History of Men’s Rolex Watches

It is far from an exaggeration to say that no other manufacturer has done more to popularize the men’s wristwatch than Rolex.

Founded in 1905 as Wilsdorf & Davis, their early breakthroughs of the Oyster case, the first workable waterproof housing, and the Perpetual movement, the first commercially-produced self-winding mechanism, offered never-before-seen levels of both convenience and resilience. Together they completely transformed the image of a timepiece worn on the wrist—no longer items of fragile jewelry owned exclusively by women, now essential accessories for men from all walks of life, from the smartest business leaders to the toughest soldiers.

The steady progression built on the foundations of those two pioneering developments have brought us many of the most iconic, recognizable and sought after watches of the last century, and it is a process that is very much ongoing. Rolex still leads the industry, constantly innovating new materials and evolving improved technologies.

Today, they are so far ahead of the competition in terms of worldwide renown that their name has become a byword for notions of luxury, ambition and achievement.

The Early Triumphs

The middle of the 20^thcentury was by far the most important period for Rolex as a manufacturer. They celebrated their 40^thyear in operation in 1945 with the release of the Datejust, a revolutionary timepiece that represented the very first waterproof, automatically winding watch ever made with a date function.

It was the model to put the brand on the map, and it marked the start of a period of incredible inventiveness that is still yet to be equaled.

The brand began forging its identity as the maker of watches that were at once hardy enough to be worn in the most demanding conditions, yet so elegantly designed there was no outfit or environment where they looked out of place.

In the space of three or four years of the 1950s, they gave us the Explorer, based on the Oyster models that had accompanied the first ascent of Everest; the Submariner, the legendary blueprint for every dive watch that followed; the GMT-Master, even today the world’s most recognized traveler’s timepiece; the Day-Date, the ultimate in aspirational indulgence; and the Milgauss, made for scientists leading the way in the new Atomic Age.

In doing so, Rolex invented the concept of the modern tool watch—pieces with functions and features devised to help wearers carry out their occupations, whatever they may be.

By the beginning of the 1960s, the brand had built a portfolio of some of the most important names in horology. It is a core family that remains at the pinnacle of watchmaking to this day, all still very much identifiable as from the same DNA as those introduced some six decades ago.

The Middle Years

The 1960s and 1970s saw the lineup swell with several more vital additions. Specifically, the Daytona, Rolex’s first serious attempt at a chronograph, a piece which has since gone on to rewrite the rules for all sports watches; the Sea-Dweller, another groundbreaking watch that proved a match for the extraordinary demands of the professional saturation diver; and the Explorer II, perhaps their toughest and most no-nonsense creation to date.

Alongside these new models, the established pieces were subjected to a constant and unremitting series of revisions and updates intended to keep them at the forefront of their chosen specialties.

However by the end of the 70s, the quartz crisis had taken a heavy toll on the mechanical watch business and Rolex was forced to move away from the persona it had so carefully cultivated for itself and adapt to a completely new landscape.

The 1980s

Although Rolex had engaged with quartz technology to a certain degree, bringing out battery-powered versions of the Datejust and Day-Date in 1977, they did so with no great enthusiasm. Their hearts belonged first and foremost to the artistry of classic watchmaking and its centuries of heritage and tradition.

What’s more, they were prepared to gamble on the public’s love affair with the hyper accurate and extremely cheap quartz watches coming in from Japan and America waning too, bringing discerning customers back to the world of gears and springs.

It was a gamble that paid off. By repositioning their offerings as the product of sublime craftsmanship and refinement, they became the definitive lifestyle brand. Rolex watches were now something to strive for, a reward for having succeeded reaching a major milestone, and something to hand down to future generations. As such, pieces that had once been made to withstand the roughest treatment began emerging cast in precious metals and set with diamonds and other gemstones on their dials and bezels.

Correspondingly, prices began to rise too, creating the inherent exclusivity that is essential to all luxury goods.

At the center of this transformation was the Daytona, a model which had suffered lackluster sales for the first 25-years of its existence. Frustrated by its manually-winding movement, customers had left it languishing on dealers’ shelves, with those wanting a chronograph well served elsewhere.

But in 1988, it was fitted with its first automatic caliber, a heavily-reworked version of Zenith’s El Primero. Coinciding with a more decadent era and the beginning of the watch collecting phenomenon as a whole, demand for the Daytona exploded.

However, supply was restricted by Rolex’s reliance on a third party for its caliber and it sent impatient would-be buyers back into the archives for the very models they had ignored for so long. Soon, first generation examples started changing hands for large sums, giving birth to the vintage and preowned market which has boomed ever since.

1990s Onwards

With the Rolex name now synonymous with thoughts of affluence and success, the brand started reflecting their fresh persona in their output. The early nineties saw the release of the Yacht-Master, a more sumptuously appointed nautical watch based very much on the venerable Submariner.

Similarly, in the following decades they began to address the one perceived shortcoming of their range with the introduction of a pair of highly complicated pieces. Where their reputation had been built on creating the last word in simple, three-hand models, with perhaps a GMT function or a very occasional chronograph, the new millennium brought with it the Yacht-Master II, an incredibly complex countdown timer with a mechanical memory aimed at regatta competitors, and the Sky-Dweller, an entirely different take on the dual time zone watch coupled with the only annual calendar ever to emerge from the Geneva compound.

The innovations continued in the rest of the range as well, with calibers constantly improved, and with the Daytona finally receiving the brand’s own Cal. 4130, every one of the company’s engines was now produced in-house.

Today, Rolex is beyond question the most famous watchmaker in the world, and their collection of timepieces contains a gallery of some of the most illustrious and coveted watches ever made.

Rolex Men’s Watches Milestones

Featured Photo Credit: BeckerTime’s Archive.