Rolex is a luxury Swiss watchmaker headquartered in Geneva. It was founded in 1905 and is known for its reliable and high-quality timepieces. Rolex pioneered important watch innovations like the first waterproof watch in 1926. The company focuses heavily on quality control, testing each watch extensively before release. Rolex also manufactures many of its own components like gold, steel, and movements to ensure quality and precision in its watches.

2. CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• HISTORY
• PLANT LOCATION
• MATERIAL HANDLING
• PRODUCT, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
• INVENTORY CONTROL
• QUALITY MANAGEMENT

3. INTRODUCTIO
N• Rolex is the leading name in luxury
wristwatches.
• ItisheadquarteredinGeneva,Switzerland.
• It was founded by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred
Davis in1905.
• It created theworld'sfirstwaterproofwatch in
1926.
• The name Rolex came from the phrase
“Horologies D Excellence” meaning “watch
makingofexcellence.”

4. • Itspricerangesfrom$250to$485,350.
• AnextremelyrareRolexwatchsetarecordfor
being the most expensive Rolex watch in the
worldatawhoppingpriceof$1.176millionat
WatchessaleinGeneva.

5. HISTORY
• The history of Rolex is inextricably linked to the
visionaryspiritofHansWilsdorf,itsfounder.
• In 1905, at the age of 24, Hans Wilsdorf
founded a company in London specialising in
thedistributionoftimepieces.

6. • To convince the public of the reliability of his
resolutely innovative timepieces, he equipped
them with small, very precise movements
manufactured by a Swiss watchmaking
companyinBienne.
• He began to dream of a watch worn on the
wrist.Wristwatcheswerenotverypreciseatthe
time,butHansWilsdorfforesawthattheycould
becomenotonlyelegant,butalsoreliable.

7. • Hans Wilsdorf wanted his watches to bear a
name that was short, easy to say and
remember in any language, and which looked
goodonwatchmovementsanddials.
• He said, “I tried combining the letters of the
alphabet in every possible way. This gave me
some hundred names, but none of them felt
quite right. One morning, while riding on the
upper deck of a horse-drawn omnibus along
Cheapside in the City of London, a genie
whispered‘Rolex’inmyear.”

8. • In 1910, Rolex first concentrated on the quality
of the movements. The relentless quest for
chronometricprecisionrapidlyledtosuccess.
• In1910,aRolexwatchwasthefirstwristwatch
in the world to receive the Swiss Certificate
of Chronometric Precision, granted by the
OfficialWatchRatingCentreinBienne.

9. • Four years later, in 1914, Kew Observatory in
Great Britain awarded a Rolex wristwatch a
class“A”precisioncertificate

10. PLANT
LOCATION
• Alfred Davis and his brother-in-law Hans
WilsdorffoundedWilsdorfandDavis,the
company that would eventually become
RolexSA,inLondon,Englandin1905.
• In 1919 Wilsdorf left England due to
wartimetaxesleviedonluxuryimportsas
well as to export duties on the silver and
gold used for the watch cases driving
costs too high and moved the company
to Geneva, Switzerland where it was
establishedastheRolexWatchCompany.

11. MATERIAL
HANDLING
• Rolex Movements are all hand-assembled
andtested.
• One of biggest misconceptions about
Rolexisthatmachinesbuildtheirwatches..
• Rolex watches are given all the hands-on
human attention that you'd like to expect
fromafineSwissmadewatch.

12. • Therobotsandotherautomatedtasksareused
for tasks such as sorting, filing, cataloging, and
very delicate procedures. Every other things
from Rolex movements to bracelets are
assembledbyhand.
• A machine however helps with doing things
such as applying the right pressure when
attaching pins, aligning parts, and pressing
downhands.

13. PRODUCT
RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT
• Rolexhasnotone,butseveraldifferenttypesof
extremely well-equipped professional science
labsattheirvariousfacilities.
• The purpose of these labs isn't just to research
new watches and things that may go into
watches, but also to research more effective
andefficientmanufacturingtechniques.

14. • Invented by Rolexin1926, Oyster casewasthe
world'sfirstwaterproofcaseforawristwatch.
• Oysterwatchesareguaranteedwaterprooftoa
depth of at least 100 meters(330 feet), and up
to3,900meters(12,800feet)fortheRolexDeep
seaextremedivers'watch.

15. • In 1968, Rolex collaborated with a consortium
of16Swisswatchmanufacturerstodevelopthe
Beta 21 quartz movement used in their Rolex
Quartz Date 5100 alongside other
manufactures including the Omega electro
quartzwatches.
• The Beta 21 movement used in the Electro
quartzwasaccurateto5secondspermonth

16. • Withinaboutfiveyearsofresearch,design,and
development, Rolex created the "clean-slate"
5035/5055 movement that would eventually
powertheRolexOysterquartz.
• 5035/5055 movement was accurate to 1.66
secondpermonth.

17. Inventory Control
• Rolex makes their own gold. While they
haveasmallhandfulofsuppliersthatsend
them steel (Rolex still works the steel in-
house to make all the parts), all the gold
andplatinumismadein-house.
• 24kgoldcomesintoRolexanditisturned
into 18k yellow, white, or Rolex's Everose
gold (their non-fading version of 18k rose
gold).

18. Quality Management
• Rolex is interested in quality and efficiency.
Basically,theentirecompanyisfocusedon
producing the best watches, and
continually seeing how they can make
thembetter.
• Every single one is tested to extremes
beforeitisallowedtoleavetheRolexsite.

19. • The new generation Oysterlock fitted on
Professional Rolex models underwent 26
different types of drop tests during its
development.
• It was also immersed in tanks of chlorine and
salt water with added sand, where it was
openedandclosedtensofthousandsoftimes–
about three times the clasp's given lifecycle –
to ensure it will remain fully functional even in
theharshestconditions.

20. • All Oyster Perpetual models are equipped with
the Oyster case, providing the movement with
optimal protection against water, dust and
shocks.

21. • Rolex used to use the same steel as
everyone else, but in around 2003 they
movedtheirentiresteelproductionto904L
steel.
• 904L stainless steel is highly polishible and
leaves a lasting, durable reflection on the
watch.
• The only other industries that use this
gradeofsteelareaerospaceandmedical.

22. A natural question is why
doesn't everyone else in the
watch industry use 904L
steel?
Because it is more expensive and much more
complicated to machine and requires special tools
and skills. Rolex had to replace most of their steel
workingmachinesandtoolstodealwith904Lsteel.

23. • An advertisement for Rolex long ago claimed
thatittakesaboutayeartomakeasingleRolex
watch. As suspicious as that sounds, it is true
eventoday.
• Rolexproducesalmostamillionwatchesayear.

24. Reference
• Wikipedia.org
• Rolex.com
• rolexforums.com
• Ablogtowatch.com