When was Rolex founded?
Rolex
Rolex SA () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker. Originally founded as "Wilsdorf and Davis" by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London in 1905, the company registered "Rolex" as the brand name of its watches in 1908. In 1919, the company moved its base of operations to Geneva, Switzerland in order to avoid heavy taxation from a recovering post-war Britain, and "Montres Rolex S.A." was registered as the new company name by Hans Wilsdorf in Geneva in 1920. Since 1960, the company has been owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a private family trust.
Robb Report
"The Robb Report", originally titled "Twentieth Century Confederates", was founded in 1976 by Robert L "Rusty" White as a newsletter to sell his personal collection of Civil War memorabilia and Rolls-Royce automobiles. White distributed his newsletter to members of the Rolls-Royce Owners Club as mimeographed loose-leaf pages, and he provided a suede three-ring binder to paying subscribers. The publication matured into an advertorial, one of the first of its kind, catering to affluent clientele. The blend of advertising and editorial was broadcast to high-end, affluent consumers via advertisements in "Architectural Digest".
Rolex
Tudor watches are marketed and sold in most countries around the world including the United States, Australia, Canada, India, Mexico, South Africa, some countries in Europe including the UK, South Asia, the Middle East and countries in South America, particularly Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela. Montres Tudor SA discontinued sales of Tudor-branded watches in the United States in 2004, but Tudor returned to the United States market in the summer of 2013 and to the UK in 2014.
Backes &amp; Strauss
Backes & Strauss is an English company that designs and produces high-end luxury timepieces and jewellery. Founded in 1789 in Hanau, Germany, it is the oldest diamond company in the world.
Rolex Sea Dweller
In 1992, Comex diver Theo Mavrostomos achieved a record of of seawater (msw) in an onshore hyperbaric chamber. He took 43 days to complete the dive. The watch used during this scientific record dive, where a hydrogen-helium-oxygen (hydreliox) gas mixture was used as breathing gas, was a Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 with a depth rating. Rolex used this achievement in advertising campaigns.
Rolex Milgauss
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss is a wristwatch model introduced by Rolex in 1956 with model number 6541. The Milgauss was designed as an antimagnetic watch specifically for those who worked in power plants, medical facilities and research labs (like CERN in Geneva) where electromagnetic fields can cause havoc with the timing of a watch. The current (post-2007) model Milgauss is equipped with a non-magnetic alloy (Parachrom-Blu) hairspring and a movement encased by a magnetic shield, most likely composed of a high magnetic permeability material (see Mu-metal or Permalloy). The name "Milgauss" is derived from the Latin "mille", which means one-thousand, and "gauss", the unit of a magnetic field. This model is so named because it can withstand a magnetic flux density of 1,000 gauss.
Rolex
In 1908, Wilsdorf registered the trademark "Rolex" and opened an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The book "The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches: An Unauthorized History" by Jeffrey P. Hess and James Dowling says that the name was just made up. One story, never confirmed by Wilsdorf, recounts that the name came from the French phrase "horlogerie exquise", meaning "exquisite clockwork" or as a contraction of "horological excellence". Wilsdorf was said to want his watch brand's name to be easily pronounceable in any language. He also thought that the name "Rolex" was onomatopoeic, sounding like a watch being wound. It is easily pronounceable in many languages and, as all its upper-case letters have the same size, can be written symmetrically. It was also short enough to fit on the face of a watch.
Rolex
Alfred Davis and his brother-in-law Hans Wilsdorf founded "Wilsdorf and Davis", the company that would eventually become Montres Rolex SA, in London, England in 1905. Wilsdorf and Davis' main commercial activity at the time involved importing Hermann Aegler's Swiss movements to England and placing them in watch cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were sold to many jewellers, who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from Wilsdorf and Davis were usually hallmarked "W&D" inside the caseback.
Albert Johnson Walker
Platt was out of money and returned to England in 1995. Walker took Platt out on a fishing trip 20 July 1996 where he murdered him, weighed him down with an anchor, and dumped his body in the sea. Two weeks later the body was discovered in the English Channel by fisherman John Copik with a Rolex wristwatch the only identifiable object on the body. Since the Rolex movement had a serial number and was engraved with special markings every time it was serviced, British police traced the service records from Rolex. Ronald Joseph Platt was identified as the owner of the watch and the victim of the murder. In addition British police were able to determine the date of death by examining the date on the watch calendar and since the Rolex movement had a reserve of two to three days of operation when inactive and it was fully waterproof, they were able to determine the time of death within a small margin of error. Walker was apprehended shortly thereafter.
Charles Rolls
Rolls was introduced to Henry Royce by a friend at the Royal Automobile Club, Henry Edmunds, who was also a director of Royce Ltd. Edmunds showed him Royce's car and arranged the historic meeting between Rolls and Royce at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, on 4 May 1904. In spite of his preference for three or four cylinder cars, Rolls was impressed with the two-cylinder Royce 10 and in a subsequent agreement of 23 December 1904 agreed to take all the cars Royce could make. These would be of two, three, four and six cylinders and would be badged as Rolls-Royces.
The first Rolls-Royce car, the Rolls-Royce 10 hp, was unveiled at the Paris Salon in December 1904, although in the early advertising it was the name of Rolls that was emphasised over that of Royce. In 1906 Rolls and Royce formalised their partnership by creating Rolls-Royce Limited, with Rolls appointed Technical managing director on a salary of £750 per annum plus 4% of the profits in excess of £10,000. Rolls provided the financial backing and business acumen to complement Royce's technical expertise. In 1907 Rolls-Royce Limited bought out C. S. Rolls & Co.
Revlon
Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1922, by Jewish American brothers Charles Revson and Joseph Revson along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name. Starting with a single product — a new type of nail enamel — the three founders pooled their resources and developed a unique manufacturing process. Using pigments instead of dyes, Revlon developed a variety of new shades of opaque nail enamel. In 1937, Revlon started selling the polishes in department stores and pharmacies. In six years, the company became a multimillion-dollar organization. By 1940, Revlon offered an entire manicure line, and added lipstick to the collection. During World War II, Revlon created makeup and related products for the United States Army, which was honored in 1944 with the Army-Navy "E" Award for Excellence.
Rolex Daytona
This original series was in very short supply by the early 1990s, which led to a second series to meet demand, introduced in 1988 with Reference 16520. The second series uses a modified automatic winding movement, originally manufactured by Zenith for their "El Primero" watch, designated by Zenith as Calibre 3019PHC. The movement was originally designed in 1969 after development commenced in 1962 and remains the highest VPH (vibrations per hour) mass-produced chronograph movement on the market at 36,000 VPH. After Zenith was sold to the American company of the same name in 1971, the company discontinued production of mechanical movements in 1975. However, Charles Vermot, a senior engineer for Martel Watch Company (where the El Primero was made, and which had been acquired in 1959 by Zenith) had, over a period of months, secretly disassembled the tooling for the El Primero and stored it in the factory attic after the closure had been announced in 1975.
Rolex Submariner
The next wave of Submariners, the 5512 (chronometer version) and 5513 (non-chronometer), marked a significant change in the appearance of the popular Rolex design. "Shoulders" were added to the crown side of the case to provide protection for the winding/setting mechanism. In early watches—until 1964 or so—these shoulders were pyramid-shaped and ended in points. Later watches were manufactured with rounded shoulders. The 5512 and 5513 were both fitted with the oversized crown, which thereafter became a standard feature of the Submariner line. In the early 1960s, Rolex discontinued the use of radium paint for the luminous indices, switching to safer tritium-infused paint.
Rolex Datejust
Rolex introduced the original Datejust (reference 4467) in 1945 to celebrate the company's 40th anniversary. It was available only in 18 karat yellow gold and had a small bubble back winder with a deeply domed back. It also featured the company's waterproof Oyster case (first introduced in 1926), a fluted bezel, and the new Jubilee bracelet (so named for the occasion).
Rolex Sea Dweller
During the 1960s, the needs of professional divers working at great depths led to the development of the first 'ultra water resistant' tool watches designed for conducting safe diving operations at 300 m (1,000 ft) depths.
24 Hours of Daytona
The race has had several names over the years. Since 1991, the Rolex Watch Company is the title sponsor of the race under a naming rights arrangement, replacing "Sunbank" (now SunTrust) which in turn replaced Pepsi in 1984. Winning drivers of all classes receive a steel Rolex Daytona watch.
Doxa S.A.
It released the first publicly available dive watch with helium release valve, named the Conquistador. In certain diving situations, helium can penetrate the watch seals and cause a pressure buildup in the watch, eventually blowing the crystal off the watch face. Rolex invented and introduced the first dive watches with a helium release valve in 1969, which prevented this helium buildup. While this was a major advance at the time, few actual watches with this feature were produced. Doxa introduced the Sub300t Conquistador in 1969 featuring a helium release valve. According to the sales brochures and advertisements in Skin Diver Magazine, DOXA was the first watch company to introduce this device to the public for general sale. Rolex was manufacturing watches with the Helium Release Valve at the same time, but was only selling them to Commercial Diving Companies such as COMEX. Rolex offered the Sea Dweller with Helium Escape Valve to the public in 1972. Omega also eventually introduced a helium release valve, in its Seamaster watch.
Rolex GMT Master II
In 2007, Rolex introduced the ceramic bezel insert to the GMT-Master II range, replacing the aluminum insert (colors created using an anodizing process) that had been used since 1959. While ceramic is much more scratch resistant than aluminum, Rolex initially could not continue to produce the two-color bezel used to distinguish between the day and night times of the second time zone, particularly the color red which could not be created satisfactorily in ceramic. In 2013, Rolex created the first two-tone ceramic bezel, in blue and black, for the steel GMT-Master II nicknamed “Batman”. In 2014, Rolex was able to create the red color on the ceramic bezel for the new incarnation of the red-and-blue "Pepsi", although in order to recoup the higher cost of this bezel it was only initially available on the white gold GMT-Master II. All of these GMT-Master II watches use the Caliber 3186 movement.
Rolex
Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh had a specially designed experimental Rolex Oyster Perpetual Deep-Sea Special strapped to the outside of their bathyscaphe during the 1960 Challenger Deep / Mariana Trench dive to a world-record depth of . When James Cameron conducted a similar dive in 2012, a specially designed and manufactured Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Deep Sea Challenge watch was being "worn" by his submarine's robotic arm.
Rolex Datejust
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust is a certified, self-winding chronometer wristwatch manufactured by Rolex. When it was launched in 1945, the Datejust was the first wristwatch with an automatically changing date function.
Raleigh Bicycle Company
In Frank Bowden's own lifetime, Raleigh publicity material stated that the firm was founded in 1888, which was when Bowden, as he himself confirmed, first bought into the enterprise. Thus, Raleigh's 30th anniversary was celebrated in 1918. The 1888 foundation date is confirmed by Bowden's great-grandson, Gregory Houston Bowden, who states that Frank Bowden "began to negotiate with Woodhead and Angois and in December 1888 founded 'The Raleigh Cycle Company'." The December 1888 foundation date is also confirmed by Nottinghamshire Archives. In recent years, the Raleigh company has cited 1887 as a foundation date but, whilst this pre-dates Bowden's involvement, the Raleigh brand name was created by Woodhead and Angois and the enterprise can, as demonstrated above, be traced back to 1885.
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
The mentoring programme grew out of a desire by Rolex, the Swiss watch company, to support artists in the same way that the Rolex Awards for Enterprise were supporting scientists, conservationists and explorers. Two years of research in the 1990s led to the discovery that mentorship of individual young artists was lacking, and the international initiative was founded to nurture young dancers, musicians, theatre directors, writers, visual artists and film-makers.
Rolex Daytona
There have been three series of the Cosmograph Daytona. Prior to the release of the "Daytona", Rolex produced chronographs using movements sourced from outside manufacturers housed in conventional and, starting in the 1940s, Oyster cases. Rolex introduced a more modern chronograph in 1955, designated Reference 6234, and manufactured approximately 500 per year until 1961, the year it was discontinued. The dial of Reference 6234 was not marked "Cosmograph" or "Daytona". The Reference (model) number is marked on the side of the case at the 12 o'clock position, where it is hidden under the strap lugs. Reference 6234 has three smaller sub-dials, to mark the passage of seconds up to 60 seconds (at the 9 o'clock position), minutes up to 30 minutes (at the 3 o'clock position), and hours up to 12 hours (at the 6 o'clock position); all of these match the color of the main dial. It also featured a tachymeter scale on the outer chapter ring, and a telemeter scale on the inner chapter ring. Reference 6234 was succeeded by Reference 6238, which dropped the telemeter scale and updated its appearance to include many features that would be adopted for its successor Reference 6239.
Lotus (bicycles)
Lotus was a brand of bicycles designed, specified, marketed and distributed by Lotus International Corp. of Syosset, New York, which had been founded by Sid and Ernst Star. The bikes were offered as a complete range, from entry level to professional models, and were manufactured by "Tsunoda Bicycle Corporation" of Nagoya, Japan (founded in 1926, still in business) and subsequently by other manufacturers — including a group of mid-1980s high end models manufactured in Italy, in conjunction with Cinelli.
Rolex Yacht-Master
In 1999, Rolex discontinued the model two-tone 68623, replacing it with the two-tone model 168623 in 2000. The difference between the two models are in the upgraded movement in the 168623, and the heavier 18-carat gold links (the links in the 68623 are hollow).
Rolex Submariner
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner is a line of sports watches designed for diving manufactured by Rolex, known for their resistance to water and corrosion. The first Submariner was introduced to the public in 1954 at the Basel Watch Fair. The Rolex Submariner is considered "a classic among wristwatches", manufactured by one of the most widely recognized luxury brands in the world. Due to its popularity there are many homage watches by well-established watchmakers as well as illegal counterfeits. The Rolex Submariner is part of Rolex's Oyster Perpetual line.
Rolex (food)
This idea originated from a chapati seller's creativity in the Busoga region "the basoga" then the idea spread to Wandegeya next to Makerere University in Uganda, fueled by students who needed a quick meal because of time and budget limitations.
Rolex Sports Car Series
It ran a mixture of classes of sports prototypes and Grand Touring-style cars. In 2003, the series debuted their custom prototype chassis, known as Daytona Prototypes, named after their premiere event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Breguet (brand)
Breguet is a luxury watch manufacturer founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris, France, in 1775. Since 1999, it has been a brand of the Swiss Swatch Group. Breguet is one of the oldest surviving watchmaking brands and a pioneer of numerous watchmaking technologies such as the tourbillon, which was invented by Abraham Breguet in 1801. Abraham Breguet also invented and produced the world's first self-winding watch (the "Perpétuelle") in 1780, as well as the world's first wristwatch in 1810 (Breguet No. 2639, for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples).
Hans Wilsdorf
In 1954 Rolex introduced another radical, avant-garde "tool watch" known as the GMT-Master. The GMT-Master had all the usual Rolex features including a watertight Oyster case, Perpetual movement, with luminous hands and markers, but added a 24 hour hand designed to keep time in a second timezone. Also, it features a rotatable 24 hour bezel which was luminous. The GMT-Master was originally designed for Pan American Airline Pilots and navigators as well as world travelers. 
Rolex introduced the Day-Date model in 1955, which was the first wrist watch to feature both a day-of-the-week aperture window, as well as a date aperture window. This made it easy for the wearer to know the exact day of the week as well as the date of the month at-a-glance. The Day-Date was somewhat similar to the Rolex Datejust at 36MM in diameter, but featured a slightly thicker case.
The Rolex Milgauss was introduced in 1956 with a Reference Number of 6541. This watch was designed with special anti-magnetic features for scientists who worked in research labs like CERN in Geneva, as well as for people who worked in power plants or medical facilities what could be affected by magnetism. The original Rolex Milgauss featured a second hand that looked like a lightning bolt, and in many ways looked like the Rolex Submariner.
Rolex
Rolex SA offers products under the Rolex and Tudor brands. Montres Tudor (SA) has designed, manufactured and marketed Tudor watches since 6 March 1946. Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf conceived of the Tudor Watch Company to create a product for authorized Rolex dealers to sell that offered the reliability and dependability of a Rolex, but at a lower price. The number of Rolex watches was limited by the rate that they could produce in-house Rolex movements, thus Tudor watches were originally equipped with off-the-shelf movements while using similar quality cases and bracelets.
Rolex Trophy
The Rolex Trophy is a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour, that is played in Geneva, Switzerland. It has been played annually on the Challenge Tour since 1989.
Longines
Compagnie des Montres Longines Francillon S.A. or simply, Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, it is now owned by the Swiss Swatch Group. Its winged hourglass logo, which was registered in 1889, is the oldest unchanged yet still active registered trademark.
Maurice Lacroix
Maurice Lacroix was founded as part of Desco von Schulthess of Zurich in 1975. Founded in 1889, Desco von Schulthess (Desco) is an older company with roots in the silk trade. Since 1946, Desco has also been a representative for luxury watches including Audemars Piguet, Heuer, Eterna, and Jaeger-LeCoultre. Over the years, Desco became more interested in the watch business, and in 1961 Desco acquired an assembly facility named Tiara in Saignelégier, in the Swiss Canton of Jura. There it produced private label watches for third parties. In 1975, Desco started marketing watches under the brand name Maurice Lacroix. There was a member the board of Desco von Schulthess, parent & founding company of Maurice Lacroix, who was named Mr. Lacroix.
Rolex Daytona
The final price of $17,752,500 for the "Paul Newman" Daytona Ref. 6239 was the sum of the winning auction bid ($15.5 million) and a buyer's premium of 12.5%. The model was sold by Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo in New York City, as part of the "WINNING ICONS: Milestone Watches of the 20th Century" auction. The watch, called the "Holy Grail" or "Amber Room" of watches and long presumed lost, had been "found" earlier in 2017. Aurel Bacs, the auctioneer, remarked "The first question you ask when you get interested in vintage watches is, 'Where is Paul Newman's Paul Newman [Daytona]?' Everyone knows that by the mid-'80s Newman is no longer wearing it, and nobody knows where it is. There is hardly a dinner with collectors where the conversation does not turn to this watch. Where is it, and how much will it make if it ever comes to market?" Bacs himself was initially skeptical, but was humbled "to discover that a collector had told the owners that there was only one person, and one auction house that could do the job properly" of auctioning the rare watch, leading James Cox to hire Bacs.
Rolex Daytona
The six-digit Daytonas are certified, self-winding chronometers with chronograph functions. Rolex sponsored the 24 Hours of Daytona car race, which became known as Rolex 24 at Daytona, from 1991, and named its chronograph watch after the race. Stainless steel variants of the Daytona remain hard to acquire, and a waiting list exists for interested purchasers of new watches, as production is limited to a few thousand per year.
Rolex
Mercedes Gleitze was the first British woman to swim the English Channel on 7 October 1927. However, as John E. Brozek (author of "The Rolex Report: An Unauthorized Reference Book for the Rolex Enthusiast") points out in his article ""The Vindication Swim, Mercedes Gleitze and Rolex take the plunge"", some doubts were cast on her achievement when a hoaxer claimed to have made a faster swim only four days later. Hence Gleitze attempted a repeat swim with extensive publicity on 21 October, dubbed the ""Vindication Swim"". For promotional purposes, Hans Wilsdorf offered her one of the earliest Rolex Oysters if she would wear it during the attempt. After more than 10 hours, in water that was much colder than during her first swim, she was pulled from the sea semi-conscious seven miles short of her goal. Although she did not complete the second crossing, a journalist for The Times wrote "Having regard to the general conditions, the endurance of Miss Gleitze surprised the doctors, journalists and experts who were present, for it seemed unlikely that she would be able to withstand the cold for so long. It was a good performance". As she sat in the boat, the same journalist made a discovery and reported it as follows: "Hanging round her neck by a ribbon on this swim, Miss Gleitze carried a small gold watch, which was found this evening to have kept good time throughout". When examined closely, the watch was found to be dry inside and in perfect condition. One month later, on 24 November 1927, Wilsdorf launched the Rolex Oyster watch in the United Kingdom with a full front page Rolex advert in the "Daily Mail". The "Vienna Herald" described the 1969 Apollo moon landing as: 'an event almost as significant as the time a woman swam most of the English Channel with a waterproof watch on.'
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative is a philanthropic programme that pairs gifted young artists with internationally recognized masters in: architecture, dance, film, literature, music, theatre and visual arts, for a year of creative collaboration in a one-to-one mentoring relationship. The initiative was launched in 2002 and runs every two years, with the aim of making significant contributions to the arts worldwide. In keeping with its tradition of supporting individual excellence, Rolex seeks to give emerging artists time to learn, create and grow.
Rolex
Rolex SA is owned by the private Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which is registered as a charity and does not pay corporate income taxes. In 2011, a spokesman for Rolex declined to provide evidence regarding the amount of charitable donations made by the Wilsdorf Foundation. In Geneva, where it is based, it has gifted, among many things, two housing buildings to social institutions of Geneva.
Gyromax
Swiss patents were granted to Patek Phillipe for the Gyromax balance on May 15, 1949 and December 31, 1951, and the balance was first used in watches in 1952. Another balance wheel with a similar design is the Rolex Microstella.
Cosmetics
As of 2016, the world's largest cosmetics company is L'Oréal, which was founded by Eugène Schueller in 1909 as the French Harmless Hair Colouring Company (now owned by Liliane Bettencourt 26% and Nestlé 28%; the remaining 46% is traded publicly). The market was developed in the US during the 1910s by Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Max Factor. These firms were joined by Revlon just before World War II and Estée Lauder just after.
Rolex Submariner
The Submariner model went into production in 1953 and was showcased at the Basel Watch Fair in 1954. The assigned case reference number of this first Submariner was either 6204 or 6205. It is unclear which model came first; in any event, the two watches are nearly identical.
Neither has the distinctive "cathedral" or "Mercedes" hands now so strongly associated with the Submariner line. Rather, both of these early submariners have straight "pencil" style hands.
Few, if any, of the 6205 watches bear the name "Submariner" on the dial, a major distinction of modern Submariners. Some 6204 models have the Submariner logo printed below the center pinion, while others have the logo blacked out. It is believed that there were unexpected trademark issues connected with the name "Submariner" at the time the 6204 and 6205 were released, accounting for the inconsistent use of the Submariner mark on these early Submariners. Trademark irregularities notwithstanding, both the 6204 and 6205 are designated Submariner models in Rolex product literature.
In 1954, Rolex also produced a small number of ref. 6200 Submariners. This was the first Submariner (although not the first Rolex) to make use of the Mercedes hand set, a feature of all subsequent Submariners. The 6200 also featured an oversized winding crown compared to the 6204 and 6205 models. Within a few years, Rolex revised its Submariner line, producing the 6536 (small crown) and 6538 (oversized crown) models. These watches had "improved" movements (the cal. 1030), including a chronometer version in some 6536 models (designated 6536/1), the now-familiar Mercedes hands, and the Submariner logo and depth rating printed on the dial.
Grand Slam of Show Jumping
A rider can compete in the Grand Prix with different horses. The rider’s “personal” Grand Slam starts with the first victory, the calendar year is not decisive here. The cycle of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping is infinite. A rider has to take part in all three legs of the cycle in order to qualify for a bonus.The trophy of the Rolex Grand Slam, a cup made out of sterling silver with double scrolled handles was designed by the famous London jewellers Garrard that was founded in 1735. It stands on a silver plinth. A delicate ribbed spiral stem curves around the middle section moving up towards a tulip-shaped vessel with a lid. The overall height of the trophy is 45 cm and it weighs 2 kilogrammes. The front of the trophy is decorated with the logo of the Rolex Grand Slam, which was hand engraved. The trophy was designed by Corinna Pike, designer of the royal crown jewels. Her aim was to incorporate curved forms inspired by the natural world and achieve the highest degree of harmony in design. Garrard is the oldest jewellers in the world and is renowned as a jeweller who serves royalty. As well as designing jewellery for governments and royalty around the globe, Garrard hat also created trophies for a number of world-class sporting events – such as the Rolex Grand Slam.
Rolex Milgauss
Due to its internal magnetic shield, the Milgauss is thicker than the Submariner, but the same width and weighs 157 grams. The Milgauss is available only in 904L polished stainless steel, an alloy that is extremely resistant to scratches and corrosion. Aside from its resistance to magnetic fields, the Milgauss' most unusual feature is its orange lightning-bolt second hand, a unique feature in the Rolex lineup that was originally introduced with the 6541 Milgauss model.
Rolex Daytona
Rolex became the official timekeeper of the Daytona International Speedway in 1962, and to mark the occasion, Reference 6234 was replaced with Cosmograph Reference 6239, introduced in 1963 as the first chronograph from Rolex nicknamed "Daytona". However, the original Reference 6239 did not include "Daytona" on the dial (and was in fact nicknamed "Le Mans" for the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race). In addition to the chronograph features, the wristwatch featured a bezel engraved with a tachymeter, as the watch was intended for racing drivers.
Saint-Gobain
Colbert established by letters patent the public enterprise Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs (, "Royal Mirror-Glass Factory") in October 1665. The company was created for a period of twenty years and would be financed in part by the State. The beneficiary and first director was the French financier Nicolas du Noyer, receiver of taxes of Orléans, who was granted a monopoly of making glass and mirror-glass for a period of twenty years. The company had the informal name "Compagnie du Noyer".
To compete with the Italian mirror industry, Colbert commissioned several Venetian glassworkers he had enticed to Paris to work for the company. The first unblemished mirrors were produced in 1666. Soon the mirrors created in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, under the French company, began to rival those of Venice. The French company was capable of producing mirrors that were , which at the time was considered impressive. Competition between France and the Venetians became so fierce that Venice considered it a crime for any glass artisan to leave and practice their trade elsewhere, especially in foreign territory. Nicolas du Noyer complained in writing that the jealous Venetians were unwilling to impart the secrets of glassmaking to the French workers, and that the company was hard-pressed to pay its expenses. Life in Paris proved distracting to the workers, and supplies of firewood to stoke the furnaces were dearer in the capital than elsewhere. In 1667 the glass-making was transferred to a small glass furnace already working at Tourlaville, near Cherbourg in Normandy, and the premises in Faubourg Saint-Antoine were devoted to glass-grinding and polishing the crude product.
Rolex Sea Dweller
At the BaselWorld watch and jewellery show 2017, Rolex introduced an enlarged Sea-Dweller model featuring a date magnifier on a redesined watch crystal and an updated automatic movement (Calibre 3235). Its reference number is 126600. The Rolex Sea-Dweller 126600 watch case has a diameter of  mm.
At the BaselWorld watch and jewellery show 2008, Rolex introduced an updated Sea-Dweller model named the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA. Its reference number is 116660.
RockWatch
The RockWatch or Rock Watch was a trademarked brand of wristwatch by Tissot with a case essentially made of stone, initially alpine granite from the Grisons, Ticino, and Valais cantons of Switzerland. It was designed by Robert Mazlo and first introduced to the U.S. market in December 1985 and in Switzerland March 1986.Tissot claims it was the world's first wristwatch with a case made of natural stone. The cavities for the movement and dial face were milled from both sides, making the dial an integral part of the case. The straps were fixed to the back plate on both ends thus preventing mechanical stress to the stone.
Rolex
Historically, Tudor watches have been manufactured by Montres Tudor SA using movements supplied by ETA SA. Since 2015 however, Tudor has begun to manufacture watches with in-house movements. The first model introduced with a in-house movement was the Tudor North Flag. Following this, updated versions of the Tudor Pelagos and Tudor Heritage Black Bay have also been fitted with an in-house caliber.
Rolex
In tennis, Rolex is the official timekeeper of Wimbledon, the Australian Open, and US Open, three of the four Grand Slams. In golf, it is the official time keeper for two of the four majors, The Open Championship and the U.S. Open, as well as the PGA Tour and European Tour; the presenting sponsor for one of the five senior majors, The Senior Open Championship; and the official sponsor of the Women's World Golf Rankings.Rolex is the title sponsor to the 24 Hours of Daytona, from which the Daytona model takes its name, along with the Rolex Sports Car Series. In 2013, Rolex became the official timekeeper to the FIA Formula 1 motor racing championship. Rolex has also been the official timekeeper to the Le Mans 24 Hours motor race since 2001. Ex-Formula 1 driver Sir Jackie Stewart has advertised Rolex since 1968. Others who have done so for some years include Arnold Palmer, Roger Penske, Jean Claude Killy, and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Grand Slam of Show Jumping
As the most famous partner of the equestrian sport for over half a century, Rolex is proud to be part of this historic initiative and to promote top performances in the equestrian sport even more intensively. Rolex has actively been supporting the equestrian sport for years, particularly the three Major shows, which together form the Grand Slam. This is why the organisers invited the Swiss brand to become the exclusive partner.
Rolex 12
The origin of the name Rolex 12 came from a widespread story and some sources that each associate received a Rolex watch from Marcos himself, although this remains unverified. Some contend that the gifts were actually Omega watches, but despite this confusion, the name Rolex 12 stuck and is still used to refer to these twelve Marcos associates. Some of them fled with Marcos when he and his family left the Philippines in 1986, while others like Enrile and Ramos were instrumental in the coup against him.
Notenstein La Roche Private Bank
At the end of the 18th century, Basel was a centre for international trade, and the silk ribbon industry had emerged as the
city’s most important business sector. In these surroundings, Benedikt La Roche, whose great-grandfather’s military
prowess in the service of the French crown had earned him the privilege of using the sobriquet “La Roche”, founded a
trading and freight forwarding company in 1787. In the wake of the economic crisis of 1800, growing demand
for industrial capital caused the trading company’s banking arm to become increasingly important. By the end of the
century, La Roche was active in financing projects ranging from the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn railway to a brewery. Basel
attained world prominence as a financial centre during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. At this time, the bank was
among the founders of the Basel stock exchange. Although the inter-war years were challenging for the bank, the end
of the Second World War heralded a period of growth and prosperity.
Through the 1970s and 1980s the bank transitioned from an all-purpose bank to a classic private bank, in which investment
advice, wealth management and servicing institutional clients became the core business. The bank celebrated its
225th anniversary in 2012.
Tudor Watches
The first Tudor watches produced in the 1920s and 1930s bore a simple Tudor signature on the dial, with the horizontal bar of the T lengthened above the other letters. On some rare pieces, the name Rolex also appears. Around 1936, the logo changed to the name in Gothic characters accompanied by a shield bearing the Tudor rose, emblem of the long-reigning English Tudor dynasty. In 1947, one year after the official launch of Tudor Montres SA, the shield was removed and the rose appeared alone with the brand name. From 1969 on, the shield resurfaced without the rose. The shield remains as the logo on all Tudor watches while the rose is now used on the winding crowns.
Bruce Davidson (equestrian)
He has also ridden at the Badminton Horse Trials, where he is one of only two Americans to win that event, and he also holds the honor of having the most wins at the Rolex Three Day Event with six victories. Through his 1974 World Championship victory, Davidson is credited with helping to create the Rolex event, as this victory allowed the US to host the 1978 World Championships. The 1978 event turned into an annual competition that eventually became the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day, which was the first and continues to be the only four-star eventing competition in the United States. Davidson has competed at the event almost every year since it began.
Markus Storck
Storck next teamed up with Rolex to create an individually designed Blaken watch. The Blaken line uses a Diamond Like Carbon Coating which appears similar to carbon fiber.
Tissot
Tissot () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker. The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853.
Rolex Milgauss
The original Milgauss was very similar to the appearance of the Rolex Submariner, with an oversized case and bezel, with the Twinlock crown, and a riveted Oyster bracelet. Although the Milgauss went through only two different models (6541, 1019) the Milgauss went through numerous configuration changes before being discontinued in 1988. In the 1960s, Rolex launched the Milgauss ref. 1019. However, this particular model looks so different to its predecessors that at first glance the Milgauss link (aside from the red MILGAUSS text) is not immediately clear.
Rolex Datejust
In this year, Rolex had also introduced the new Caliber 3235 movement, which replaces more than 90% of the parts of its predecessor, the Caliber 3135 - Rolex’s longest running and most successful movement. Caliber 3235 comes with a new escapement, the Chronergy along with significant improvements, providing a 70-hours power reserve while maintaining the same dimensions as the former.
Rolex
By the start of World War II Royal Air Force pilots were buying Rolex watches to replace their inferior standard-issue watches. However, when captured and sent to POW camps, their watches were confiscated. When Hans Wilsdorf heard of this, he offered to replace all watches that had been confiscated and not require payment until the end of the war, if the officers would write to Rolex and explain the circumstances of their loss and where they were being held. Wilsdorf was in personal charge of the scheme. As a result of this, an estimated 3,000 Rolex watches were ordered by British officers in the Oflag (prison camp for officers) VII B POW camp in Bavaria alone. This had the effect of raising the morale among the allied POWs because it indicated that Wilsdorf did not believe that the Axis powers would win the war. American servicemen heard about this when stationed in Europe during WWII and this helped open up the American market to Rolex after the war.
Rolex Oysterquartz
The conception of the Datejust Oysterquartz dates to the beginning of the 1970s. The design of the watch is far removed from the classic Rolex line and carved characteristics of the period: a completely angular case, an integrated band with a polished finish and sapphire glass. Regarding the materials used to make this watch, the whole range consisted of three versions: gold, steel with white gold bezel and steel and yellow gold. At the start, the Datejust Oysterquartz was somewhat overlooked in Europe; however, it was much sought after on the Asian and American markets. A renewed interest in the watch was sparked when Rolex decided to take the Oysterquartz out of its catalogue and thus out of production. The era of the Rolex quartz watch ended in 2001, having lasted less than three decades. The Rolex Datejust Oysterquartz began to appear in the most important auction houses’ catalogues, becoming a highly valued object on the collector's market.
Rolex Daytona
The first series included an "exotic" variant dial now known as the Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona, named after the famed actor, who received the watch as a gift from his wife, Joanne Woodward, and popularized it by wearing it consistently while pursuing his racing career. Years later, the actor's watch, which had been gifted to his daughter's boyfriend in 1984, was sold at auction in 2017 for a record (for wristwatches) $17.8 million.
Rolex
There are concerns over the lack of transparency in manufacturing activities and the sourcing of precious raw materials such as gold, which is a major cause of environmental issues such as pollution, soil degradation and deforestation. It is estimated that the watch and jewelry sector uses over 50% of world's annual gold production (over 2,000 tons), but in most cases the watch companies are not able to or are unwilling to demonstrate where their raw materials come from and if the material suppliers use eco-friendly sourcing technologies.
Rolex
Rolex mostly produced mechanical watches, but it has also participated in the development of the original quartz watch movements. Although Rolex has made very few quartz models for its Oyster line, the company's engineers were instrumental in design and implementation of the technology during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968, Rolex collaborated with a consortium of 16 Swiss watch manufacturers to develop the "Beta 21" quartz movement used in their Rolex "Quartz Date" 5100 alongside other manufactures including the Omega Electroquartz watches. Within about five years of research, design, and development, Rolex created the "clean-slate" 5035/5055 movement that would eventually power the Rolex "Oysterquartz".
Rolex Sea Dweller
In late March 2012, Rolex announced that a new prototype diving watch was developed and is part of the Rolex supported attempt to dive the DSV "Deepsea Challenger" to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in the oceans.
On 26 March 2012 the DSV "Deepsea Challenger" carried a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA CHALLENGE prototype diving watch strapped to its manipulator arm to a depth of of seawater (msw).
The experimental Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA CHALLENGE watch is designed to be waterproof up to . According to the pilot of the DSV "Deepsea Challenger", James Cameron, the "Rolex Deepsea Challenge was the reliable companion throughout the dive; it was visible on the sub's manipulator arm and working precisely at 10,898 meters down at the bottom of the Challenger Deep."
The normal surface air filled watch case has a diameter of and a thickness of (domed synthetic sapphire crystal ) to cope with the water pressure at the deepest surveyed point in the oceans.
Thomson Reuters
The Company was founded by Paul Julius Reuter in 1851 in London as a business transmitting stock market quotations. Reuter set up his "Submarine Telegraph" office in October 1851 and negotiated a contract with the London Stock Exchange to provide stock prices from the continental exchanges in return for access to London prices, which he then supplied to stockbrokers in Paris, France. In 1865, Reuters in London was the first organization to report the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The company was involved in developing the use of radio in 1923. It was acquired by the "British National & Provincial Press" in 1941 and first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984. Reuters began to grow rapidly in the 1980s, widening the range of its business products and expanding its global reporting network for media, financial and economic services: key product launches included Equities 2000 (1987), Dealing 2000-2 (1992), Business Briefing (1994), Reuters Television for the financial markets (1994), 3000 Series (1996) and the Reuters 3000 Xtra service (1999).
Rolex
Tenzing Norgay and other members of the Hillary expedition wore Rolex Oysters in 1953 at altitude 8,848 m on Mount Everest while there are attestations and speculation that Sir Edmund Hillary either carried a Smiths Deluxe or a Rolex to the summit, or both.
Rolex Daytona
The second series Daytonas used a sapphire crystal (in lieu of the acrylic crystal of the original series); the case diameter grew from on the original to for the second series; the dials were now glossy; and the sub-dials were now largely the same color as the dial, with an outer track in a contrasting color. These later series Daytonas, pre-dating in-house movements, were accurate and reliable; they were produced in limited quantities from 1988 to 2000.
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is an annual event held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Its purpose is to provide an event in which historic racecars can compete. It takes place over the course of one weekend every mid-August. It was first established by Steve Earle in 1974 as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races. Earle organized the meeting for his friends to race their cars at Laguna Seca. The event acts as a part of Monterey Car Week, which includes the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and other events.
Rolex GMT Master II
In 2018, Rolex would issue the red-and-blue "Pepsi" on a new steel GMT-Master II, which also has a Jubilee bracelet in lieu of the Oyster bracelet, and it will continue to be sold alongside the older white gold "Pepsi" watch. Two more GMT-Master II models were also introduced, one in red Everose gold and in steel, and another in Everose gold, both with a two-tone brown and black bezel giving them the nickname "Root Beer". These new GMT-Master IIs released in 2018 all use the new Caliber 3285 movement which adds Paraflex shock absorber and a 70-hour power reserve (instead of 48 hours) over the Caliber 3186.
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce was a British luxury car and later an aero engine manufacturing business established in 1904 by the partnership of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Building on Royce's reputation established with his cranes they quickly developed a reputation for superior engineering by manufacturing the "best car in the world". The First World War brought them into manufacturing aero engines. Joint development of jet engines began in 1940 and they entered production.
Colchester Rubber Co.
Colchester Rubber Co. was a footwear brand manufactured by the Colchester Rubber Company.
Colchester Rubber Co. was a footwear brand manufactured by the Colchester Rubber Company. The original Colchester Rubber Company, founded in 1888 at Colchester, Connecticut, USA, has come to be known for being the world’s first sneaker brand and inventing the “World’s First Basketball Sneakers”, which were created circa 1892. Colchester Rubber Co. brand is also the predecessor of the footwear brands, Keds which was created 1916 and Pro-Keds which was created in 1949, as, after the United States Rubber Company acquired Colchester Rubber Company in 1892, it went on to create the KEDS and PRO-KEDS brands.
The Colchester Rubber Company factory was located at the intersection of Lebanon Avenue and Mill Street in the factory buildings which previously belonged to the Hayward Rubber Company which was in operation from 1847 to 1885. The Hayward Rubber Company was founded by Nathaniel Hayward, who co-invented vulcanised rubber with Charles Goodyear in 1838. Some of the original Colchester Rubber Company factory ruins can still be seen at the site today. Many of the workers in the factory originally came from Ireland.
Renault
The Renault corporation was founded in 1899 as "Société Renault Frères" by Louis Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernand. Louis was a bright, aspiring young engineer who had already designed and built several prototypes before teaming up with his brothers, who had honed their business skills working for their father's textile firm. While Louis handled design and production, Marcel and Fernand managed the business.
Automatic watch
The Rolex Watch Company improved Harwood's design in 1930 and used it as the basis for the Rolex Oyster Perpetual, in which the centrally mounted semi-circular weight could rotate through a full 360° rather than the about 200° of the 'bumper' winder. Rolex's version also increased the amount of energy stored in the mainspring, allowing it to run autonomously for up to 35 hours.
Rolex Daytona
Bidding opened at $1 million, but as the commission bid was being announced, it was interrupted by a $10 M bid, which was raised in increments of $500,000 until it was finally sold at the winning $15.5 M bid. The price of US$17.75 M makes it the most expensive wristwatch ever sold. In 1984, when Newman gave the watch to James Cox, the watch was selling for about $200. Cox announced his plans to donate a significant portion of the proceeds to the Nell Newman Foundation and Newman's Own Foundation.
Ross (optics)
Andrew Ross (1798–1859) founded his company in 1830, from 1840 he began producing camera lenses signed "A. Ross". During Andrew Ross's lifetime, the company was one of the foremost lens manufacturers. After Andrew's death in 1859 his son-in-law John Henry Dallmeyer left the firm to establish his own optical company in 1860 and the company was run by Ross's son, Thomas, and became known as Ross & Co. By the 1890s was also making Zeiss and Goerz lenses under licence for sale in the UK and the British Empire. Ross patented a Wide Angle lens design and Zeiss took this further to produce their EWA Protars, before World War 1 Ross and Zeiss worked quite closely together, but at the outbreak of War the British Government put Ross in control of the newly opened Carl Zeiss binocular and optical factory in Mill Hill, London.
Rolex Daytona
After Zenith Radio resold Zenith in 1978, Ebel decided to purchase some unassembled Calibre 3019PHC movements in 1981, which Zenith assembled out of leftover spare parts. Rolex expressed interest in using the 3019PHC to power a new series of Daytonas, but would not award the ten-year contract to Zenith until they could resume production of new movements. Production resumed in 1986 after Vermot showed company leaders where he had saved the tooling and production notes. Rolex modified the movement by reducing the beats to 28,800 VPH to increase the power reserve, and made a few other changes, retaining only 50% of the original parts. The modified movement was designated Calibre 4030 by Rolex.
Giraglia Rolex Cup
The Giraglia Rolex Cup is a Mediterranean keelboat regatta, named after the island of Giraglia, which has been held annually since 1953. It is organized by the Yacht Club Italiano, with the help of the Yacht Club de France and the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez. Since 1997, in which year the current name was adopted, the race has been supported by the Rolex luxury wristwatch company.
Rolex Datejust
In 2016, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust 41 was released. The watch comes in stainless steel, and two-tone stainless steel and 18k yellow or 18k everose gold (Rolex's version of rose gold) bracelets. The 2016 41mm Datejust is on an Oyster or Jubilee bracelet. While the Datejust 41 has a similar-sized 41mm diameter case as the Datejust II, the Datejust 41 has smaller indexes and a thinner bezel compared to the Datejust II.
Roamer (watchmaker)
Roamer was founded in Solothurn, Switzerland, in 1888 by Fritz Meyer. At first, Meyer and employees concentrated on manufacturing cylinder escapements, in 1904 Meyer began assembling watches. In 1905 Meyer joined with fellow watchmaker Johann Studeli to form the partnership Meyer and Studeli (MST). In the same year Meyer won a Bronze medal at the Liege World Fair. The partnership continued to develop new calibres and enter them into more World Fairs, winning Silver Medals at the Milan Fair in 1906 and Brussels Fair in 1910.
Rolex Daytona
On 26 October 2017, a Rolex Daytona (Ref. 6239) watch formerly owned by the actor Paul Newman was sold for US$17.75 million in New York, making it the most expensive wristwatch and the second most expensive watch ever sold at auction (as of November 2018).
Lexus
Lexus' participation in endurance racing further includes the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association. After entering the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2004, Lexus has won over 15 Rolex Series event races. In 2005, Lexus was runner-up, and in 2006, it won the championship. Although Toyota has won this race in the past, it was the first time that its luxury arm emerged as the winner. In 2007, six Lexus-powered Daytona prototypes were entered in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona event at the Daytona International Speedway. Lexus was a repeat winner of the event, with a Lexus-Riley prototype driven by Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Salvador Durán of Chip Ganassi Racing finishing first; Lexus-Riley prototypes also took three of the top ten spots. In 2008, Lexus won its third consecutive win at Daytona. For the 2010 season, Lexus departed from the Rolex Sports Car Series, and Ganassi Racing switched to BMW/Dinan engines.
Roger Dubuis
Roger Dubuis is a Swiss watch manufacturer of high-end men’s luxury watches and women’s luxury watches based in Geneva, Switzerland. The company was founded by Roger Dubuis and Carlos Dias in 1995. In 2008 the company was acquired by Richemont group.
Rolex Daytona
The third series, introduced in 2000, has a movement made by Rolex (designated Calibre 4130) and a six-digit model number, Reference 116520. Externally, the third series may be distinguished by close examination of the dial; the two sub-dials at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions are now slightly above an imaginary line drawn between the 3 and 9 o'clock chapters, and the running seconds sub-dial has been relocated from the 9 o'clock position to the 6 o'clock position.
Rolex Milgauss
In 2007, Rolex brought back the Milgauss after nearly two decades as the model number 116400. There are currently four versions: white dial or black dial with a standard colorless sapphire crystal and the GV (Glace Verte) with black or blue dials. Rolex presented the new version with electric blue dial and green-tinted sapphire glass in 2014. The GV is the only Rolex produced with a tinted crystal. Although initially rumored to be a limited edition, the GV version is still produced nearly three years later.
Hans Wilsdorf
"I tried combining the letters of the alphabet in every possible way. This gave some hundred names, but none of them felt quite right. It was one morning when I was sitting on the upper level of a double-decker powered at that time by horses, driving along Cheapside in London, that a good genie whispered in my ear: "Rolex." A few days after this fruitful journey, the Rolex brand was filed, and then officially registered in Switzerland by Wilsdorf & Davis."
Bob's Watches
The company was founded in the mid-1990s by Bob Thompson in North Carolina as a local seller of various watch brands and models. Thompson retired in 2010 and sold the business to Paul Altieri for $8,000. Alteiri relaunched the website, with a focus on reselling Rolex watches. From the beginning, its website listed the price that the company would be willing to pay for each watch alongside the price the company would sell the watch for. In 2014 it began offering buyers and sellers of Rolex watches the ability to post selling and buying prices, creating an exchange.
Rolex Submariner
The French diving company COMEX adopted the Rolex Submariner and Sea Dweller as standard issue for their saturation divers in the late 1960s; this continued until the company was sold in 1997.
Rolex
In general, Rolex has three watch lines: "Oyster Perpetual", "Professional" and "Cellini" (the Cellini line is Rolex's line of "dress" watches). The primary bracelets for the Oyster line are named "Jubilee", "Oyster", "President", and "Pearlmaster". The watch bands on the models are usually either stainless steel, yellow gold, white gold, or rose gold. In the United Kingdom, the retail price for the stainless steel 'Pilots' range (such as the GMT Master II) starts from GBP 5,600. Diamond inlay watches are more expensive. The book ""Vintage Wristwatches"" by "Antiques Roadshow's" Reyne Haines listed a price estimate of vintage Rolex watches that ranged between US$650 and US$75,000, while listing vintage Tudors between US$250 and US$9,000.
Counterfeit watch
Rolex counterfeits are illegally manufactured replicas of Rolex watches. Rolex watches have often been more susceptible to counterfeiting compared to other luxury watches, due their brand enjoying the highest worldwide awareness and ubiquity of their design trademarks (for instance, the Rolex Submariner has inspired plenty of imitations from both higher-end and lower-end legitimate watch makers). Counterfeit Rolex watches commonly retail anywhere from $5 to upwards of $1,000; the latter for high-end replicas with portions fabricated from solid karat gold (although most gold Rolex fakes utilize gold electroplating). Such watches are known by several nicknames such as "Fauxlex". The fake Rolex trade has become segmented and the products marketed using glossy color brochures and catalogues containing counterfeited wares produced in China and offered for sale to retail vendors throughout Asia.
Rolex Sea Dweller
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 with reference number 1665 was originally developed in 1967 but became available to the public only in 1971. This delay was probably caused by issues with obtaining the patent for the helium escape valve. The Rolex helium valve was the idea of Robert A. Barth, a US Navy diver who pioneered saturation diving during the US Navy Genesis and SEALAB missions led by Dr. George F. Bond. In the past, it was wrongly assumed the Sea-Dweller was developed in cooperation with Comex S.A. industrial deep-sea diving but the french company became a partner of Rolex only in late 1971. The first version of the Sea-Dweller was the so-called "Single Red" with a depth rating of . Most of these watches were awarded to pioneers in underwater exploration like Robert Palmer Bradley, who was a pilot of Deepstar 4000. Later versions had an increased depth rating of .
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship. Rolex took over as series sponsor in 2002.
Action Express Racing
Action Express Racing was founded in 2010 and ran in the former Rolex Sports Car Series. The team started out of the gate strong, by winning the 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Their lineup in the No. 5 Riley Mk. XI featured João Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Ryan Dalziel, and Audi LMP1 driver Mike Rockenfeller. The team's win was notable as their engine, a Porsche 5.0L V8 engine, was not sanctioned by Porsche itself, and was built by a third party based on the Porsche Cayenne. Full season drivers Barbosa and Borcheller were joined by J. C. France for a few rounds, but did not find the podium again, finishing 13th in points. Barbosa, Borcheller, and France reunited the following season, taking a podium at the 2011 Rolex 24 and winning at Virginia International Raceway, enough for Barbosa and France to finish 5th in points. The team also expanded to the No. 9 Riley-Porsche, driven by Darren Law, IndyCar driver Buddy Rice, David Donohue, and Burt Frissele. After reuniting Barbosa and France, the team opted to replace the latter with Law, scoring wins at Belle Isle and the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen.
Rolex Submariner
A new Submariner-Date, model 116613 (not to be confused with model 16613), based on the "supercase" used in the GMT II, was presented at the 2008 Basel show. The first Submariner-Date models offered were a yellow gold with blue face and bezel and a new white gold with blue face and bezel. The stainless steel case model was presented at the 2010 Basel show. Its reference is 116610.
Fastnet Race
The Fastnet Race has been sponsored by the Swiss watch manufacturing company Rolex since 2001. The Race prize is known as the Fastnet Challenge Cup.
The Fastnet Race takes place every two years over a course of . The race starts off Cowes on the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England at the Royal Yacht Squadron. Leaving The Solent through The Needles Channel, the race follows the southern coastline of England westward down the English Channel, before rounding Land's End. After crossing the Celtic Sea, the race rounds the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland. Returning on a largely reciprocal course, the race rounds the Isles of Scilly before finishing at Plymouth .
Diving watch
In 1961, Rolex began to include a skindiver handbook with the Submariner, then available in two models, one water resistant to , the other, less expensive version, to . It was the choice of watch for the character of 007 in the first ten James Bond films, causing the "Sub" to achieve an iconic status.
Rolex Oysterquartz
At the end of the 1970s, the Swiss watch industry was being affected by the Quartz crisis, and Japanese watchmakers supplied the world market with large quantities of quartz watches. Rolex decided to put forward a new line of watches to combat this situation, and the Datejust Oysterquartz was born. Although not designed to turn the company’s tradition of producing mechanical watches upside down, it faced the international, namely Asian, markets seeking to keep alive interest in Swiss luxury watchmaking; an industry that seemed at that moment to have been completely absorbed by the Japanese quartz watch.
Germans in the United Kingdom
In business & commerce, Germans have also been highly successful. Backes & Strauss, the world's oldest diamond company was founded in 1789 by German businessmen Georg Carl Backes and (later on) Max Strauss. In 1818 Johann Heinrich Schröder founded with his brother, the London-based firm Schroders, today one of the world's largest investment banks. In 1851 Paul Julius Reuter founded the Reuters news agency, now one of the large financial media organisations in the world.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
After the family decided to change the company's legal form and to keep the family out of its management, Ferdinand Alexander founded his own industrial design company, Porsche Design, in Stuttgart, Germany, which was later moved to Zell am See, Austria, where the Porsche family owns an estate called Schüttgut. The first product Porsche Design created was a chronograph wristwatch made by Swiss watchmaker company Orfina. Its design started while F.A. was still working at the Porsche Style bureau. It was launched in 1973 and was different from other chronograph wristwatches, as its case and bracelet were made out of matte black chromed steel. It was intended as accessory for Porsche drivers and sold by the Porsche dealers. It operated the then-new Valjoux 7750 movement, which is today still the most widespread mechanical movement for chronograph wristwatches. As many customers would have liked a normally-coloured watch, a version with bead-blasted stainless steel was issued. Later the movement was changed to the Lemania 5100, which was a simple and rugged movement mainly used for military watches. The Porsche Design Chrono I was made in different versions — color of case and straps, print on dial — for several country's air forces, as well as the NATO alliance.
Rotary Watches
Rotary Watches Ltd was established at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, by Moise Dreyfuss in 1895. By the 1920s family members Georges and Sylvain Dreyfuss began importing Rotary watches to Britain, which was to become the company's most successful market. Since 2014, it has been owned by Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited (an investment holding company formerly known as China Haidian Holdings until 2014).
Rolex Yacht-Master
The Rolex Yacht-Master is a sport watch made by Rolex, first introduced in 1992 with the model 16628 in 18-carat yellow gold. In 1994, Rolex released a lady's model (69628) and a mid-size man's model (68628), which was the first time Rolex had ever issued a smaller professional size watch. In 1996, Rolex introduced two-tone (stainless steel and 18-carat yellow gold) to the lady's and mid-size line.