Once upon a time, on this very 2^nd day of July a man who had set out with a dream to make a wristwatch which would be more than an instrument of utility and to transform it into an elegant piece of precision got his dream registered. The dream was none other than the watch brand Rolex and the man was its famous creator Hans Wilsdorf. On July 2^nd, 1908 Hans registered the mark Rolex under the number 24001 and a hundred and one years after, today, Rolex is a brand name that instantly connects with brilliance and panache. In 1915 Wilsdorf had culled enough enthusiasm from the wearers of his watch to register Rolex as the company name.

A lot of planning and strategizing had gone into making the watch’s exactness in marking time, reach the level of perfection that it can proudly claim for itself today. Rolex by the first half of the 20^th century had become such an embodiment of acme that in 1940 of the 21,561 certificates of precision that were issued by the four offices to deliver a rate control certificate for wrist chronometers, Rolex bagged for itself 19,155 of them.

Rolex has many firsts to its credit. It was the first watch company to have invented the waterproof watches. Rolex understood the need to keep oneself abreast of time like no other and came up with the idea of showing the date on the dial. Rolex was also the first watch company that showed two time zones on the same watch. That a watch could be a perfect chronometer was not known before Rolex bagged the record for the most certified chronometer movements in the wristwatch category. The Rolex brand also associated itself with developing the original quartz watch movements.

Of the many Rolex inventions the “Perpetual� was Rolex’s invention of the first self-winding watch which used a rotor and was mathematically designed to mark time accurately. The watch was incorporated with listings for the day and date of the week and Rolex very aptly renamed it as the Day Date. To make their watches water resistant Rolex came up with a unique technology, one that allowed the wearer to sport his Rolex at the beach or at the pool. The watch resistant case got its name from the sea and was called the Oyster. Rolex has a series of watches that are called the Oyster Perpetual editions.

Wilsdorf was quick to understand that just creating a trademark wasn’t enough. It was important that the watch also got a universal clientele and people around the world could avail of the Rolex experience. As a marketing strategy Rolex prioritized the creation of a very personalized design as a result of which the watches were contemporary of the times in which they were created.

The Rolex credo of Quality, Perfection and Consistency survived generations making Rolex an heirloom that is passed from father to son. The Rolex watch is extremely reliable and its durability makes it a name to reckon with. The Rolex SA has three watch lines, the Oyster Perpetual, the Professional and the Cellini. Each line has its share of loyalists and the tacit norm is that once you own a Rolex it’s not only difficult but impossible to change your brand.

Rolex takes itself beyond watches and allies with games. Rolex is the Official time sponsor of the Wimbledon and the US Open and also extends its support to golf and water sports. In 2007, Rolex got its headquarters in New York and since then its fame in the American market has soared.