PERPETUAL COMMITMENT

Rolex presents the 2023 Laureates of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 

-  KC YAP

THE ROLEX AWARDS were set up in 1976 by then CEO of Rolex, André J. Heiniger, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rolex Oyster, the world’s first waterproof wristwatch. Intended to be a once-only celebration, the Awards drew so much international interest that Rolex transformed them into an ongoing programme that has, in the years since, supported 160 Laureates whose endeavours have made a significant contribution worldwide to improving life and protecting our planet, embodying the Swiss manufacture’s commitment to a better world.

“We initiated the Rolex Awards for Enterprise out of a conviction that we had a responsibility as a company to take an active interest in improving life on our planet and in the desire to foster values we cherish: quality, ingenuity, determination and, above all, a spirit of enterprise,” shared Heiniger.

Today, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise are part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, launched in 2019, in support of individuals and organisations whose innovative projects use science and technology to understand the world’s environmental challenges and devise solutions that will restore balance to our ecosystems. The initiative’s growing portfolio has expanded to include longstanding partnerships such as Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue and the National Geographic Society, or younger organisations such as Coral Gardeners, among a growing pool of partnerships.