Rolex Creates A Lasting Tradition

Before his death in 1960, Hans Wilsdorf entrusted his company Rolex to the newly created Wilsdorf Foundation, which would assure the company's independence. In 1962, Rolex's board hired 41-year-old André Heiniger, who had worked for Wilsdorf for 12 years, as managing director. In 1992, Patrick Heiniger, a 32-year-old lawyer, who had worked for the company for six years as marketing director, succeeded his father. André remained chairman until 1997, when he became chairman emeritus. In Rolex history, there have been only three managing directors.

In the post-war years, watches became both less expensive and more reliable. In 1950, a Norwegian born engineer, Joakim Lehmkuhl devised a more dependable cheaper watch by making significant improvements to pin-lever technology. It was marketed under the brand name Timex. In 1968, prototype quartz crystal watches were introduced. These time pieces were very accurate and eventually would be inexpensive to produce. The new quartz technology allowed for both analog and digital readouts, and expanded to new functions like calculators. By the end of the 1970s, about half of the watches sold worldwide were based on quartz technology, and Hong Kong had emerged as a major center for watch production.

Rolex was slow to join the quartz business, but did come out with a limited number of models. In spite of threatening new technologies, a proliferation of low-cost producers in the Far East, and economic ups and downs, most of the luxury brands survived in one way or another. But Rolex thrived in the face of new technologies. In an era when accuracy and dependability were no longer the exclusive province of premium products, Rolex developed a series of attitudes toward defending and building its position in the high-end market.

Even as watches became mass-produced products Rolex continued to emphasize craftsmanship and quality. It used materialslike gold, platinum, and jewels. And it continually improved its movements and added new functions to its watches: the ability to tell the date, the day of the week, and the time in different time zones. As a result of this increased functionality, Rolex's watches were made with a greater sense of old-fashioned craft. An cheap quartz watch made with a great deal of automation has between 50 and 100 parts; a Rolex Oyster chronometer has 220 parts.