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Con todo el encanto de un banco suizo reservado y diseños utilitarios en su mayoría inmutables, uno se imagina que los relojes Rolex pertenecerían antes a un museo que a la muñeca de alguien. Y, sin embargo, si alguien le pidiera que pensara en una icónica compañía de relojes de lujo, es probable que Rolex sea la primera que le venga a la mente.

Un-Fashionly tarde a la fiesta

Contrary to what you might think, Rolex is a relative newbie to the luxury watch industry with only a paltry 118 years of experience. Vacheron Constantin dates back to 1755, and Blancpain’s roots stretch further to 1735. Even Omega, generally considered its top competitor, arrived on the scene 57 years earlier than Rolex. In addition, you won’t find Rolex included among famous alta relojería brands, such as Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Söhne, and Breguet. That’s because despite being one of the largest and most well-known luxury watch brands on the planet, Rolex watches usually do not have high-level hand-finished or decorative details on its movements, dials, or cases (the half-a-million-dollar Daytona Cosmograph Rainbow, an 18k white gold case bejeweled in diamonds and other gems, is a notable exception). Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf and his partner did not seek to make luxurious works of art, per se. They wanted to create watches that people all over the world would recognize as top-of-the-line timekeeping machines that push the envelope in scientific and technological advancement. And they did.

Lujo de símbolo de estatus mezclado con funcionalidad intensa

Born in 1881 in Kulmbach, Bavaria (southern Germany), Hans Eberhard Wilhelm Wilsdorf learned self-reliance early in life. He was orphaned at the age of 12, lived as a Protestant in heavily-Catholic Bavaria, and built a thriving business in London during the First World War when Germans weren’t very popular among the British. He was a self-made man in every sense of the word. That drive, coupled with a keen interest in watchmaking and an entrepreneurial spirit, would prove the secret to the immense success of one of the greatest watch brands in history. “We want to be the first in the field and Rolex should be seen as the one and only—the best,” escribió wilsdorf in 1914. That was the same year Britain’s Kew Observatory granted a Rolex wristwatch the coveted ‘Class A’ precision certificate, an honor given only to marine chronometers until then. Rolex was now the first wristwatch to earn scientific recognition as a precision timekeeping instrument. It would be the first of many primero para incluir: 1926 – El primer reloj de pulsera resistente al agua y herméticamente cerrado, el ostra. 1927 – La primera compañía de relojes en utilizar el concepto de testimonio de celebridades (y tener un éxito brillante en él). 1931 – El primer movimiento perpetuo (de cuerda automática) del mundo. 1933 – El primer reloj en funcionar a un récord de velocidad terrestre de más de 300 mph en la muñeca del piloto de carreras Sir Malcolm Campbell. 1945 – El primer cronómetro de pulsera que incorpora una ventana de fecha en la esfera, el Datejust. 1953 – El primer reloj de pulsera en llegar a la cima del Monte Everest con Sir Edmund Hillary y Tenzing Norgay. 1953 – El primer reloj de buceo sumergible hasta 100 m, el Submarinista. 2007 – El primer reloj equipado con una cuenta regresiva programable con una memoria mecánica sincronizable, el Capitán de yate II. 2012 – El primer reloj de buceo experimental certificado a prueba de agua hasta 12,000 m, el Desafío de aguas profundas. Over the years, Rolex has come to signify so much more than wealth, status, and prestige, although these qualities are pretty much a given for whoever’s wearing one. Their brand represents a force of nature—unmatched mechanical prowess and the promise of high-class adventure, worn and adored by wealthy men and women alike, just as Wilsdorf intended.

El siguiente capítulo

Con un nombre mundialmente reconocido y productos que pueden mantener o superar su valor durante varias vidas, no espere que Rolex cambie sus filosofías de ventas o fabricación en el corto plazo. La compañía produce aproximadamente un millón de relojes al año y mantiene controles estrictos sobre los precios minoristas para mantener alta la demanda y baja la oferta. También restringen la venta de piezas genuinas de Rolex a cualquier persona que no sea su propio autorizado. reparación de relojes centros para mantener la calidad y continuidad del producto. Este movimiento obligó a la mayoría de los independientes reparación de relojes rolex experts to turn to the gray (secondary) market in order to repair vintage timepieces. Another key to the brand’s overwhelming success is that the price points for its timepieces mostly fall into that sweet spot between attainable luxury and you-will-never-be-able-to-afford-it exorbitance. Unlike with the alta relojería brands, you know every penny you’re paying with a Rolex is for top-tier accuracy and durability, not artistic flair, so you can (somewhat) justify the $10,000- to $30,000-price tag. A Rolex is a solid investment that will only appreciate with time, which explains why vintage versions remain so popular with collectors and command prices that sometimes double or triple those of their brand-new counterparts. In the coming years, you can anticipate this legendary brand to continue creating timepieces that will function in every possible environment on Earth and throughout the universe. With its own internal research and development department and numerous professionally-equipped science labs, Rolex intends to go on producing the world’s best watches and revolutionize the watch manufacturing process itself. Hans Wilsdorf would be proud.