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Originally Posted by sgwatchguy
Thanks again Rob. I’ve read about Rolex so many places but I had never come across their fascinating history with multiple brands and work with other brands. HW was a marketing genius, he seemed to have been a very busy man and accomplished building a global business even in that day and age.
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Thanks!
And I agree, Rolex's 20th-century business savvy was off the charts. Wilsdorf foresaw the need for watches to be worn on the wrist, wind automatically, and be waterproof. He foresaw the importance of brand ambassadors as early as the 1920's (Mercedes Gleitze. etc.), and by that point he already had a worldwide network of retailers spanning across Venezuela, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, France, Cuba, Singapore, India, etc. He aggressively gave out Rolexes to people he thought were going to make the news doing explorey stuff (like Norgay and Hillary). He foresaw the need for a lower-priced brand tier. Way ahead of his time marketing-wise.
Rolex didn't overtake Omega in chronometer output until the 1970's but nowadays people look at Rolex as if they were always on top, like a foregone conclusion. But a hell of a lot of business smarts went into making it that way!