, Hans Wilsdorf registered and produced watches under many other names including Tudor, RWC, Marconi Lever, Unicorn Lever, RolCo, Lusitania, Rolwatco, Omigra, Elvira, Falcon, Genex, Lonex, Rolexis, Lexis, Hofex, Wintex, Admiralty, Victory, Aqua, Oyster, Neptune, Viceroy and Buick. By 1945, all other brand names had fallen away, except Tudor. Surprised!
The Rolex name is actually a random 5 letter word
Hans Wilsdorf’s criteria for coming up with the brand name “Rolex” were a short name of five letters or less, easy to pronounce in every language, easy-to-remember and one that would create an attractive look on the dial. He randomly decided it by creating hundreds of combinations from all the letters in the alphabet. The rest is history!
Rolex is linked to “The Great Escape”
Contrary to many Swiss brands, Rolex never sold any watches to either side of the armed forces during the WWll. However, they offered watches directly to Allied Officers in German Prisoner of War camps. During his time at the Prisoner of War camp Stalag Luft III in 1944, Corporal Clive James Nutting wrote to Rolex to purchase a chronograph. Hans Wilsdorf wrote back personally in agreement, refusing to take any payment until after the war. He received his watch (No. 185983) in August 1943.
In 1944, an escape attempt was made by 76 soldiers from the very same camp. It's likely that the chronograph was used in timing the patrols of prison guards while the soldiers were escaping via the tunnel “Harry” in what's become known as “The Great Escape.” Nutting survived the war but despite asking was never charged for the watch which was the Rolex Oyster Chronograph Antimagnetic ref. 3525.
904L steel’s hallmark is corrosion resistance, not hardness
In 1985, Rolex altered the composition of its stainless-steel when it switched to 904L from 316L. In Rolex tradition, they basically over-engineered with “Oystersteel” or the 904L recipe. While the most common arrangement of ingredients in stainless-steel is the 316L, the 904L composition features a higher percentage of nickel and chromium aiding in better corrosion resistance, especially against salty seawater. While it’s a close competition in hardness with the 316L stainless-steel, the 904L steel does however polish to a better shine.
Did you learn something new about Rolex? I hope so.
A Brand Recognized for Quality
For more than a century, Rolex has defined standards and set the benchmark in functional timekeeping. With models designed to withstand extremities in every use, it is the definitive “tool watch” manufacturer. Although we are far beyond the days when Rolexes were advertised in fish tanks, even today these watches are equated with luxury and enduring performance. For what it has pioneered and accomplished, I propose a toast to Rolex on its 120th anniversary.
I round off with a genuine and apt admiration of Rolex by none other than Sir Edmund Hillary, who appropriately remarked, “Rolex accuracy is all one could desire and it has run continuously without winding ever since I put it on some nine months ago. I count my Rolex watch amongst my most treasured possessions.”
My applause to all those who cherish and value Rolex for what it truly is. You are special.
