50 Fun Facts About Rolex

In which city was the company that became Rolex founded in 1905?

Wilsdorf and Davis imported Swiss movements and put them in English-made cases.

In which country has Rolex been based since 1919?

The company moved there from England in 1919.

In which year was the Rolex trademark registered?

Wilsdorf also opened an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds that year.

In which German region was Hans Wilsdorf born?

His hometown was Kulmbach.

What relation was co-founder Alfred Davis to Hans Wilsdorf?

Early watches were hallmarked W&D inside the caseback.

Why did Wilsdorf think Rolex was a good name, apart from its brevity?

He wanted a name pronounceable in any language and short enough to fit on a dial.

Why did Rolex move from England to Geneva in 1919?

High export duties on silver and gold cases also hurt.

What name did Rolex give its 1926 waterproof and dustproof case?

Rolex displayed the watches submerged in aquariums in shop windows.

Which swimmer wore a Rolex on a necklace while swimming the English Channel in 1927?

Rolex bought a full-page front-page ad in the Daily Mail every day for a month to celebrate.

On which attempt did the Rolex-wearing swimmer become the first British woman to cross the Channel?

She was also the first person known to swim the Straits of Gibraltar.

What did Rolex patent in 1931, adding the word Perpetual to its watches?

The semi-circular plate relies on gravity to swing freely.

For which country's underwater demolition teams did Rolex make diving watches from 1935 to 1945?

They were distributed through the Florence retailer G. Panerai & Figlio.

To whom did Wilsdorf offer watches during World War II, payment due after the war?

More than 3,000 British officers received them through the Red Cross.

Who has owned Rolex SA since 1960?

Wilsdorf placed all his shares in the trust after his wife's death in 1944.

Which brand did Wilsdorf conceive as a lower-priced sister to Rolex?

Early models paired ETA movements with Rolex-quality cases and bracelets.

Roughly how many watches did Rolex sell in 2023?

Analysts put its 2024 revenue around CHF 10.5 billion, about a third of the luxury watch market.

Which steel grade has Rolex used since 1985, unlike most Swiss makers' 316L?

It resists corrosion better and polishes to a brighter lustre, but is softer and scratches more easily.

What does Rolex call its ceramic bezel, first used on the GMT-Master II in 2005?

Unlike aluminium bezels, the colour does not fade under UV light.

Which Rolex bracelet was named for the company's 40th anniversary in 1945?

It debuted with the original Datejust, reference 4467.

What was the Datejust of 1945 the first self-winding chronometer wristwatch to do?

The date change became instantaneous from 1955.

What was the Day-Date of 1956 the first watch to display?

A US president would soon make it famous, and Rolex named its bracelet accordingly.

Which US president was the first to wear a gold Day-Date?

Rolex had already been calling the bracelet the President bracelet since 1957.

Which airline asked Rolex to develop the dual-time GMT-Master in 1955?

Crews needed local time and Greenwich Mean Time, then aviation's international standard.

Which 1953 achievement was the Rolex Explorer launched to celebrate?

Ironically, Edmund Hillary wore a Smiths watch, not a Rolex, to the summit.

What extra feature distinguishes the Explorer II for cavers and polar explorers?

Underground or at the poles, day cannot be told from night.

The Submariner of 1953 was the first watch waterproof to what depth?

Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms, also from 1953, was certified to 94.5 metres.

Which Submariner reference did Sean Connery wear in his first four Bond films?

Timothy Dalton was the last Bond to wear a Rolex, in 1989's Licence to Kill.

Since GoldenEye in 1995, James Bond has worn which brand instead of Rolex?

Timothy Dalton was the last Bond to wear a Submariner, in Licence to Kill.

Roughly how many Submariners did Rolex say it produced between 1953 and 2020?

Current models are all rated to 300 metres.

Which French diving company has issued the Sea-Dweller to its divers since 1977?

Its divers had earlier received specially marked Submariners.

What does the Sea-Dweller's special valve release during decompression?

Saturation divers breathe helium mixes, and the gas seeps into the case.

What was strapped to the outside of the bathyscaphe Trieste on its 1960 dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench?

Piccard and Walsh reached a record 10,916 metres.

Which film director's 2012 submarine carried a Rolex on its robotic arm to the Mariana Trench?

His Deepsea Challenger weighed less than a tenth of the Trieste.

Scientists at which Geneva laboratory helped develop and test the Milgauss?

The name combines the French mille with gauss, the unit of magnetic field.

The Cosmograph Daytona takes its name from a place in which US state?

Racing flourished on Daytona Beach in the early 20th century.

Which actor's own Daytona sold for a record $17.8 million at auction in 2017?

His wife Joanne Woodward gave it to him; he later gave it to his daughter's boyfriend.

In which year did Rolex introduce its first chronograph nicknamed Daytona, reference 6239?

Rolex had become official timekeeper of Daytona International Speedway the year before.

What do class winners of the 24-hour endurance race at Daytona receive as a prize?

The tradition dates to the Daytona Continental of 1964.

Since what year has Rolex been title sponsor of the 24 Hours of Daytona?

It replaced Sunbank, which had replaced Pepsi in 1984.

How much do winners of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise receive?

The awards began in 1976; a Young Laureates programme was added in 2010.

Which Japanese architects designed the Rolex Learning Center at EPFL in Lausanne?

The pair won the Pritzker Prize in 2010, the year the building opened.

The first Yacht-Master was offered only in what material?

A steel-and-platinum version followed in 1997.

Which retailer did Rolex agree to acquire in 2023?

In 2024 it began building a new affiliate on Fifth Avenue near Billionaires' Row.

Which former racing driver has advertised Rolex since 1968?

Rolex was Formula 1's official timekeeper from 2013 to 2024.

Which quartz movement did Rolex help a consortium of 16 Swiss makers develop in 1968?

It powered the Rolex Quartz Date 5100 before Rolex built its own Oysterquartz movements.

Which RAF airmen did Hans Wilsdorf honour when he created the Air-King's predecessor line in 1958?

By 2007 the 34mm Air-King was the least expensive Rolex, seen by some as a miniature Explorer.

Which Great Escape organiser ordered a Rolex chronograph by mail from Stalag Luft III in 1943?

Wilsdorf told him an English gentleman 'should not even think' about paying before the war ended.

Of which motor race has Rolex been official timekeeper since 2001?

It was also Formula 1's official timekeeper from 2013 to 2024.

Whose screw-down crown case patent had preceded Rolex's 1926 Oyster by eight years?

Rolex acquired the Perregaux-Perret screw-down patent, added a clutch and combined it with a threaded case back and bezel.

What share of the luxury watch market did a 2025 Morgan Stanley report estimate Rolex held for 2024?

Revenues were estimated at CHF 10.5 billion on about 1,176,000 watches produced.