Rolex Daytona Grossular Diamond Dial 116519

Basic Info

Caliber

Case

Bracelet/strap

Functions

Rolex

The history of the Swiss watch company Rolex dates back to the beginning of the 20th century and is inextricably linked with the name of its founder. German by birth, Hans Wilsdorf was born in Bavaria. Being an orphan, he nevertheless received a good education. His career as a watchmaker began in a company that exports Swiss watches. The work is very interested in a young employee.

After moving to London in 1903, he and his stepbrother founded Wilsdorf & Devis, a company that supplied watch movements. Wilsdorf became the distributor of Aegler watches in England. Wanting to promote his brand, he hires jewelers, and they put the W & D logo on the chronometers manufactured by Aegler (in Dennison cases).

Business allowed to save some capital, helped unleash its brand, but did not satisfy the ambitions of a businessman. The plans for Wilsdorf was the opening of its own high-grade watch production. These plans were destined to be realized in 1905.

Confident in demand, he began to produce wristwatches with gold and silver straps, and later with a flexible metal bracelet (this significantly reduced the price of chronometers and for some period W & D became the best-selling in Britain).

The project has been very successful. In 1908, Wilsdorf changed the name of the company to a shorter and more resonant one and placed it on the dial of its watches. This is how the Rolex brand appears. Officially, the name of the company was registered only in 1915.

During World War I, the British government imposed a high duty of 33% on imported goods. Since much of the parts were imported, Wilsdorf had to move the business quickly. In 1914, Rolex began to collect in the city of Bienne, also a factory was bought in Geneva. Today, watch movements are made in Bienne, and the complete assembly takes place in Geneva.

As a result, this move was life-saving for the company: on the one hand, the costs were reduced, excellent specialists came to the staff, and access to new technologies opened up. On the other hand, after the war before Europe, the continuation of the Great Carnage loomed, and neutral Switzerland allowed business to live relatively calmly and even grow.

Wrist Rolex became the prototype of all the "commanding" hours. Comfortable, light - they were always "at hand." After the war, men across Europe preferred wrist watches.

In 1931, the company's engineer, Emil Borer, invented an automatic winding system: the mechanism automatically started the watch in response to hand movements. This became a sensation, and the resulting patent secured the much-desired new product for Rolex for the next 15 years.

The company paid special attention to the quality of watch movements, which made it possible to achieve their chronometric accuracy. This is evidenced by the certificate of the Swiss Committee for the evaluation of hours and the assignment of the highest accuracy class by the British Observatory. And today Rolex watches are associated with precision.

One of the stages of the company's success was the creation of a dust- and waterproof watch, which was not only stated, but also repeatedly demonstrated in practice. Rolex patented movement with automatic winding, designed watches with functions that are not limited to the measurement of time. Hours GMT-Master for a long time used by airlines as official. Rolex Deepsea watches are successfully used for deep-sea exploration.

In 2007, Rolex designed a chronograph with a mechanically programmable countdown function.

Throughout the entire period of its existence, the company is searching for new trends in the improvement of watches, traditions and principles of work laid down by Wilsdorf are preserved.