Mechanical Watches/Hand-wound Watches Rolex - The crown mark is synonymous with royal luxury watches

I want to be number one at least once in my life. Not the only one, but number one.

Rolex may be the watch that will make your wish come true. Its crown mark gives a dignified impression.
Rolex is probably the watch worn by many successful people.

It is recognized as a watch that you can wear with pride wherever you go in the world, and there are also anecdotes that it can be converted into cash in an emergency.

Since the price of a Rolex generally does not change even if it is second-hand, one of the joys of owning a Rolex is the ability to sell your old watch and buy a new one.
Rolex is the most luxurious watch among luxury watches. It can be said to be synonymous with luxury watches. When talking about luxury watches, Rolex is now an absolute necessity.

■The History of Rolex Many Swiss watch makers were founded in the 19th century or earlier, such as Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, IWC, and Omega.
However, despite having established such trust and brand recognition, Rolex is still a latecomer when it comes to Swiss watch manufacturers.
The company was founded in 1905, at the turn of the 20th century.

Hans Wilsdorf founded the company Wilsdorf & Davis, which manufactured and sold watches.

In 1905, pocket watches were still the norm. Pocket watches were larger than wristwatches. Otherwise, the technology of the time would not have been able to maintain accurate precision. However, Hans was convinced that wristwatches were practical and would add an accent to a watch.

In 1908, the brand name "Rolex" was registered as a trademark.

The name is derived from the French term "Horlogerie Exqulse", which means the finest watchmaker.

In 1910, it became the world's first wristwatch to receive chronometer certification. In 1914, it also received Class A certification. This certification was usually only given to marine chronometers, but when it was given to a wristwatch, it was also proof of technological innovation. In 1919, the company moved its headquarters to Geneva, Switzerland, where it is still based today.

■The three pillars of Rolex The reason why Rolex watches have maintained their value from the past to the present is that, as a manufacture, they are responsible for everything from the development to the production of their own movements, and as the ultimate practical watches, their durability surpasses that of other manufacturers.

Even when the quartz crisis occurred, Rolex was one of the few manufacturers that did not rush to quartz but instead devoted itself to the development of mechanical watches.
- Oyster Case: A sealed case introduced by Rolex in 1926.
As the name oyster suggests, the case is tightly closed like an oyster shell.

The bezel, case back, and crown are all housed within the middle case, making this a revolutionary development at the time and a patent was obtained.
At the same time, it also functions as waterproofing; currently, all Rolex models are waterproof to a depth of at least 100m.

Since Rolex is known for its Oyster case, with a few exceptions, there are no watches with see-through backs. The case is sturdy and provides protection against dust and water, while also being shock resistant.

・Perpetual rotor
In 1931, the company introduced the world's first automatic winding mechanism for wristwatches, equipped with a rotor that rotated in both directions, which it named the Perpetual Rotor. The rotor rotated in tandem with the movement of the wrist to wind the mainspring.

Although this mechanism is commonplace today, it is an undeniable fact that this development laid the foundation for automatic watches.

With a manual winding watch, winding the crown by hand can be a bit of a hassle and it's easy to forget, and if you can't visually check the power reserve (I think most mechanical watches don't have a visual power reserve), the time tends to go out of sync, but this perpetual rotor has made a dramatic improvement in accuracy.

・Datejust
This mechanism was developed in 1945. For example, if today is the 1st and tomorrow is the 2nd, on a normal watch, just before the date changes, the small window that displays the date shows half a 1 and half a 2, but on the Datejust, the date display in the small window changes to the date of the next day at the moment the date changes, giving it a charm not found in other mechanical watches.
These three mechanisms are the basics that are installed in all Rolex models.

So, the appeal of Rolex is that whether it's a watch that costs over 5 million yen or a 1 million yen model, the internal mechanism is the same.

For most watch brands, the price difference is due to the difference in functionality, but this is rarely the case with Rolex. The main reason why Rolexes vary greatly is due to differences in materials, etc.

For example, platinum is sometimes used in the "Day-Date" model. Therefore, no matter what model Rolex you have, you can maintain a certain level of status.

■ Representative collection: Air King
This model was born in the 1940s. The Air-King is equipped with an Oyster case and an automatic winding mechanism. As this is the most reasonably priced model, it is also the most familiar collection for those new to luxury watches.
Another advantage is that the design is completely simple and can be worn in any situation.

Explorer I
This model was born in 1953. It is literally a model made for explorers, and is made with a very robust case. It has a simple design with Arabic numerals 3, 6, and 9 on a black dial and a triangular mark at the 12 o'clock position.

Explorer 2
This model was born in 1972. It was developed for cave explorers and has an additional 24-hour hand and date display at the "2".

Submariner
This is a diver's watch developed in 1953.
It is also famous as the model worn by 007.

The watch James Bond currently wears is an Omega, but in the original Bond wore an Oyster Perpetual and in the film he wore a Submariner.

In particular, the Ref. 5513 used by the third actor, Roger Moore, in "Live and Let Die" captivated audiences with its special functions (of course, only in the movie), such as turning into a powerful magnet when the crown was pulled and the bezel rotating to turn into a circular saw.

It is still a popular model today, and even used ones sell for over 800,000 yen. The first Sean Connery wore this Submariner with a tuxedo. Given the dress code at the time, it was completely unthinkable to wear a sports watch with a formal outfit, but now, thanks to Bond, it has transformed into a watch that can be worn at any time.

・Day Date As the name suggests, this model has a date and day of the week function. It is positioned as Rolex's highest model. This is because the Day Date lavishly uses only rare metals such as platinum and gold for the bracelet, etc.

Daytona
In the 1960s, the Daytona chronograph was born under the themes of "space" and "motorsports." It is Rolex's only chronograph model.

・Milgauss
This model was developed in the 1950s. It is a watch with 1000 gauss magnetic resistance. It was not available for a while, but was revived in 2007 and became a hot topic.

・Yacht-Master
This model was released in 1992 by Rolex, who had not released any new models since the 1970s. Unlike the Submariner, as the name suggests, this model was made for celebrities who enjoy marine sports such as yachting.

・Yacht-Master 2
This model was released in 2007 and is specialized for yacht racing.

・GMT Master
The GMT Master was born in the 1950s as a pilot's watch and is a popular model among pilots.

・Day Date 2
Released in 2008, the Day-Date has been enlarged by 5mm, giving it a more luxurious feel.

・Sea-Dweller
It was released in 1971. It is a further development of the Submariner, aimed at professionals. Equipped with a helium escape valve, it can now be used at depths of up to 3,990m.
Rolex is a watch that will never disappoint you. If you buy one, it will be yours for life. Why not try it out in store?