ROLEX WATCHES

No brand on this list has become more of a household word than Rolex, founded in London by Hans Wilsdorf  in 1905 and based in Switzerland since 1919. Many of the 20th Century’s recognized  icons of watch design all hail from the rich history and archives of Rolex — the Submariner, launched in 1953, which to many defines the quintessential look of a divers’ watch; the Cosmograph Daytona, arguably the essence of what an auto-racing-inspired sport chronograph should be; the GMT-Master, whose bicolor bezel and 24-hour hand basically established the look of the modern traveler’s watch; and the Day-Date, a watch worn by so many heads of state that it’s been nicknamed “The President,” to name the most famous examples. Even lesser known Rolex models, like the nautical-themed Yacht-Master, the military-rooted Air King, and the deep-diving Sea-Dweller, claim their own interesting histories and fan bases. Since around 2000, Rolex has been almost entirely vertically integrated, making most every part of its watches and movements at its own factories and developing dozens of patented technologies.

Founded: 1905

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Ownership: Hans Wilsdorf Foundation

Notable models: Datejust, Submariner, GMT-Master, Cosmograph Daytona

Did you know: Rolex developed the first GMT-Master watch at the request of Pan Am Airlines pilots, who wanted a watch they could use to check the time at both their home time and destination.