Rolex

Rolex began in London in 1905, when the German-born Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded Wilsdorf & Davis to fit Swiss movements, largely from Aegler in Biel, into cases sold to jewellers. The Rolex name was registered in 1908; after the First World War the company moved to Geneva in 1919 and was registered there as Montres Rolex SA in 1920. Three developments defined it: the Oyster of 1926, a water-resistant case with screw-down bezel, back and crown; the Perpetual self-winding rotor of 1931; and the Datejust of 1945, which combined both with a date window. Since Wilsdorf's death in 1960 the company has been owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a charitable trust he set up, and it publishes no financial figures.

The post-war Professional models — Submariner (1953), GMT-Master (1955), Day-Date (1956), Cosmograph Daytona (1963) — remain in production in updated form. Rolex makes its own movements, cases and bracelets, certifies every watch as a Superlative Chronometer, and owns the sister brand Tudor, registered by Wilsdorf in 1926.