Rolex Oyster

The honor of opening Wimbledon was bequeathed to an ambassador from Rolex, the Swiss watchmaker that continues to be the tournament’s official partner for the 36th consecutive year. Roger Federer is the face of the brand today, probably because he so well embodies their values; as a living tennis legend making history with each new victory, he’s a model of longevity for a champion in his discipline. Indeed, you can find a plethora of exceptional individuals who’ve devoted themselves mind and body to their passion in Rolex’s latest ad campaign. Whether it’s Marlon Brando, Andy Warhol, or Martin Scorsese, renowned filmmakers, legendary politicians, or sports champions, this is an insurmountable fresco that forms the caste of wearers of this most famous of Rolex watches.

Back to the object itself: the Rolex Oyster got its name from an anecdote, according to which the brand’s founder, Hans Wilsdorf, a young Bavarian genius who’d settled in London, angry that he couldn’t open an oyster, dreamed of creating a case for his watches that would be just as hermetic. And this is how one of the most famous watches in the world was born in 1926. The following year, it crossed the Channel around the wrist of a young swimmer to become a symbol of water-proofness, seen as extremely important because it also proved a resilience to the pesky altering of watch mechanisms at the time from impurities like dust. This didn’t stop the founder from seeing to it that the watch would be presented in an aquarium in stores as extra proof of its perfect water-proofness. With so many tasty anecdotes, it’s easy to forget that the brand originally distinguished itself through the precision of its watches; the latest great innovation that should make Rolex go down in history was the automatically rewinding mechanism called Perpetual, that definitively put the fastidious ritual of manually rewinding watches to bed.

It almost goes without saying that in addition to its precision and longevity, the Oyster is made with a scrupulous attention to detail and in the finest of materials, with each watch ultimately subject to a rigorous individual test. The Oyster figures as an iconic watch because of its exceptional intrinsic qualities leading back to the values that made the brand famous the world over, rendering it a universal archetype of success and elegance. This is how the Oyster’s longevity and timeless style make their wearer go down in history, while its precision evokes a demanding attitude towards oneself on the daily, through each precious instant. It’s no accident then that the most important personalities in the world have been choosing Rolex for decades. Always on the front lines of history on the wrists of those who make it, a Rolex is an exceptional watch for exceptional people, crowning and accompanying its wearer throughout their entire remarkable existence.