It’s time to wind down for the summer hols, so I will be posting less for the next two weeks. In that context, I thought you might like a story about how to make the most of your downtime by talking about time.
We all know and probably would like to own a Rolex watch. Some of us may even have one or two. Some of us may have a nice fake one. But what is they story behind the watch? Well, it’s fascinating,
Created by Hans Wilsdorf, who was orphaned at 12 years old with nothing to his name, the watch was the creation of his passion. What is really interesting is that once the company became a success, he gave it away. Here’s his story.
Wilsdorf moved from Germany to London in the early 1900s and, working with his brother-in-law Alfred Davis, created a company making wrist watches. At the time, wrist watches were viewed as unreliable and mainly for women. Hans wanted to make the watch something better and so, importing parts from Switzerland, began making the best time piece ever.
The name Rolex came from a genie, according to Wilsdorf. He had been playing with the idea of a brand – at that time the watches he produced were branded W&D in respect of Wilsdorf & Davis – and, one day whilst on the bus, he thought: Rolex! The idea came from playing with letters of the alphabet and he heard a whisper in his ear which gave us the brand.
The breakthrough came in 1926 when the company created the first waterproof wristwatch: the Rolex Oyster. In 1927, Hans gave one of the watches to a swimmer, Mercedes Gleitze. Glietze then swam the English Channel with a Rolex Oyster on her necklace and, hours later, emerged and the watch hadn’t lost a second. Everyone was amazed and that’s how Rolex built trust. It was not with ads, but with proof.
Nevertheless, Rolex published a full-page advertisement on the front page of the Daily Mail for every issue for a whole month proclaiming the watch's success during the ten-hour-plus swim.
Source: Revolution Watch
What may be truly inspiring is that, on his death, Wilsdorf left Rolex to the world. It is not a for-profit company. It is a Swiss-based charitable foundation. Did you know that?
Anyways, if this is of interest you can read a lot more on your own. Meanwhile, I’m going to wind up my Patek Philippe and move on …
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...