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.
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.