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Rolex Timeline
| 1881 | Hans Wilsdorf born, Bavaria. |
| 1905 | Wilsdorf & Davis founded in London, agreement with Aegler company to produce movements. |
| 1907 | Wilsdorf opens Swiss office in La Chaux De Fonds |
| 1910 | Official Controlment Office for the Rating Of Watches, Bienne The first Rolex wrist-watch chronometer to be officially controlled obtains a 1st Class Certificate (11” round) |
| 1914 | Kew Observatory Rolex obtains the first Class A Observatory Certificate ever awarded for a wristwatch chronometer (11” round), after testing for 45 days in 5 timing positions and 3 temperatures. This test is identical to large marine chronometers, no allowance being made for wrist-watch movements. |
| 1919 | Rolex moves to 18 Rue de Marche, Geneva |
| 1925 | Rolex moves to 18 rue de Marche, Geneva |
| 1925 | Kew Observatory |
| Rolex obtains the first Class A Observatory Certificate ever awarded for so small a chronometer. (3/4” oval) | |
| 1926 | Rolex registers the Oyster and is issued a patent for the world’s first waterproof case |
| 1927 | Mercedes Gleitze swims the English channel wearing a Rolex Oyster |
| 1928 | Rolex Prince with TS300 movement, ref. 971 |
| 1929 | Neuchatel Observatory |
| First 1st Class Certificate for a 6-3/4” Rolex chronometer | |
| 1931 | Rolex Oyster Perpetual, ref. 1858, first automatic & waterproof wristwatch |
| 1932 | Besancon Observatory Rolex is the only watch to have obtained a 1st Class Certificate from the four Observatories of Kew, Geneva, Neuchatel and Besancon for a small wrist watch |
| 1938 | Rolex Hooded Bubbleback, ref. 3065 |
| 1944 | Square chronograph, ref. 3529 |
| 1945 | The Rolex DateJust, the first waterproof, self-winding calendar wrist chronometer which changes the date in its dial window automatically |
| 1947 | Rolex Oyster Moonphase, ref 6062 |
| 1949 | Rolex Day/Date/Month chronograph, ref 4768 |
| 1952 | The Turnagraph later renamed Submariner 100 is made for use by scuba divers to a depth of 100m |
| 1953 | Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay summit Everest with Rolex Oyster Perpetuals which functioned perfectly throughout. |
| 1956 | Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day Date, a self winding wrist chronometer which is the first to indicate the day of the week written in full |
| 1960 | A special Rolex Oyster fixed to the outside of the bathyscaph Trieste withstands a pressure of nearly 7 tons/sq. inch at a depth of 35,798 ft. Upon surfacing, Jacques Piccard finds the Rolex to be functioning perfectly |
| 1961 | The Rolex Sea Dweller, guaranteed to a depth of 2,000 ft. First patent for a gas escape valve used in saturation diving |
| 1978 | Rolex Oyster Quartz, operates normally in magnetic fields up to 1000 Oersted |
| 2008 | The number of Official Swiss Chronometer titles obtained by Rolex up to the present time represents more than half the entire production of Swiss chronometers to have been officially certified by the Swiss Institutes for Chronometer tests. |
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