Rolex Milestones

Published: 2018-10-14 - By: gdm
Last updated on: 2018-10-16
visibility: Public
  • 1905 Rolex founded in the United Kingdom under the name Wilsdorf & Davis
  • 1919 The company relocates to Switzerland
  • 1920 The company name officially changed to Rolex SA
  • 1926 The first waterproof wristwatch “Oyster" is made
  • 1931 The first automatic Rolex wristwatch is made and nicknamed the “bubble back” due to its large case back.
  • 1945 The first wristwatch with an automatically changing date on the dial (Rolex Datejust reference 4467) is made.
  • 1953 The first wristwatch case waterproof to 100 m (330 ft) (Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner reference 6204) is made.
  • 1954 The first wristwatch to show two time zones at once (Rolex GMT Master reference 6542) is made.
  • 1956 The first wristwatch with an automatically changing day and date on the dial (Rolex Day-Date) is made.
  • 2004 Rolex acquires the Aegler movement company and Rolex can finally say their movements are made "in-house".