The history of Rolex is inextricably linked to the visionary spirit of Hans Wilsdorf, its founder. In 1905, at the age of 24, Hans Wilsdorf founded a company in London specialising in the distribution of timepieces. He began to dream of a watch worn on the wrist. Wristwatches were not very precise at the time, but Hans Wilsdorf foresaw that they could become not only elegant, but also reliable.

To convince the public of the reliability of his resolutely innovative timepieces, he equipped them with small, very precise movements manufactured by a Swiss watchmaking company in Bienne. Inspired by knowledge gained from this fascinating chapter of human adventure, the Oyster Perpetual Explorer, launched in 1953 to celebrate the victorious ascent of Everest, immediately acquired iconic status. The Milgauss, introduced in 1956, was designed to meet the demands of the scientific community and is capable of withstanding magnetic fields of up to 1,000 gauss. The major innovation at the heart of the Milgauss' incredible resistance to magnetic interferences is the shield protecting the movement. Made of ferromagnetic alloys selected by Rolex, it consists of two components, one screwed to the movement and the other to the Oyster case. After rigorous testing by CERN engineers, it earned a reputation as the perfect magnetic shield. The Sky-Dweller series is the most recent all-new release from Rolex. Launched in 2012, it marked a continuation of the brand’s move into watches with additional complications which started with the Yacht-Master II a few years before.

But where that model had a somewhat restricted audience, aimed at a small group who competed in sailing regattas, the Sky-Dweller’s remit was far more universal. A novel approach to the dual time zone feature, coupled with the first annual calendar Rolex has ever produced, made it the ultimate luxury travel watch. Although its functionality would put the Sky-Dweller in the sports collection, its minimalist profile and precious metal casings landed it in among the dress watches, and it was described in some corners as a GMT-equipped Day-Date. Yet while its dial design has left opinions split since its arrival, all are agreed that it is a technical and engineering powerhouse. The Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master II regatta chronograph is the first watch in the world equipped with a programmable countdown with a mechanical memory. This unique watchmaking complication consists of an innovative system of interaction between the movement and the case thanks to a rotatable ring command bezel designed and developed by Rolex. This regatta chronograph allows yachtsmen to cross the line as soon as possible after the starting gun. In 1926, the creation by Rolex of the first waterproof and dustproof wristwatch marked a major step forward. Given the name “Oyster”, this watch featured a hermetically sealed case which provided optimal protection for the movement.  It is one thing to claim a watch is waterproof. It is quite another to prove it. In 1927 a Rolex Oyster crossed the English Channel, worn by a young English swimmer named Mercedes Gleitze. The swim lasted over 10 hours and the watch remained in perfect working order at the end of it. The year 1945 saw the birth of the Datejust, the first self‑winding wrist chronometer to indicate the date in a window on the dial. A watch of great distinction, the Datejust was equipped with a Jubilee bracelet created specially for it and a fluted bezel, making it immediately recognisable as a Rolex. It is the pillar of the Oyster collection. Initially for men, it became available in various models for women in the course of the following decade.

Dwight D. Eisenhower | In 1951, Rolex presented then General Eisenhower with an 18k yellow gold Rolex Datejust to celebrate their 150,000th  chronometer. The watch would eventually appear with Eisenhower on the cover of Life Magazine. It’s often mistaken for a Rolex Day-Date but the watch was not launched until five years later. Launched in 1953, the Submariner was the first divers’ watch waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet). Its rotatable bezel allows divers to read their immersion time.

James Bond remained faithful to Rolex in his second cinematic adventure, From Russia with Love. The movie shows Connery wearing a Rolex Submariner, Reference 6538, which still shows just the time because Q, the famous master of innovative weaponry, hadn't yet equipped 007's watch with any other special capabilities. In the 1950s, Rolex carried out rigorous testing of an experimental watch, called “Deep Sea Special”. Using the knowledge gained from the making of the first two models, the third Deep Sea Special was created to withstand the most extreme conditions - the Challenger Deep portion of the Mariana Trench. In 1960, the experimental bathyscaphe, the Trieste, successfully descended into the Mariana Trench, the deepest known depression on the Earth's surface. With Lieutenant Don Walsh at the helm, accompanied by Jacques Piccard, the Trieste accomplished a feat so incredible that it forever raised the bar for deep-ocean exploration. Emerging from 10,916 metres (37,800 feet), the bathyscaphe was in perfect working order – as was the Rolex Deep Sea Special experimental watch that had been attached to the outside during the historic dive. The year 1992 heralded the arrival of the Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master. This new member of the Oyster family reinforced the ties between Rolex and the sailing world. The reason I want a Rolex GMT-Master II is that it is simply one of the most iconic travel watches. For a long time, it was a bit in the shadow of the Rolex Submariner and Daytona, but undeserved. It is a great tool watch, which I love, even with the Oyster bracelet with the polished center link (often referred to as ‘pcl’) or with Jubilee. It all starts with a request from the former airline Pan-Am for a proper pilot’s watch. Not just a very readable pilot’s watch (there were many out there already), but one that was capable of displaying an extra timezone. A useful for pilots on transatlantic flights, as Pan-Am was about to do so. An accurate and reliable timepiece was a necessity, and adding an extra timezone would make it perfect. Pan-Am inquired at Rolex, and they came up with the GMT-Master. A watch with chronometer. The Day-Date is one of the pillar watches produced by Rolex. Originally released in 1956, the reference 1803 soon became one of the most desirable “luxury” watches to own at the time. The yellow-gold version you see here from 1961 features a warm silvered dial and full set of beautifully aged lume plots. Early Day-Dates, like this reference 1803, did not have the baton indexes and handset often deemed synonymous with Datejusts and Day-Dates of the 1970s through the present day. Instead, they had unusual "alpha" hands, slightly more romantic and delicate than the stick indexes of later years, and faceted indexes that were slightly thicker at six and nine o'clock. In addition to these unusual characteristics, this watch boasts a gorgeous patina that can’t be beat.