Rolex

Rolex Dominating the Trend

The founding of the Rolex Watch Company and its development were closely related to a young German named Hans Wilsdorf. Hans started with breeding pearls and he set foot in international business at a young age. Living in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland at 19, Hans was the agent of a factory specializing in exported watches. In 1905, he started his own company named Wilsdorf and Davis, mainly selling watches. At that time, people were still indulging in the splendor of pocket watches without realizing what wrist watches were. Hans foresaw that wrist watches would become dominant and would be widely accepted by tens of millions of people. Therefore, he shifted the business focus from pocket watches to wrist watches. At 8 in the morning on 2 July 1908, “Rolex” had been officially registered as a brand. The first batch of Rolex watches were instantly in the spotlight due to their excellent quality. The Rolex watch received a Class A Certificate by Kew Observatory for two consecutive years of 1914 and 1915. Kew Observatory had never granted such a top certificate to other brands but Rolex. This meant Rolex watches had gained the recognition for its precision. The logo of Rolex watches was primarily a hand with five outstretching fingers, symbolizing the Rolex watches were solely made with marvelous craftsmanship. But later, the logo had been changed to be a crown, which indicates its dominant position in watch industry.

Since 1910, Hans had sent the Rolex watches to watch and arts school in Bienne in Switzerland for tests. The Rolex watches had been granted the first certificate as recognition for its precision. In order to get the precise global timing, Hans established a strict test program. Each watch must pass the 45-day tests involving 3 different temperature tests and 5 different position tests. Hans insisted on having the official certificate for each Rolex watch sold. This German marketing genius really had an exceptionally strict control on the quality of Rolex watches. He put all the watches at the shop into an aquarium to let each customer clearly know the waterproof of Rolex watches. In 1926, Rolex manufactured the first water-proof and dust-proof watch Oyster. It was like a sealed box, providing the best protection for its movement. The next year, Hans sponsored the British female swimmer Mercedes Gleitze for swimming across the English Channel. When this beautiful swimmer Gleitze reached the destination and surfaced after the 15-hour-and-15-minute long swim, the Oyster Rolex watch on her wrist was still glittering with no deviation. Gleitze then became the first promotion representative of Rolex watches under Hans’ designs. Hans had made the report the headline on the front page of The Daily Mail. This report was so eye-catching that it drew lots of attention.

**no guarantee about story is completely accurate and existed difference**