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.
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.