The ENTIRE History of Rolex in 16 Minutes

A German orphan sells watches in London under other people’s names. A century later, his company makes roughly one watch every thirty seconds and still makes people wait for it. This is the full story of Rolex, from Hans Wilsdorf’s 1905 import shop to the Oyster, the Channel swimmer, the quartz crisis, and the charity that owns it all. We also cover where the company stands right now, with tariffs, shrinking Swiss exports, and a business that grows by making fewer watches. In this video: How Hans Wilsdorf went from orphan to watch importer Where the name Rolex came from, and why the bus story can’t be proven The Oyster, Mercedes Gleitze, and the 1927 Channel swim Why Rolex didn’t invent the self-winding watch Prisoners of war who ordered watches on credit The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, the charity that owns Rolex The Daytona that was hard to sell, then sold for $17.8 million How Rolex survived the quartz crisis Managed scarcity, tariffs, and the 2025 numbers A note on the numbers: Rolex is privately owned and publishes no financial results. Sales and production figures in this video are third-party estimates from Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult for 2025, and Rolex declined to comment on them. Tudor and the Swatch Group have questioned the report’s accuracy. Subscribe for the full story of more companies, one founder at a time. What was the first watch you ever owned, or wanted? Tell us in the comments. #Rolex #CompanyHistory #BusinessDocumentary