An Article in the FT re Rolex and 100 years.

[bermuda]

"No time for celebrating world's top brand

By Simon de Burton

Published: November 8 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 8 2008 02:00

The end of this year will mark the passing of the centenary of what many watch enthusiasts regard as a seminal moment in modern horological history - the original registration of Rolex as a brand name.
Switzerland's leading watch company has allowed the anniversary year to come and go without the pomp and circumstance that most brands would drum up to celebrate such a milestone, but that is fairly typical of Rolex, which did not get where it is today by ostentation and making overt displays of its success.
Indeed, the instant when the company's founder, a Bavarian orphan called Hans Wilsdorf, enjoyed his eureka moment was not, itself, exactly accompanied by fireworks and dancing in the streets: it was during the early 1900s and he was sitting on the top deck of a London omnibus as it passed by St Paul's cathedral. He had established a London-based watch company called Wilsdorf and Davis in 1905 with the backing of a wealthy private investor called Alfred Davis, but he knew that a catchy dial name was needed to help his firm achieve international success.
Although plausible explanations abound, no one really knows why he opted for Rolex other than the fact that it is short, punchy and reasonably easy to pronounce in most languages. Some say it is an amalgam of the name Rolls-Royce and the word "excellence", some that it was inspired by the French phrase horlogerie exquise and others that it is simply an onomatopoeiac interpretation of the sound of a watch being wound.
All three explanations are doubtful, but what is not in contention is that "Rolex" was first registered as a trade name in Geneva in 1908 and that its creation was a stroke of genius. Rolex is now one of the most widely recognised brand names in the world and is the first that most people choose when they are asked to name a "luxury" watch - despite the fact that Rolex has never put itself forward as a maker of "luxury" timepieces in the usual sense of the word, is thought to produce more than 700,000 watches per year, offers no model more complex than a chronograph, and has an average selling price of around £5,000.
Such facts seem odd when many other brands often go out of their way to reinforce their luxury standing by offering tourbillons, minute repeaters, perpetual calendars and other complications that are created in tiny numbers and cost six-figure sums. But the Rolex approach has always been different - it has opted to keep things relatively simple and, even today, offers just three lines in the form of the classic Oyster Perpetual models, the Professional sports watches and the Cellini dress range.
Although gem set pieces are included in the catalogue - and occasionally amaze with their brashness, as in the case of the Daytona Leopard chronograph of 2004 - the success of the brand lies in the quality, reliability, longevity and strong residual values of its popular steel creations such as the Submariner dive watch and GMT Master dual-time model.
The company, which relocated to Switzerland in 1915 after high import duties on watch movements and precious metal cases forced Hans Wilsdorf away from Britain, is now one of the country's major employers with a movement-making facility in Bienne and a case and bracelet-making operation in Geneva that boasts state-of-the-art research and development laboratories, a computer-monitored assembly line and a robotic despatch facility.
The factory is even equipped with its own metal refinery that produces, among other metals, the special Rolex "Everose" gold that is designed not to alter in colour with prolonged exposure to swimming pool chlorine.
Rolex also differs from other brands in its slow and cautious approach to change, preferring to update its model range gradually over a period of years with significant and genuine improvements that will add to its reputation, the latest being the recently-introduced Sea-Dweller DeepSea that is guaranteed as waterproof to an astonishing 12,800 feet.
It is a method of operation that has helped build Rolex an unrivalled reputation for reliability, which was beautifully illustrated to me recently by the elderly owner of a Rolex Air King which, he told me, he had tried to exchange at his local jeweller's a few weeks earlier for a new, quartz watch from a Japanese maker.
The jeweller said he would be happy to do the exchange, but asked why the Air King owner wanted to change his watch for one of lesser quality.
"I explained that the watch was basically useless as it had stopped working," he told me.
"The jeweller then asked me when I had last had it serviced - I said never. I had bought it brand new in 1964 and worn it every day since, for everything from hunting to sailing around the world."
A £200 service later and the Air King was ticking away again, as good as new. Which goes some way to explaining why Rolex is Switzerland's leading watch maker."

[davidwatts]

Great Article - thanks for sharing

[Numismatist]

Thanks for the article, nice story.

[Trurolexer]

Great Article!!! Thanks For Sharing!!!

[jdc]

Good article that sums up my feeling about Rolex

[Trurolexer]

I'm Falling In LOVE with my ROLEX (again).

[East Bay Rider]

Articles like this always reinforce my enthusiasm for Rolex.

[pwcrulez]

Thanks for sharing. Nice Article!!!

[buz-lh]

That article sums up "Why Rolex?". Thanks for the post.