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Brand name set in type. No Rolex logo, crown mark or photograph appears on this page, because the Image Ledger holds no cleared rights entry for one.

Tier A, Maison Live Last verified September 2026 Switzerland Founded 1905

Rolex

A distribution company Hans Wilsdorf founded in London in 1905[Rolex], renamed after a name Wilsdorf says came to him on the top deck of a London omnibus[Rolex], moved to Geneva in 1919[Rolex] and has been owned, since Wilsdorf's own arrangement, by a private foundation rather than by shareholders who could be named.[Rolex] It is the brand this Codex's own withheld-claims list already mentions twice, for a Channel swim it cannot independently corroborate and two patents whose numbers it has never published.[Legacy]

This entry is about Rolex, a watch brand and the organisation behind it, in the Brands domain of The Watch Codex, at coverage Tier A, Maisons. Also known as: Rolex SA / Montres Rolex S.A. (legal name, registered in Geneva in 1920). The brand originates in Switzerland, from a company first established in London. Every factual claim below is attributed in Sources.

What this page is. A record of what Rolex's own published pages and reports document, with the date each was read. What it is not: advice, a valuation, an appraisal, an authentication, or a recommendation to buy anything.

Contacts and prices. Contact details are organisational only and were verified on the date shown; they change. No second-hand, auction or marketplace price appears anywhere in this Codex. The Codex is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Rolex; "Rolex" and the Rolex crown device are trademarks of their owner and are used here only to identify them.

Curious

What Rolex is

Plain language, nothing assumed. A reader who knows nothing about watches should finish this and understand why this company matters.

A London distributor, a name from an omnibus, and a move to Geneva

Rolex's own account of its founding names one person. "In 1905, at the age of 24, Hans Wilsdorf founded a company in London specializing in the distribution of timepieces."[Rolex] The company traded in movements made in Switzerland and cased in England, sold under several names, before Wilsdorf settled on one of his own invention. His own account of choosing it is exact: "One morning, while riding on the upper deck of a horse-drawn omnibus along Cheapside in the City of London, a genie whispered 'Rolex' in my ear."[Rolex] The name was adopted in 1908.[Rolex]

The move that made Rolex Swiss came later. "Rolex moved to Geneva, a city renowned internationally for watchmaking," and Montres Rolex S.A. was registered in Geneva in 1920.[Rolex] This Codex records the move itself as dated to 1919 on the same page, with the legal registration following in 1920. A company moving before it is re-incorporated in its new home is an ordinary sequence, and both dates are given rather than collapsed into one.

A name commonly told that Rolex's own page does not use

Many accounts of Rolex's founding, including general encyclopaedic ones, name the original London firm "Wilsdorf & Davis" and credit a second founder, Wilsdorf's brother-in-law Alfred Davis. Rolex's own history page, as read for this Codex, names only Hans Wilsdorf and gives no name for the original firm at all.[Rolex] This Codex does not assert that Alfred Davis did not exist or was not involved; only that the company's own primary account, as published today, is silent on the point. A brand's own page choosing not to repeat a detail that is common elsewhere is exactly the kind of gap this Codex exists to flag rather than paper over.

The Oyster, the Perpetual rotor, and two patents with no number

Rolex's own watchmaking pages describe the Oyster case, from 1926, as "the world's first waterproof wristwatch case"[Rolex], "conceived by Rolex in 1926 and patented"[Rolex], with a design the brand calls "incomparably resistant to all sorts of external aggressions."[Rolex] Rolex's own history page gives the same year in narrower, dated words: "In 1926, the creation by Rolex of the first waterproof and dustproof wristwatch marked a major step forward."[Rolex]

Five years later came the Perpetual rotor: "In 1931, Rolex invented and patented the world's first self-winding mechanism with a Perpetual rotor. This ingenious system... is today at the heart of every modern automatic watch."[Rolex]

Both are called "patented". Neither patent number is published.

Rolex's own pages use the word patented for both the Oyster case and the Perpetual rotor, and neither page gives a patent number, a filing date, or a patent office.[Rolex][Rolex] This Codex searched for both records again while building this page and found none; the same result the Legacy page's withheld-claims list already records for the Oyster patent. "Patented" is published as Rolex's own word, not as a verified patent-office fact, for either invention.

The Channel swim this Codex will not publish as fact

Rolex's own history page also states: "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."[Rolex] This Codex checked again for this dossier and, as at Session 12 and Session 18, found no non-Rolex primary record (no swimming-history society, no contemporary newspaper archive reachable here) that corroborates the swim's outcome or the watch's condition afterward. The story is published on this page as Rolex's own claim, attributed to Rolex, and not as an independently established fact. The full withheld-claims entry, including the note that this Codex could not verify the Daily Mail advertisement said to have followed, is kept on the Legacy page rather than duplicated here.

Two things worth knowing before you go looking

Rolex is privately owned by a foundation, and Rolex's own report says so. That single fact answers a question this Codex is asked about every brand: who owns it, and can that be checked. For Rolex the answer is not silence (see who actually owns what), even though, as with every Tier A brand this Codex has documented so far, no revenue or profit figure is published at any level (see the published figures).

Rolex publishes no retail price anywhere on its own site. Every other Tier A dossier this Codex has built so far shows at least some official list prices, somewhere, for some market. Rolex's own global site does not: watch pages lead to "Discover" and a retailer finder, never a number. This page records that as a checked absence rather than an oversight.

Exploring

How to read the brand

Structure, ownership, certification, and where this page still has gaps. For a buyer, a student, a collector starting out, or a retailer's new hire.

Who actually owns what

Rolex's corporate structure is unusual among the brands this Codex has covered, and it is unusual in a way Rolex's own published material discloses rather than hides. The legal entity is Rolex SA[Rolex], and Rolex's own 2023 Sustainability Report states plainly: "Rolex is owned by the foundation created by Hans Wilsdorf in 1945", operating "under the aegis of a single shareholder: the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation."[Rolex] The same report gives 15,548 employees worldwide, 80% of them in Switzerland[Rolex], and names the company's world headquarters as being "based in the Acacias district of Geneva."[Rolex]

Rolex's own "About Rolex" page describes the company, in its own words, as an integrated and independent Swiss watch manufacture that designs, develops and produces the majority of its watch components in-house.[Rolex] No Swiss commercial-register record (Zefix) has been pulled to independently confirm the legal entity; the register's own search interface returned a robots-blocked response when checked for this dossier, so that field is recorded as outstanding rather than guessed, the same limitation already on record for Omega's Swiss entity.

The current collections

Rolex's own watches index lists seventeen named collections, in the order shown on the page as read for this dossier: Land-Dweller, Day-Date, Sky-Dweller, Lady-Datejust, Datejust, Oyster Perpetual, Cosmograph Daytona, Submariner, Sea-Dweller, Deepsea, GMT-Master II, Yacht-Master, Yacht-Master II, Explorer, Explorer II, Air-King and 1908.[Rolex] The model most often called simply "the Daytona" is given on this index by its full official name, Cosmograph Daytona.[Rolex]

Two names a reader may expect are not on the current list. Milgauss and Cellini do not appear anywhere on Rolex's own watches index as read for this dossier: not as a link, a heading, or a product name.[Rolex] This Codex records that absence only as an absence: the index gives no discontinuation notice, no explanation and no date for either name leaving it, and no other Rolex-published page read for this dossier states one. Nothing here should be read as this Codex asserting that either line has been discontinued; only that neither is currently listed.

The list above is Rolex's own top-level collection index, not an exhaustive catalogue. Each collection contains many individual references, dial colours and bracelet options not named here.

Certification: Superlative Chronometer

Rolex's own current certification page (published under its "New watches 2026" section, which is where this Codex takes the 2026 date from rather than from the sentence itself) states that Superlative Chronometer testing is strictly controlled by internationally recognized, independent Swiss entities[Rolex], and that the certification now covers two stages: a design and manufacturing stage, described on the page as newly added, testing resistance to magnetism, reliability and sustainability[Rolex], and a finished-watch stage testing precision, waterproofness, self-winding and autonomy (power reserve), which the same page attributes to the certification's 2015 redefinition.[Rolex] The current page does not name a specific certifying body or a numeric precision tolerance.

An earlier, dated Rolex release gives both. It states the certification "applies to the fully assembled watch, after casing the movement"[Rolex, hosted by FH], and gives a number: The precision of a Rolex Superlative Chronometer after casing is of the order of −2/+2 seconds per day, or more than twice that required of an official chronometer.[Rolex, hosted by FH] That page is Rolex's own release text, republished on the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry's own site rather than on rolex.com: this Codex cites it as Rolex's own words on an independent trade body's server, not as FH's own finding, and colours the citation accordingly.

Two Rolex statements, years apart, do not use the same wording

The −2/+2 seconds-per-day figure and the comparison to "an official chronometer" appear in the older, FH-hosted release; the current rolex.com certification page, updated for 2026, states the same underlying idea (that testing exceeds the industry chronometer standard) without repeating either the number or the comparison. This Codex publishes both, dated, rather than assuming the newer page silently confirms the older figure.

Where a Rolex watch is made

Rolex's own account is unusually direct for a Tier A brand this Codex has covered: Rolex creates, manufactures, assembles and tests all its watches exclusively in Switzerland, thanks to the know-how and commitment of more than 9,000 employees at the brand's sites.[Rolex] The same page names four sites, each with one stated function: Acacias, Geneva: the world headquarters, "where the watches are developed and assembled"[Rolex]; Bienne: "where the movements are manufactured,"[Rolex] a site Rolex's own Bienne page describes as "entirely dedicated to developing and manufacturing Rolex movements," down to "the escapement — including the patented Chronergy escapement — the balance wheel, the patented Parachrom and Syloxi hairsprings, as well as the Paraflex shock absorbers"[Rolex]; Plan-les-Ouates: "where the watch cases and bracelets are produced,"[Rolex] a site inaugurated in 2005 that "brings together all the development and production activities for watch cases and bracelets, from casting gold alloys, to forming and machining raw materials and manually finishing completed parts"[Rolex]; and Chêne-Bourg: "where the dials, Cerachrom bezels and Cerachrom bezel inserts in ceramic are crafted,"[Rolex] a site whose own page adds that it "brings together all the activities linked to the development and production of the dial as well as those related to gemmology and gem-setting."[Rolex]

A fifth site, in Bulle, in the Swiss canton of Fribourg, is named on the same page as "under construction," with no completion date given.[Rolex] The 2023 Sustainability Report adds one further figure not tied to a single site: 96% of direct purchases ("purchases related to products, i.e. everything that features in the composition of our watches") are made in Switzerland.[Rolex]

No "Swiss Made" percentage is published here, unlike Longines

This Codex's Longines dossier records a stated Swiss-content percentage tied to the "Swiss Made" legal standard. Checked again for this dossier, Rolex publishes no equivalent figure anywhere read here: the exact phrase "Swiss Made" does not appear anywhere in the 2023 Sustainability Report,[Rolex] and the only occurrence of the phrase found on rolex.com describes a 2026 centenary Oyster Perpetual edition, where "on the dial, '100 years' replaces 'Swiss Made' at 6 o'clock."[Rolex] That single line confirms a "Swiss Made" marking ordinarily appears on a Rolex dial; it states no percentage and no legal standard. The 96% direct-purchases figure above is the closest quantified Swiss-sourcing statement this Codex found on any Rolex-published page, and Rolex's own report does not frame it as a "Swiss Made" compliance figure.

What it costs

Already noted under Two things worth knowing: Rolex publishes no retail price anywhere on its own global site. This section restates that formally, in the place a reader looking specifically for prices would expect one, rather than leaving the finding only in passing. Every watch page read for this dossier routes to a "Discover" call to action and a retailer-finder tool; at no point does a page state a currency figure, a launch price or a suggested retail price, for any collection, in any market read.[Rolex] The money page explains list price and secondary-market price as this Codex uses the terms; no secondary-market, dealer or auction figure is substituted for the missing official one anywhere in this dossier.

No India-specific Rolex price list was found either. This is the same session in which the retailer-locator gap under Contacts was also recorded rather than guessed.

What this page does not yet tell you

  • A Swiss commercial-register (Zefix) confirmation of the legal entity: the register's search interface is robots-blocked from this session.
  • A patent-office record for either the Oyster case or the Perpetual rotor: see the callout above and the Legacy withheld-claims list.
  • A completion date for the fifth manufacturing site under construction in Bulle, Fribourg: Rolex's own page states only that it is "under construction."
  • Why Milgauss and Cellini are absent from the current collections index: see above; this Codex records the absence, not a reason for it.
Deep Dive

The record, dated and attributed

Full detail with every source, for readers who want to check the work themselves.

Legal entity

Rolex SA (also published as Montres Rolex S.A.[Rolex]), registered in Geneva in 1920[Rolex], headquartered in the Acacias district of Geneva.[Rolex] Sole shareholder: the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, created by Wilsdorf in 1945.[Rolex] Rolex describes itself as "an integrated and independent Swiss watch manufacture."[Rolex] No parent group exists above it; unlike Omega, Casio or Citizen, Rolex is not a subsidiary of, or itself, a listed company, and carries no stock-exchange code. No independent Swiss commercial-register record was pulled for this session; see outstanding items.

Chronology, as Rolex's own pages date it

YearEventRolex's own wording
1905Company founded, London"Hans Wilsdorf founded a company in London specializing in the distribution of timepieces"[Rolex]
1908Name "Rolex" adoptedWilsdorf's own account of the name coming to him on an omnibus[Rolex]
1919Move to Geneva"Rolex moved to Geneva, a city renowned internationally for watchmaking"[Rolex]
1920Montres Rolex S.A. registered in Geneva"Montres Rolex S.A. was registered in Geneva in 1920"[Rolex]
1926Oyster case"the first waterproof and dustproof wristwatch"[Rolex]
1927Mercedes Gleitze Channel swim (Rolex's own claim, not independently corroborated)"the watch remained in perfect working order at the end of it"[Rolex]
1931Perpetual self-winding rotor"invented and patented the world's first self-winding mechanism with a Perpetual rotor"[Rolex]
1945Hans Wilsdorf Foundation created"Rolex is owned by the foundation created by Hans Wilsdorf in 1945"[Rolex]
2015Superlative Chronometer certification redefinedreferenced as the certification's prior redefinition on the current 2026 page[Rolex]
2026Superlative Chronometer certification extendeddesign/manufacturing-stage criteria for magnetism resistance, reliability and sustainability added[Rolex]

Commonly confused

  • "Wilsdorf & Davis" as the original firm's name. Widely repeated; not used on Rolex's own history page as read for this dossier. See the callout under Curious.
  • "Rolex invented the automatic watch." Rolex's own claim is narrower and dated: the first self-winding mechanism with a Perpetual rotor, in 1931[Rolex], a specific rotor design, not the general idea of a self-winding watch, which has earlier documented attempts this Codex has not yet traced to a primary source.
  • "Rolex is a public company" / "Rolex trades on an exchange." It does not. It has no listing and no stock code; see Legal entity.

Does Rolex make for other brands?

Make your own covers movement supply and private label generally; this is only what Rolex's own pages, as checked for this dossier, say. Across the pages read (About Rolex, the history pages, the Oyster case and watchmaking-features pages, and the 2023 Sustainability Report), Rolex nowhere states that it supplies movements, cases or finished watches to another company's brand, and the words OEM, ODM and private label do not appear describing anything Rolex supplies outward.[Rolex][Rolex] This is a narrower check than the eighteen-page sweep this Codex ran for Casio, so it is published as what was read, not as an exhaustive finding.

The published figures

What Rolex reports, in its own words, and what it does not. If the words below are unfamiliar, the money page explains them from the beginning.

No revenue, profit or sales figure was found on any Rolex-published page or report read for this dossier: not the About Rolex pages, not the history pages, not the 2023 Sustainability Report, and no investor-relations, financial-results or annual-report section exists anywhere in the site's navigation or footer.[Rolex][Rolex] This is a stronger negative than any other Tier A dossier this Codex has published: Seiko, Citizen, Casio and Omega each sit inside a listed group or company that discloses at least a segment figure. Rolex sits inside none: it has no listed parent to disclose on its behalf, and Rolex SA itself, being owned by a private foundation rather than shareholders, has no obligation to publish results and, on the record read, does not.

People. 15,548 employees worldwide, 80% based in Switzerland, per Rolex's own 2023 Sustainability Report.[Rolex] No more recent headcount was found published.

Advertising. No amount is published in any document read for this dossier.

This Codex does not estimate Rolex's revenue, profit or advertising spend, and does not reproduce any third-party analyst estimate as if it were a Rolex-published figure. Where no figure exists, none is invented.

Contacts & official channels

Organisational channels only, each fetched and confirmed live on the date shown.

Contact details were verified on 28 September 2026 from the sources shown and may have changed. The Codex is not affiliated with any manufacturer and does not endorse any retailer. Always confirm through the brand's official website. No individual's name, personal email or mobile number is published here, ever.

Official site
rolex.com[Rolex]
History and heritage
Rolex History, 1905–1919[Rolex]
Press and news
Rolex Newsroom[Rolex]
Service centre locator
Rolex Service Centres & Affiliates[Rolex]
Sustainability / corporate philanthropy
rolex.org, a separate site for the brand's Perpetual Initiatives programme, not the watch business[Rolex]
Investor relations
None found. No such section exists in the site's navigation or footer, consistent with a company owned by a private foundation rather than shareholders.[Rolex]
Retailer locator
Not confirmed this session: a specific model page and a general search each returned no working locator URL; recorded as outstanding rather than guessed.
Verified on / how
27–28 September 2026: each URL above was fetched and confirmed as a live official Rolex or Rolex-hosted page on that date.

Why no retailer locator is linked here

This Codex links only a locator it has itself fetched and confirmed working. Two plausible URLs for a Rolex retailer locator were tried while building this page and neither resolved; rather than guess a third, this page records the gap and will fill it once a working page is found.

Sources

Every claim above traces to one of these. All are Tier 1 for facts about Rolex, except source 14, which is this Codex's own Legacy page. No forum, marketplace, dealer blog or editorial site was used as the source of any fact on this page.

  1. Tier 1 Rolex: Rolex History, 1905-1919, source read 2026-09-28
  2. Tier 1 Rolex: Oyster Case, Watchmaking Features, source read 2026-09-28
  3. Tier 1 Rolex: Rolex History, 1926-1945, source read 2026-09-28
  4. Tier 1 Rolex: About Rolex, source read 2026-09-27
  5. Tier 1 Rolex: New Superlative Chronometer certification, New watches 2026, source read 2026-09-28
  6. Tier 1 Rolex press material, «The Oyster, a superlative chronometer», hosted by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, source read 2026-09-28, Rolex's own words, republished by an independent trade body; dated 28 April 2016
  7. Tier 1 Rolex: Rolex Newsroom, source read 2026-09-28
  8. Tier 1 Rolex: Rolex Service Centres & Affiliates, source read 2026-09-28
  9. Tier 1 Rolex: 2023 Sustainability Report, source (PDF) read 2026-09-28
  10. Own page The Watch Codex: Legacy, "What is deliberately missing", source
  11. Tier 1 Rolex: Geography of excellence, source read 2026-09-29
  12. Tier 1 Rolex: Bienne, A unique approach, source read 2026-09-29
  13. Tier 1 Rolex: Plan-les-Ouates, A unique approach, source read 2026-09-29
  14. Tier 1 Rolex: Chêne-Bourg, A unique approach, source read 2026-09-29
  15. Tier 1 Rolex: Watches (collection index), source read 2026-09-29
  16. Tier 1 Rolex: Oyster Perpetual, "A fulfilment of vision", source read 2026-09-29