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Rolex is not the oldest watch brand. It is not the most complicated. It does not produce the thinnest movements or the most innovative complications. What Rolex does, better than any other watchmaker in history, is build a (relatively) small number of watches to an extraordinarily high standard and convince the world that they are the definitive expression of what a luxury watch should be. It has been doing this for over a century, and there is no credible sign that it intends to stop.
The brand produces roughly one million watches per year, a number that sounds large until you consider that global demand far exceeds it. Rolex accounts for an estimated 25 to 30% of all Swiss watch exports by value. Its watches dominate the secondary market, consistently trading above retail prices for popular references. No other brand occupies this position. Understanding Rolex means understanding how it got there.
Origins
Rolex was founded in London in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf, a German-born entrepreneur who was 24 years old at the time. The company was originally called Wilsdorf & Davis and operated as a watch distribution business, importing Swiss movements and fitting them into cases made in England. Wilsdorf registered the name “Rolex” in 1908, reportedly because it was short, easy to pronounce in any language, and fit neatly on a watch dial.
The early decades established the brand’s identity through a series of firsts. In 1926, Rolex introduced the Oyster, the first commercially successful waterproof wristwatch, sealed with a screw-down crown and caseback. In 1931, the brand patented the Perpetual rotor, a self-winding mechanism that remains the foundation of every automatic Rolex to this day. In 1945, the Datejust became the first wristwatch to display the date in a window on the dial. Each innovation was practical, not decorative. Rolex was not interested in complications for their own sake. It was interested in making watches that worked better in the real world.
The company relocated to Geneva in 1919 and has been headquartered there ever since. It is privately held, owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, a charitable trust established by the founder. This structure means Rolex has no public shareholders, no quarterly earnings pressure, and no obligation to disclose its financials. The brand operates on its own timeline, guided by its own priorities. This independence is central to how it thinks and what it produces.
How Rolex Became Rolex
Rolex’s dominance is not an accident of quality alone. Plenty of Swiss brands make excellent watches. What separates Rolex is a brand-building strategy that began in the 1920s and has been executed with remarkable consistency for a hundred years.
It started with proof. Wilsdorf understood early that claims about waterproofing and precision meant nothing without public demonstration. In 1927, a young English swimmer named Mercedes Gleitze wore a Rolex Oyster around her neck during an attempted crossing of the English Channel. The watch survived over ten hours in the open water. Wilsdorf took out a full-page advertisement in the Daily Mail the next day, declaring the Oyster’s triumph. It was one of the first celebrity endorsement plays in luxury goods, and it established a template Rolex would follow for the next century: attach the product to real human achievement, then tell the world about it.
The exploration era of the mid-twentieth century gave Rolex its most powerful associations. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay wore Rolex watches during the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. The Submariner became the watch of professional divers, military units, and eventually James Bond (Sean Connery wore a Submariner in Dr. No in 1962, beginning an association with cinema that continues today). The Explorer was named for its connection to mountaineering. The GMT-Master was developed in partnership with Pan American World Airways for its pilots. Each model was rooted in a real-world function, and each carried a story of human accomplishment that made the brand feel larger than the product.
Rolex then extended this approach into sports sponsorship on a scale no other watchmaker has matched. Tennis (Wimbledon, the US Open, the Australian Open, Roland-Garros), golf (The Masters, The Open Championship, the Ryder Cup), motorsport (Formula 1, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex Daytona 24), sailing (the Sydney Hobart, the Rolex Fastnet Race), and equestrianism. These are not random sponsorships. They are deliberate associations with sports that carry connotations of tradition, excellence, and exclusivity. Rolex does not sponsor football leagues or basketball tournaments. It sponsors activities where its target customer already spends time and attention.
The brand also cultivated relationships with world leaders and cultural figures. Dwight Eisenhower wore a Datejust. Winston Churchill was given a Rolex. Martin Luther King Jr. wore a Datejust. Over decades, these associations accumulated into a cultural presence that transcended watchmaking entirely. Rolex became shorthand for success. Not in the way that a fashion label signals wealth, but in the way that a specific, understated object signals that the wearer has arrived. This perception is self-reinforcing: because successful people wear Rolex, aspiring people want Rolex, which makes successful people continue wearing Rolex.
Finally, Rolex benefits from an approach to production that is unique in the industry. It does not chase trends, does not release limited editions in the traditional sense, and changes its designs incrementally rather than dramatically. A Submariner from 2024 is recognizably descended from a Submariner from 1954. This continuity creates a depth of brand equity that fashion-driven companies cannot replicate. When you buy a Rolex, you are not buying this year’s model. You are buying into a lineage that stretches back decades, and the market prices its products accordingly.
The Collections
Rolex’s catalog is deliberately narrow. Where other brands produce hundreds of references across dozens of model lines, Rolex maintains a focused roster of approximately ten core families. Each has a clearly defined purpose, and most have been in continuous production for decades.
The Submariner, introduced in 1953, is the archetypal dive watch. Rated to 300 meters, with a unidirectional rotating bezel and a design that has evolved gradually rather than radically, it is probably the single most recognizable watch in the world. The current reference, the 126610, is available in steel, two-tone (Rolesor), and full gold configurations. Secondary market prices for the steel version sit roughly 20 to 30% above retail.
The GMT-Master II was designed in the 1950s for Pan Am pilots who needed to track multiple time zones. Its signature is the bi-color bezel, which has produced some of the most collectible configurations in modern watchmaking: the red-and-blue “Pepsi,” the black-and-blue “Batman,” and the brown-and-black “Root Beer.” Secondary market premiums on popular GMT references frequently exceed 50%.
The Daytona is Rolex’s chronograph, named after the Florida racing circuit and associated with motorsport since the 1960s. The current ceramic-bezel Daytona (ref. 126500LN) is among the most sought-after watches in production, with secondary market prices running 60 to 80% above retail depending on the dial configuration. The Daytona’s reputation was cemented in 2017 when Paul Newman’s personal Daytona sold at auction for $17.75 million.
The Datejust is the brand’s most versatile model, available in a wider range of sizes (36mm, 41mm), materials, dial colors, and bezel styles than any other Rolex. It serves as both an entry point to the brand and a staple for longtime collectors. The Day-Date, known colloquially as the “President” because of the bracelet style it introduced, is offered exclusively in precious metals and has been worn by heads of state and industry leaders for decades.
Other key families include the Explorer (a clean, time-only watch designed for expeditions), the Sea-Dweller (a professional dive watch rated to 1,220 meters), the Yacht-Master (the brand’s nautical line), the Sky-Dweller (a dual-timezone annual calendar, and the most complicated current Rolex), and the Oyster Perpetual (the most accessible model in the lineup, offering Rolex’s core engineering without a bezel complication or date function).
Movements and Manufacturing
Rolex manufactures every component of its watches in-house, from the movements to the cases to the bracelets to the dials. It is one of the most vertically integrated manufacturers in the industry. The brand even operates its own foundry for casting gold alloys (Rolex’s proprietary Everose gold, a pink gold alloy resistant to fading, is mixed and cast internally) and produces its own ceramic bezel inserts.
Current-generation Rolex calibers share a set of core technologies. The Parachrom hairspring, made from a niobium-zirconium alloy, is resistant to magnetic fields and shocks. The Chronergy escapement, introduced in 2015, improves energy efficiency by approximately 15% over the previous design. These technologies contribute to the 70-hour power reserve that is now standard across modern Rolex automatics.
Every Rolex movement is certified as a Superlative Chronometer, the brand’s own standard that exceeds the COSC chronometer criteria. Where COSC requires accuracy within minus four to plus six seconds per day, Rolex’s Superlative Chronometer certification guarantees accuracy within plus or minus two seconds per day. The testing is conducted after the movement has been cased, which accounts for real-world wearing conditions.
Buying Rolex Today
The primary challenge for anyone wanting to buy a new Rolex is availability. Demand for the brand’s most popular references exceeds production by a significant margin, and authorized dealers manage allocation through informal waitlists and purchase histories. A first-time buyer walking into an AD and asking for a Submariner, GMT-Master II, or Daytona should expect to be told there is a wait. How long depends on the reference, the dealer, and the relationship.
For references with less demand, including some Datejust configurations, the Oyster Perpetual, and the Explorer, availability is better. These watches can sometimes be purchased from an AD without a significant wait, and they represent strong entry points for buyers who want a new Rolex on the wrist without navigating the allocation process.
The secondary market offers immediate access to every Rolex reference, current and discontinued. Prices for popular sport models sit above retail, but the buyer avoids the waitlist and can choose the exact reference, dial, and condition they want. For discontinued references that no AD can sell, the secondary market is the only option. Entry points on the secondary market start around $5,000 for older Datejust and Oyster Perpetual references and climb from there.
Certified Pre-Owned
Rolex launched its Certified Pre-Owned program in late 2022, the most significant move by any major brand into the secondary market. Under the program, authorized dealers sell pre-owned Rolex watches that have been inspected, authenticated, and serviced by Rolex to meet original specifications. Each CPO watch comes with a two-year Rolex warranty.
The program gives buyers the trust of buying from the manufacturer with the value of buying secondhand, though CPO prices typically carry a 15 to 30% premium over comparable listings on the open market. For first-time buyers who want a pre-owned Rolex with maximum confidence, CPO is a compelling option. For experienced collectors comfortable evaluating condition and authenticity independently, the open secondary market offers better value.
Browse Rolex listings on Tempo, where every transaction is escrow-protected and both buyers and sellers pay zero fees. Explore brand history and reference data in the Timeline. Visit tempo-watches.com.
This article is for informational purposes only. Prices, secondary market premiums, and availability descriptions are approximate and based on market conditions as of early 2026. Rolex is a registered trademark of Rolex SA. Tempo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rolex SA.