Rolex
Final visual and functional check of an Oyster Perpetual Datejust 41 © Rolex/Cédric Widmer

Rolex

A Swiss watch manufacture owned by a charitable foundation rather than by shareholders, which builds its brand on proof under test and on names it coins and then owns, from Oyster and Perpetual to Superlative Chronometer and Testimonee.

  • Luxury
  • Heritage
Founded
1905
Industry
Watchmaking · Luxury
Headquarters
Switzerland
Ownership
Private company

Key Facts

Brand logo & color
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Purpose

But Perpetual is more than a word on a dial. It is a philosophy - an unceasing quest for excellence, to explore and to share human knowledge to build a better world.

Rolex
Vision

Since its creation in 1905, Rolex has been on a quest which assembles the skills of many and requires arduous work, day after day, year after year. A demanding, rigorous and perpetual endeavour. The quest for excellence.

Rolex
Mission

To put our high quality standards, sense of innovation and values of excellence at the heart of our sustainability commitments.

Rolex

Brand Chronology

Rolex tells the Oyster's century through its wearers (2026)

Rolex tells the Oyster's century through its wearers

2026
Rolex tells the Oyster's century through its wearers
100 Years Oyster. Shangai Exhibition banner. Source: Rolex
Rolex marks 100 years of the Oyster with a 23-minute film that argues the case for the watch through the people who wore it.
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Rolex puts athletes, explorers and artists in one category (2025)

Rolex puts athletes, explorers and artists in one category

2025
Rolex puts athletes, explorers and artists in one category
Still from Rolex's movie.
A 60-second Rolex film places a tennis player, a deep-sea explorer and a conductor in one category and calls it human achievement.
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Rolex credits the watch to time and the skills of many (2023)

Rolex credits the watch to time and the skills of many

2023
Rolex credits the watch to time and the skills of many
Close-up of a dial with sunray finish © Rolex/Juriaan Booij
Rolex asks what makes a Rolex a Rolex and answers with two things that are not parts of the watch: the time taken and the skills of many.
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Rolex puts a guarantee on second-hand watches (2022)

Rolex puts a guarantee on second-hand watches

2022
Rolex puts a guarantee on second-hand watches
Seal and guarantee card accompanying all authorized watches within the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme. Source: newsroom.rolex.com
Rolex announced its Certified Pre-Owned programme on 1 December 2022, attaching a new two-year guarantee to watches it is not selling new.
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Rolex named its exploration portfolio Perpetual Planet (2019)

Rolex named its exploration portfolio Perpetual Planet

2019
Rolex named its exploration portfolio Perpetual Planet
Image Source: newsroom.rolex.com
In 2019 Rolex gathered its awards programme, its National Geographic partnership and Mission Blue under the Perpetual Planet name.
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Jean-Frédéric Dufour becomes CEO (2015)

Jean-Frédéric Dufour

becomes CEO

2015
Rolex said its watch would never change the world (2005)

Rolex said its watch would never change the world

2005
Rolex said its watch would never change the world
Rolex denied its own product any significance in a Day-Date advertisement and handed all of it to the person wearing the watch.
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Logo Redesign (2002)

Logo Redesign

2002
Source: logos-world.net

Introduced in 2002, the current logo remained largely consistent with its predecessor, featuring only subtle changes to its proportions and color scheme. The crown was enlarged and given a more defined appearance, making it a stronger focal point of the emblem.

The arrangement of the green and gold colors was also reversed, with variations of the two shades changing places. Overall, the redesign preserved the established identity while giving the logo a slightly more refined and prominent appearance.

rolex logo redesign
Rolex backs the whole of tennis, not one player (1978)

Rolex backs the whole of tennis, not one player

1978
Rolex backs the whole of tennis, not one player
A Rolex Cloxk in the Grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Rolex does not back a tennis player and hope. It holds every tournament that matters, so whoever wins, wins under its clock.
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Rolex gets its first opera star in Kiri Te Kanawa (1976)

Rolex gets its first opera star in Kiri Te Kanawa

1976
Rolex gets its first opera star in Kiri Te Kanawa
Rolex Testimonee Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Source: Rolex
In 1976 Rolex signed a soprano and founded an award. Neither produced a measurement, which was the point of both.
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Logo Redesign (1965)

Logo Redesign

1965
Source: logos-world.net

During this period, the key accents shifted, so instead of a business card logo, a succinct corporate label appeared. It features an elongated crown above the company name. The text appears larger than the graphic sign due to the letter proportions and the drawn elements. This version also introduced shades of grey with a blue tint and dark beige.

rolex logo redesign
Rolex put the name of a sponsored track on a watch (1963)

Rolex put the name of a sponsored track on a watch

1963
Rolex put the name of a sponsored track on a watch
Daytona Beach, 1955. Source: Rolex
Rolex launched the Cosmograph in 1963. The name the watch carries today came off a speedway the company already sponsored.
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Rolex strapped its proof to the hull of the Trieste (1960)

Rolex strapped its proof to the hull of the Trieste

1960
Rolex strapped its proof to the hull of the Trieste
Bathyscaphe Trieste, 1960 © Rolex. Image Source: Rolex
Rolex sent an experimental watch to the deepest known point in the ocean on a hull, then engraved the date on a model it sold decades later.
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Rolex counts the pilots behind the GMT-Master (1959)

Rolex counts the pilots behind the GMT-Master

1959
Rolex counts the pilots behind the GMT-Master
Rolex answered a question no watch buyer had asked: what proportion of working airline pilots would call the GMT-Master indispensable.
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Rolex launched the Explorer on a letter from Everest (1953)

Rolex launched the Explorer on a letter from Everest

1953
Rolex launched the Explorer on a letter from Everest
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbing Mount Everest, 1953 © Rolex/Alfred Gregory/Royal Geographical Society.
Rolex ran the Everest leader's testimonial letter in British newspapers and used the same page to introduce a new model at a stated price.
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Rolex wins over the divers with the first Submariner (1953)

Rolex wins over the divers with the first Submariner

1953
Rolex wins over the divers with the first Submariner
Photographer and explorer Dimitri Rebikoff testing the Submariner watch over five months. Source: Rolex
The first Submariner was not sold as a better watch. It was sold as equipment for a job, and Rolex named it after the man doing the job.
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Rolex gets its first celebrity in Malcolm Campbell (1930)

Rolex gets its first celebrity in Malcolm Campbell

1930
Rolex gets its first celebrity in Malcolm Campbell
Sir Malcolm Campbell. Source: Rolex
Rolex's first partner was an unknown typist who produced a measurement. Its second was the most famous man in British motor sport.
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Rolex bought the front page of the Daily Mail (1927)

Rolex bought the front page of the Daily Mail

1927
Rolex bought the front page of the Daily Mail
The front Page of the daily Mail. Source: Rolex
Rolex bought the front page of the Daily Mail after Mercedes Gleitze carried an Oyster on a Channel swim she did not finish.
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Founded

1905
Rolex founded 1905
Hans Wilsdorf, founder of Rolex, 1904 © Rolex
Hans Wilsdorf founded a watch distribution business in London in 1905 and three years later registered an invented five letter name for its dials: Rolex.

Key Competitors

Swiss watchmaker that built its authority on measured performance, as Olympic timekeeper since 1932 and as the watch NASA qualified for crewed spacefl…

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