The Ledger
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Rosenthal: Rolex launched its core tool watch lineup between 1953 and 1955
“From 1953 to 19 55, Rolex, and again, Hans is still running the company, he dies in 1960, but Rolex, Hans, Andre, launch a whole suite of wild new models, very different than the Datejust and the Oyster Perpetuals that we were talking about before. This is the…”
Rosenthal: Rolex splits operations between Geneva and Bienne
“And even to this day, this is crazy. Design, sales, marketing, and I think final assembly all happened in Geneva while production of the movement still happens up in the mountains in Vienna.”
Rosenthal: Rolex probably would have stayed in England without wartime tariffs
“I think if that were the only factor, Rolex probably would have stayed in England.”
Rosenthal: Mercedes Gleitz wore Rolex Oyster on neck, not wrist
“What Rolex doesn't talk about to these days is a footnote to history of, it wasn't actually on her wrist.”
Rolex owns the Geneva building housing rival Omega's flagship store
“Hilariously, they just bought the building where Omega has their flagship store in Geneva. So Omega makes a rent check out to Rolex every month.”
Rolex authorized dealers keep only a 33% to 34% gross margin
“Industry-wide, third-party retailers make a 37% gross margin after they mark up from the wholesale price. That's their margin. For Rolex in particular, it's lower than average, because Rolex, you only get to keep 33 to 34%.”
Gilbert: Rolex locked up Aegler's entire movement production in 1936, cutting out Gruen
“In 1936, I feel like this is a big moment, and kind of exactly what you were saying. As your competitors fall off a cliff due to economic hardship, there's an opportunity, if you have the right product that's working well in the market, to kind of consolidate …”
Rosenthal: Rolex gifted its 150,000th chronometer to Dwight Eisenhower
“Well, less than a year later, Rolex makes their 150,000 officially certified chronometer once again in the now, you know, new top of the line Datejust model. And who does Hans go to for this one? Through, not directly, but with some influence of the fact that …”
Rosenthal: Rolex represents 20th-century modernity, not traditional Swiss history
“When you buy a Submariner or a Daytona or even a Datejust, you are not buying Swiss history here. You are buying 20th century modernity, as we will get into.”
James Cameron strapped a Rolex to his submersible in the Mariana Trench
“James Cameron On a manned submersible takes the Sea-Dweller Deep Sea Challenge, and it actually is, I think, all of those brands. They, like, include the sub-brand with the parent brand in this thing, down to the Marianas Trench, to the deepest part of the oce…”
Hans Wilsdorf personally created all Rolex advertising until near his death
“One of his maniacal control things was, I believe up until he died or pretty close to it, he did all the creative for all the advertising.”
Rolex earned the world's first wristwatch chronometer certification in 1910
“In 1910, he sends the first Wristwatch movement to the School of Horology in Switzerland to be awarded the world's first wristwatch chronometer rating.”
Rolex relied on a handshake movement deal with Aegler for 99 years
“This carries through this relationship for the next 99 years until Rolex finally buys Egler in 2004, where Egler is making the movements for Rolex watches, and I don't think there's ever any real formal arrangement here. It's basically a handshake deal.”
Rosenthal: Rolex refused to cut prices or drop US Open sponsorship in 2008
“Rolex didn't cut prices, didn't stop sponsoring the U.S. Open.”
Rolex averages $13,000 per watch versus $40,000+ for ultra-luxury peers
“In terms of price, Rolex's average selling price, not Rolex's price, but what the retailers sell it for, is around 13,000 dollars. Audemars Piguet is 48,000 dollars. Vacheron Constantin is 38,000 dollars. Patek Philippe 40,000 dollars.”
Rolex heavily funded quartz R&D but limited commercialization to Oysterquartz
“They poured a huge amount of R&D into quartz watches, but they didn't productize most of it. They did these small runs of this oyster quartz”
Rosenthal: Rolex's 1930s rotor system remains the watch industry's primary self-winding mechanism
“Rolex finally cracks it and patents their own Rotor, quote unquote, self-winding system, which still to this day is the primary method of self-winding across the entire industry.”
Gilbert: Around 2010 you could buy Rolexes directly out of cases
“Even in, I don't know, twenty-ten or something, you could walk into a jeweler who's an authorized Rolex dealer, and you could just buy something out of the case, which you cannot do today.”
Rosenthal: Rolex acquired movement maker Aegler in 2004 for ~1B CHF
“He presided over, most importantly, the Agler acquisition in 2004. For rumored roughly a billion Swiss francs, Rolex buys Agler and makes it officially in-house.”
Rosenthal: Rolex and J. Walter Thompson launched the 'destinies of the world' campaign
“So, at this time, Rolex finally brings on a third-party advertising agency, the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency in New York. Rolex and J. Walter Thompson, in collaboration after Eisenhower becomes president wearing his Datejust, launched a campaign in th…”
Hans Wilsdorf transferred 100% of Rolex into a foundation in 1944
“His first wife, Anna, died tragically in 1944, right before the end of World War II. And that is actually when Hans sets up the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation and puts all of his ownership of the company into it.”
Gilbert: Rolex Slow Iterations Protect Long-Term Brand Value
“It helps Rolex's long-term value to help their customers feel like they made a good decision when they bought the product.”
Rolex uses semiconductor-style UV lithography to etch Daytona chronograph gears
“Rolex has gotten so sophisticated in its manufacturing that they actually use ultraviolet lithography in making their watches. It's not an etching silicon, because God forbid they should ever get anywhere near a semiconductor. It is etching a very specialized …”
Pre-WWII Rolex catalogs featured twice as many women's models as men's
“But if you look at their product catalogs, really up until World War II, ladies models outnumbered men's models two to one.”
Gilbert: Wilsdorf placed Aegler's largest-ever order for miniature movements
“He places the largest order in Egler's company history, several 100,000 Swiss francs, for a bunch of these tiny movements.”
Gilbert: In 1929, a Rolex cost between $25 and $1,000
“There was an article published at this time that said you could get a Rolex for as little as 25 dollars. Even if you inflation adjust that, it's like 450 bucks today. Or for as high as a thousand dollars, which is 18,000.”
Rolex sells 1M+ watches annually at an average price of $13,000
“Over a million people a year actually do buy one, and for an average price of 13,000 dollars each.”
Rosenthal: Pan Am Partnered With Rolex to Create the Dual-Time GMT-Master
“And the way that they're going to do that is they're going to work with Rolex and develop a new professional watch for their pilots that can, for the first time, tell time simultaneously in two different time zones.”
Rosenthal: The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation's primary purpose is ensuring Rolex's continued operations
“Much like the IKEA foundations that we talked about on that episode, the primary purpose of the Wilsdorf Foundation is to ensure the continued operations of Rolex.”
Gilbert: Rolex Had at Least Three Failed Internal Attempts at Waterproof Seals
“They had at least three failed attempts to create a waterproof seal in-house.”