The 1916 Company luxury watches for sale
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The 1916 Company luxury watches for sale

The Rolex Standard

No matter the question, Rolex is the answer.

Griffin Bartsch7 Min ReadJuly 18 2023

Mickey Mouse. Coca-Cola. The Olympics. There are few names in the world as recognizable as these. That’s because global recognition requires more than just a good product, more than just reach; it requires an ability to conjure a sensation — one greater than the sum of its parts. An enduring feeling that connects on a level deeper than the surface. The Olympics inspire us, Coca-Cola makes us happy, and Mickey Mouse makes us laugh.

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Rolex makes us feel. Through an unmatched combination of technical achievement, steadfast aesthetic commitment, and stalwart reliability, the Rolex name has come to represent something more than just a watch. From game-changing revolutionaries to cult classics, Rolex has defined the best of the watch industry for over a century.

When I was first getting into watches, Rolex was one of the few brands I felt I knew. I would hazard that I am not the only enthusiast for whom that is true, and I fell into the same trap so many have by replacing my marketing-induced reverence of them with a dismissive sense that they were, perhaps, not what they purported to be.

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And I was not entirely wrong in that assessment; they are not what they purport to be on a surface composed of glitzy ads, massive event sponsorships, and traditional luxury. They are a deeply rooted, long-standing brand with firmly held convictions and passions, which also happens to make one of the most impressive products in the space — and has for a very long time.

The Origins of Rolex

In 1905, when Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law founded Wilsdorf and Davis in London, they couldn’t possibly have understood what they had just started. Renamed Rolex soon after, by the time Hans Wilsdorf moved the company to Switzerland in 1919, the firm had already built a reputation for making watches of an elevated quality.

For many, this would have been enough, but for Wilsdorf, it was only the first step. In an era where the idea of a wristwatch was still novel, Wilsdorf saw a need for continued improvement. In observing a number of the failings of the wristwatches of the day, and deciding to do something about it, Wilsdorf laid the first bricks in the path that Rolex has continued to follow to this day.

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In furtherance of this goal, Wilsdorf founded the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a private trust which remains to this day the sole owner of Rolex, as well as Tudor. With a dedicated focus on supporting the Environment, Science, and the Arts, as well as supporting the enduring character and particularities of the Canton of Geneva, the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation operates Rolex with a cautious eye toward the future.

Crowning Achievements

Whether small or radical, the choices Rolex makes are impactful. From the humblest of mechanical watches to the most extreme, nearly all owe a debt of gratitude to Rolex. Things we take for granted today, like water resistance, date wheels, or even winding rotors, all came from developments pioneered by Rolex.

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From the early days of the brand’s existence, solving problems and advancing the usability of wristwatches was the primary motivation for Wilsdorf and the watchmakers at Rolex. One of the early problems they set out to solve was sealing the watch from dust and water, a challenge that led to the creation of the earliest Oyster cases — and a moniker still carried by the cases of Rolex watches today.

That urge to problem solve has continued as the driving force behind innovation at the Swiss watchmaker. The needs of commercial pilots drove Rolex to develop their GMT complication, whose layout has set the standard for GMT watches. The cyclops magnifier came about because Wilsdorf’s wife, Betty Wilsdorf-Mettler, had a hard time reading the date window on her watch, at least anecdotally.

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Even the helium escape valve was a response to a problem, even if it was a highly specific problem only encountered by a handful of saturation divers. Honestly it would have been cheaper and easier for Rolex to simply replace the watches damaged by escaping helium in de-saturation, but that would have been antithetical to Rolex’s mission, and so the problem was solved.

Rolex has continued to push forward, experimenting with new materials, features and — perhaps most interestingly — new interfaces. Advances like the Ring Command Bezel made using hard-to-set complications, like the Sky-Dweller’s annual calendar, as simple as it’s ever been. Like Rolex’s invention of the automatically advancing date wheel, this innovation could easily set the stage for another generation of complications across the industry.

Unquestionably Rolex

Not every watch is meant to stand out, and Rolex watches have long heeded this way of thinking. And in making watches that were never meant to stand out, Rolex captured the minds of decades worth of collectors who admire the deliberate aesthetic that make a Rolex watch unique.

A testament to this conscious design language is the enduring draw that Rolex watches maintain long after they have left the showroom and their initial polish has been scratched away. Rolex has built a following enraptured by the careful balance between absolute utility and a midcentury look that’s hard to beat.

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Pick a Rolex, and it’s sure to have its devotees. In many ways, the foundation of modern watch collecting is built with Rolex watches — from the boom of Bubbleback Rolexes in the ‘90s to the heat behind a stainless steel Daytona today, you are never far removed from passion when Rolex is in the mix.

Each and every Rolex, whether sporting a broad or niche appeal in the moment, is potentially the next object of fascination for collectors, and every cult classic has the potential to be the next military-grade rocket of intrigue for enthusiasts.

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Collector culture has bred a sense of considered revolution into the Rolex landscape and means that every Rolex carries with it a clear sense of self — an unmistakable identity that makes a Rolex a Rolex. Whether your GMT-Master was made 50 years ago or today, you will never doubt that either is a Rolex through-and-through.

Elegance in All Things

Since Mercedes Gleitze attempted to swim the English Channel in 1927 with a Rolex Oyster tied to a cord around her neck, Rolex has used exploits of the adventurous to test the outer limits of their timepieces. Whether attempting to climb the world’s highest peaks or reach its deepest depths, Rolex values its role in supporting mankind’s boldest ambitions.

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In recent decades, our understanding of ambition has shifted. We have done so many of the hard things, but Rolex has never stopped pushing forward. With a focus that has never been shrunken, they have applied the same principles to more endeavors that help to drive the human consciousness forward.

Whether Roger Federer is lifting the Gentleman’s Trophy at Wimbledon, Alejandro Iñárritu is wrapping a film, or Sylvia Earle is coming to the surface from a conservation dive, you can be sure they will have a Rolex on their wrist as they celebrate — just as they’ve been on the wrists of others for over a century.

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This is not a coincidence. While we may have left the starched collars and tails to the annals of history, we have not done the same with our desire to dress for the occasion. Rolex has embraced this evolution, and a Rolex watch, whatever the material or model, remains an excellent way to show the world you are ready for what comes next.

Not all kings wear crowns, but they do wear Rolex.

When all is said and done, what you get when you buy a Rolex is a watch. Sure, it’s an incredibly well-made watch, but fundamentally — it’s just a watch. Steel or gold surrounding a dial and movement. Some may have a complication or an interesting bezel, but fundamentally they are all tools used for telling time.

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Except that, no, they aren’t. They aren’t just a watch. Choosing a Rolex is buying into a palpable history, one intrinsically tied to the last hundred years of watchmaking. Rolex tells a story about watches moving from the pocket to your wrist, the advent of the age of aviation, an era of exploration, generations of excellence, and, yes, what it means to make a great watch.

So, no, a Rolex isn’t just a watch; it’s a Rolex.