The Gift of Time

Always vigilant in the present and constantly imagining the future, Rolex founder HANS WILSDORF shaped the world's perception of the wristwatch's place, purpose and potential. We look at how the brand has become a pillar of exceptional watchmaking by upholding Wilsdorf's values of quality, passion and excellence, all of which guarantee that every Rolex timepiece is built to last

- ALLYSON KLASS

Born in 1881 in Bavaria, Hans Wilsdorf grew up in an era where the pocket watch was the order of the day. While there were wristwatches then, they were mostly imprecise, fragile, cumbersome and regarded more as jewellery pieces than a reliable timepiece. But Wilsdorf saw immense potential in them. To him, the wristwatch was an emblem of the modern era, an object befitting of the 20th century. He envisioned a wristwatch that would be capable of keeping up with the movements of individual wearers and the vagaries of their increasingly active daily life. This dream would ultimately lead Wilsdorf to revolutionise the world of watchmaking.

In 1905, he started to work with a small Swiss watch manufacturer in Bienne that was producing unusually compact watch movements. He then took these to London, where he had them fitted into cases. Within the year, he founded a company in London specialising in the distribution of timepieces. Wilsdorf was just 24 then. Three years later, the Rolex trademark was officially registered in Switzerland.

Wilsdorf was confident that his brand's superior watchmaking would benefit wearers by guaranteeing performance and reliability for as long as possible. In 1910, he received the first certificate for chronometric precision to be given for a wristwatch by the Official Watch Rating Centre at Bienne, Switzerland. International recognition soon followed in 1914. A new Rolex wristwatch boasted such outstanding timekeeping that the Observatory at Kew in London awarded it a Class A precision certificate a distinction previously reserved for marine chronometers, the most accurate timepieces of the era.