Hans Wilsdorf—The Legend Begins
Have you ever wondered how Rolex came to be Rolex—how the very name became a synonym for excellence? The short answer can be spelled out in two words: Hans Wilsdorf. From its earliest days through the 1970s when new technology enabled other watch makers to flood the market with cheap, practically disposable watches and Wilsdorf was long since dead, Rolex stayed true to its founder’s maverick vision. Rolex endured its greatest challenge and triumphed. By committing to only manufacture high-quality watches and by marketing them in shrewd and imaginative ways, the company weathered the “quartz revolution” years to became the undisputed leader of the luxury watch industry in Switzerland. But how in its infancy did it position itself for that later success? The answer lies in its formative years and the business philosophy established by Rolex early on.
Build The Best
Rolex was started in 1905 by the ambitious German-born Swiss jeweler Hans Wilsdorf. It began with a simple mission: to manufacture high-grade wristwatches. The new-fangled wristwatches employed in the Boer War had attracted the notice of Wilsdorf. He admired their practicality, the way they freed a man to use both hands while still checking the time, and he sensed these new watches were the way of the future. Up to that time, most men and women used pocket watches that were carried in the pocket or clipped to an outer garment like a vest or dress. Although wristwatches were perceived by many manufacturers to be a passing fad (and downright feminine by many gentlemen who were resistant to change), Wilsdorf and his fledgling company didn’t care. He shrewdly perceived they were the future of the watch industry, therefore Rolex would specialize in wristwatches. But Wilsdorf wanted to do more than make high-quality wristwatches, he wanted his watches to be the best.
“We want to be the first in the field and Rolex should be seen as the one and only–the best.” Hans Wilsdorf, 1914
Accuracy First
Wilsdorf knew that for Rolex (and wristwatches in general) to be taken seriously, the watches had to be as accurate as the bigger pocket watches of the day. This was a tall order in the pre-computer era as miniaturization of watch movements was still more art than science. It required extensive trial and error and hand work to achieve good accuracy results with the smaller wristwatch movements. He made accuracy his first priority and it soon became an obsession. He began pushing his watchmakers to make ever more accurate watches. They began to win prizes in accuracy competitions and the public soon took notice. They had to—Wilsdorf was never exactly shy about advertising the superiority of his company’s wares.
Make It Tough, and Waterproof
With accuracy improved to the standards of first-rate pocket watches, Wilsdorf next turned his attention to durability. The first barrier to overcome was water resistance. A watch worn on the wrist was exposed to more moisture, rain, and perspiration than the typical pocket watch. Wilsdorf decided that for his his watches to be the best, they needed to be waterproof. By a combination of experimentation and canny patent purchasing, his engineers delivered the world’s first commercially-viable waterproof watch to the market. This was no minor technological miracle in the pre-depression era. Wilsdorf made the most of his new “Oyster” waterproof watch line in advertising after Mercedes Gleitz swam the English Channel while wearing a Rolex Oyster wristwatch in 1927. He later said he got the name for the tough watch case after finding it difficult to open an oyster at a dinner party. By using Gleitz in their advertising, Rolex actually pioneered the now common celebrity sports endorsement.
Once Rolex had cracked the code on making a wristwatch that was waterproof, Wilsdorf turned his engineers loose and tasked them with making one that didn’t need winding every day. This would be called the Perpetual. A self-winding watch, besides its convenience, conferred a great advantage in that it made the watch even more waterproof and less prone to wear, too. When the Rolex Oyster Perpetual was introduced in 1931, Rolex knew it finally had the finest wristwatch available anywhere in the world. The world’s first successful self-winding, waterproof watch, the Oyster Perpetual was in a class by itself for many years. Next Rolex began to aspire to make more chronometer-rated—or the highest grade, most accurate watches—than any other maker in Switzerland. By the 1940s they were doing just that.
In the postwar period, when other companies were vying to make the prettiest, dressiest watches, Rolex specialized in highly accurate, incredibly durable ones. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual was on Everest when it was first conquered by man in 1953. Rolex pioneered the “tool watch” concept of watches for professional explorers, diver, pilots, and scientists in the final years of Wilsdorf’s tenure at the helm. Rolex watches were elegant and handsome enough to be worn by heads of states and CEOs, (President Eisenhower wore an 18 carat gold Rolex Datejust every day)—they just happened to be the most reliable and accurate watches around, too. Wilsdorf had positioned Rolex as one of the biggest and most successful of the large Swiss watch makers, all in less than fifty years. Some might have argued that small houses like Patek Philippe made better (and far fewer) watches on an artistic level. Still, chronometer-rated, waterproof Rolex watches were indisputably among the finest available at any price when Wilsdorf passed away 1960.
Wilsdorf’s vision and commitment to making the best watches in the world had launched a legend.