Rolex (watch brand)

Rolex
is a Geneva, Switzerland-based Swiss watch designer and producer that was started in Britain. Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis founded Wilsdorf and Davis in London in 1905. In 1908, the firm registered Rolex as the brand name for its timepieces. In 1915, the company changed its name to Rolex Watch Co. Ltd. Due to the economic crisis in the United Kingdom after World War I, the corporation relocated its headquarters to Geneva. Hans Wilsdorf registered Montres Rolex SA as the new company name in Geneva in 1920 (montre is French for watch); it eventually changed to Rolex SA. A private family trust known as the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation has owned the business since 1960.
Although Rolex primarily creates mechanical watches, it also contributed to the creation of the first quartz watch mechanisms. Despite the fact that Rolex has produced a very small number of quartz watches for its Oyster line, the company's engineers had a significant role in the development and use of the technology in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Beta 21 quartz movement, used in the Rolex Quartz Date 5100 and other manufacturers' watches including the Omega Electroquartz, was created in 1968 through a joint effort by 16 Swiss watch companies, including Rolex. Rolex developed the "clean-slate" 5035/5055 movement that would eventually power the Rolex Oysterquartz in just under five years of study, design, and development. Rolex introduced its "Cerachrom" ceramic bezel for the first time on the GMT-Master II in 2005. Since then, ceramic bezel inserts have been utilized on a variety of professional sports watches. The Submariner, Sea Dweller, Deepsea, GMT Master II, and Daytona versions all have these. The ceramic bezel's color does not fade over time from exposure to UV radiation, unlike the aluminum bezel it replaced, and it is scratch resistant.
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