In the space of a few short years from 1926 to 1931, Hans Wilsdorf and his nascent Rolex watch company changed how we look at watches and what we expect from them— forever. He did it with two perfected technologies that helped define the modern wristwatch for the next fifty years: the waterproof watch case and the self-winding or automatic movement. He called his new waterproof case the Oyster and the self-winding movement the Perpetual. Wilsdorf and company didn’t invent these important advances in a vacuum—other companies were feverishly working on solving the same problems and Wilsdorf wasn’t above buying somebody else’s patent if it showed promise. However, without a doubt it was his brilliant melding of ideas and his incomparable genius for marketing that changed the game. This ensured Rolex would be the first watch company that could rightfully lay claim to inventing the modern watch.
By 1926 Wilsdorf knew he had a game-changing watch with his new Oyster. Before the Oyster, watches would sometimes fog up and stop working when exposed to humidity or when you got them wet—their movements useless and frozen with rust. Dust and other debris made its way too easily into Pre-Oyster cases, too. The Oyster changed this by using a screw down case back with a rubber gasket and a screw down crown (like the hatch on a submarine) to prevent the entry of moisture, dirt and dust. But having a game-changing watch wasn’t the same thing as selling one. How to market it?
New Watch, New Advertising
In the first major marketing coup to come after the introduction of the Oyster, Rolex asked pretty Mercedes Gleitze—the first woman to swim the English Channel—to wear one on a well-publicized Channel swim. The year was 1927. She did and Rolex followed up the achievement with a front page advertisement in the London Daily Mail. It showed a photo of Ms. Gleitze with this rather grandiose copy that was typical of the times:
“Rolex introduces for the first time the greatest triumph in Watch-making – ROLEX ‘OYSTER’ – The Wonder Watch That Defies The Elements. MOISTURE PROOF WATER PROOF HEAT PROOF VIBRATION PROOF COLD PROOF DUST PROOF–Miss Mercedes Gleitze carried an “Oyster” throughout her recent Channel Swim. More than ten hours of submersion under the most trying conditions failed to harm its perfect timekeeping. No moisture had penetrated and not the slightest corrosion or condensation was revealed in the subsequent examination of the Watch.”
With this ad, Rolex pioneered the concept of celebrity sports marketing. Little remembered today, Gleitze actually wore the watch on her second, so-called “Vindication Swim” which she did not complete—not her first (and successful) swim. In terms of marketing, it didn’t matter. Wilsdorf had his celebrity and he had his advertising angle. For more about Gleitze and her epic swims, click here: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/history-of-rolex-oyster-perpetual.html
Wilsdorf created the first English sports celebrity marketing hero and also assured his new Oyster was eagerly sought by the public thanks to his shrewd marketing. The Rolex company was off to a great start but Wilsdorf wasn’t content to rest on his laurels. A new development would truly “crown” Rolex as the king of watches. (Around this time Rolex began using the famed coronet crown logo, too. Coincidence?)
Enter the Perpetual
Wilsdorf knew that a waterproof case was only half the battle. A successful self-winding movement would seal the deal and make watch history. There were several good reasons why. Besides the convenience of not having to wind the watch, an automatic movement would ensure the watch didn’t suddenly stop because you had forgotten to wind it. This was something that could mean life or death in an era when watches were used for navigation on land and sea and in the air and for things like scheduling trains. Not fiddling with the crown every day would also reduce wear and make the watch more airtight and waterproof— a huge advantage in durability. Wilsdorf knew the achilles heel of the original Oyster was wear to the crown lessening its water resistance. Wilsdorf’s engineers didn’t invent the self-winding watch. Abraham Louis Perelet had created one as early as 1770, and a company named Harwood marketed a working but imperfect self-winding watch in the 1920s even before Rolex did. What Wilsdorf and company did was perfect and patent the self-winding watch and combine it with the already-successful Oyster to create the first Über Watch: the Rolex Oyster Perpetual.
The Oyster Perpetual Goes to War
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual proved itself during World War II and helped establish the Rolex reputation once and for all. It was the favored watch of the legendary RAF pilots during the Battle of Britain, or “The Few” as Winston Churchill called them. Too expensive to be issued en masse, the pilots often spent their own hard-earned pay to buy personal Rolexes—widely regarded then as the finest, most durable watch money could buy. The watch went on to become the cornerstone of the Rolex lineup. Even today, all premier Rolex models share two basic attributes: waterproof Oyster cases and automatic Perpetual movements. That’s why they all say, “Rolex Oyster Perpetual” on the dial. According to Rolex folklore, Wilsdorf got the inspiration for the Oyster name after he struggled with opening an oyster at a dinner party. Millions of satisfied owners wear the watches every day—without knowing what those famous words on the dial actually mean.
Now you do.