ww2

Hans Wilsdorf – The Exceptional Man Behind Rolex Hans Wilsdorf moved to London in 1904, bringing with him Wilsdorf and Davis watchmakers. Feeling uncomfortably Germanic during World War I, Wilsdorf wanted the brand name to be easily pronounceable in any language, and short enough to fit on the face of a watch. He also thought that the name "Rolex" was onomatopoeic, sounding like a watch being wound. Wilsdorf relocated his business to Geneva and changed the name to The Rolex Watch Company Ltd in 1915. Wilsdorf and the team at Rolex spent the inter-war years crafting and perfecting their chronographs, from the first water- and dustproof watch, the Oyster, in 1926 and the world’s first self-winding ‘Perpetual Movement’ watch in 1931 to stress testing Rolex with Sir Malcolm Campbell as he … [Read more...] about How Rolex survived World War 2