Rolex
In his late teens and early 20's Hans Wilsdorf followed his passion for business, travel, and the new "bracelet watch". He landed an apprenticeship in a watch exporting firm in La Chaux De Fonds, the watchmaking mecca of the world. At 24, eager to do things differently, Wilsdorf decided to set-up his own watch-making business and the Rolex Watch Company was born.
Wilsdorf & Davies was founded in 1905 in London and introduced a leather 'briefcase' watch that sold in large quantities in a variety of styles. Wilsdorf was interested in concentrating on the new wristwatch in an era when the pocket watch was mainstream.
Despite early obstacles, Wilsdorf decided that the wristwatch was the way of the future. He was ahead of his time. He obtained precision running movements that were readily available and tested them over and over. It wasn't long before it was the fashion to be seen wearing a 'wristwatch'. Early models were mainly silver with leather straps. Soon gold models followed, along with the birth of the flexible bracelet.
Wilsdorf dreamed of creating a brand for his watches, something that you could look at and see immediately what it was, but rather than using his own name on the watch face as many of the Swiss greats had done he made one up. He chose the name 'ROLEX'. It was short, catchy and pronounced the same the world over. Little did he know that it was going to grow to become one of the most recognized brands of all time
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