History of the Company
Rolex has become the foremost watchmaking brand in the world. The firm began life as ‘Wilsdorf & Davies Ltd.’, eponymously named after its founder Hans Wilsdorf and his business partner, and brother-in-law, Alfred Davis. Wilsdorf was German born but spent his adult life in Switzerland and England. He founded a watch exporting company in the watchmaking capital of Switzerland, La Chaux-de-Fonds, but after moving to London in 1905 began assembling and retailing his Swiss manufactured timepieces in the British capital.