8 Things to Know About Rolex

No doubt the most well-known watch brand in the world, Rolex led the way in many innovations that are a standard in the horology world today. But, there’s plenty that isn’t common knowledge about this iconic, timeless brand. In our article below we cover some of the lesser known facts about Rolex, its origins, and how this watchmaker shaped the world of luxury watches.

8 of the most interesting facts about Rolex::

1. Rolex wasn’t named after anyone.
2. The watch adorns wrists of history makers.
3. Rolex invented the perpetual movement.
4. Adventurers have worn Rolex watches.
5. The Milgauss was made for nuclear scientists.
6. Rolex partnered with interesting bedfellows including Zenith.
7. When ordinary materials wouldn’t do, Rolex turned to 904L steel.
8. Paul Newman’s Rolex sold for $17.8 million.

1. Roots of the Name: Meaning Behind the Rolex Moniker

Was there a Mr. Rolex? Is the name an acronym? What does it mean? Unlike countless other luxury watch brands on the market, there’s little out there in the way of documentation on the birth of the name Rolex or the meaning behind it.

Founded by Hans Wilsdorf in 1905, and formally named in 1908, Rolex was Wildsdorf’s brainchild. It is said that he was fixated on conceiving an easy-to-remember, catchy, simple name that would “look good on a watch dial.” The name Rolex supposedly just hit him one morning as he was traveling through the city streets of London, and the rest is history. It’s funny to think, with that kind of origin story, we could have just as easily wound up talking about Rolette, Rotex, Dalex, or countless other combinations!

2. Crossing the Channel: Rolex Makes History in Year One

From the beginning, Rolex put its money where its mouth is by partnering with those willing to take on new challenges. It was only a year after the launch of the Rolex Oyster—the world’s first waterproof and dustproof watch—that an example was strapped to the wrist of Mercedes Gleitze for her swim across the English Channel.

The crossing with Rolex was not her first attempt. It took seven failed attempts until her achievement in early October of 1927. When pundits questioned her success, a “vindication swim” was planned for later that month. Hans Wilsdorf saw his opportunity. After 10+ hours in the water, Gleitze failed to cross the channel though the Rolex Oyster on her wrist stayed dry and accurate through the journey.

3. A Revolution in Watchmaking: Birth of the Oyster Perpetual

The self-winding rotor was a 20th-century breakthrough in watchmaking. Rolex unveiled the very first Perpetual movement watch back in 1931 in an era where bumper and hammer-style self-winding mechanisms were the only available options. This revolutionized how Rolex watches were made and led the way to more innovations in horology overall, many of which were introduced by Rolex.

Opening up the winding mechanism to rotate 360 degrees not only vastly improved the efficiency of winding, but also limited the wear-and-tear on the caliber over time. Though Throughout the years, the design was improved upon by other companies, namely with the “Grinder”self-winding setup that was created for the Innovision II and the new Freak Vision models. But it all began with the Oyster Perpetual.

4. The Rolex Legacy: A History of Exploration

These days, cross-promotion is all the rage between brands and adventurers, but Rolex supported explorers from its earliest days. Its watches were on the wrists of passengers in the first plane to fly over Mount Everest in 1933. They scaled the mountain for the first of many times in 1953 and dropped to one of the deepest known points on Earth, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, in 1960. Rolex has been a pioneer when it comes to supporting explorers, expeditions, or those simply looking to conquer adventures previously thought impossible.

In recent years the brand revived their interest in land speed records, sponsoring the BLOODHOUND SSC land speed record attempt to hit 1,000mph. Rolex first got into the land-speed game by sponsoring Sir Malcolm Campbell back in the 1930s who went on to be the first to break the 300mph barrier back in the day (and held nine world land speed records along the way).

5. The Most Expensive Rolex: A Functional History of Milgauss

Adventure of a different kind was happening in the laboratories of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in the 1950s. Scientists needed stable timekeeping that could withstand the lab’s powerful magnets. Rolex stepped in with the Milgauss, named for its ability to keep accurate time up to 1,000 Gauss of magnetism, hence the name.

While the current version holds the same name, independent tests have proven that it is capable of handling a fair bit more. You know, should you ever get thrown up against the world’s biggest magnet or tour the turbine room of a large-scale power plant.

6. A Partnership in Swiss Design: The Rolex Zenith Crossover

1986 marked major change for the Rolex Daytona in the form of a transition from the manually-wound Valjoux 72 based caliber to its first automatic caliber, though not of Rolex’s own creation. The brand turned to electronics company Zenith, which offered up the El Primero caliber 400 as a base for Rolex to build their new icon.

The modifications necessary to turn the El Primero into the Rolex caliber 4030 were anything but subtle. First, increasing the size of the free-sprung balance and balance spring with a Breguet overcoil, changing the escapement, and bringing the caliber’s oscillating rate down from 5hz to 4 (36,000 beats per hour down to 28,800) were on the task list.

The new balance setup, though more complicated, yielded better accuracy, whereas the decrease in oscillating rate meant longer service intervals. Alongside these changes, and deleting the date complication among other things, Rolex kept roughly half of Zenith’s inner workings. This bulletproof caliber proved to be just what collectors wanted, and it remained in production until 2000, when the brand revealed its first in-house caliber to launch in the last 50 years—the 4130.

7. Versatility and Adaptability: The Seriousness of R&D

Throughout its history, Rolex has been at the forefront of innovation. But it’s not for experimentation’s sake — there are no double tourbillon watches, repeaters, or grande complications here. Instead, every modernization has a purpose, starting from the Oyster case, Perpetual rotor, Milgauss, and the decision to use 904L steel.

The idea behind using 904L steel rather than the industry standard stainless steel came because it is more corrosion resistant and produces a nicer polish than 316 does. When Rolex decided to finally offer watches with on a rubber strap in 2015, they created the perfect strap with thin steel supports inside the rubber to ensure it outlasts any conventional rubber other strap on the market. It’s little things like this that keep the massive powerhouse those extra steps ahead of the competition at every turn.

8. True Rarity: The Rolex 4113

Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona — priced at  $17.8 million at auction — is very likely one of the most expensive Rolex watches ever sold.

Another Daytona — The Rolex Cosmograph — also receives a lot of hype, as evidenced by the Daytona Ultimatum May 2018 Geneva Auction when 32 of these watches were offered and cleared over $22 million all together. The fact of the matter is, though the Daytona has become immensely collectible, there’s another rare bird in the Rolex archives that in so many ways is far more worthy of coveting—the Rolex 4113 split-seconds chronograph in steel.

The last known example to sell fetched north of CHF1,000,000 at a Christie’s auction in 2016. That’s peanuts compared to Newman’s Daytona, but here’s what’s crazy: Only 12 examples of the 4113 were ever produced they were as gifts to competing racing drivers in 1942, with eight still known to exist. You can talk Daytona all you like, but in our eyes, this will always be the ultimate in Rolex Unobtanium.

This article was edited and updated on May 10, 2022.