Rolex and yachting - The crown in sailing

Rolex has forged a privileged relationship with yachting out of a natural affinity with this dynamic nautical sport and its time-honoured values. Today Rolex is the committed partner of the most prestigious yacht clubs, institutions and regattas in the world, sharing the highest standards of excellence with the custodians of yachting’s finest spirit. From the very beginning in 1905, Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf set out to make wristwatches that would suit the increasingly active and sporting lifestyles of the modern world. Nine years later, in 1914, Rolex brought the then unrivalled and observatory-certified precision of the marine chronometer clock, a vital navigational instrument, to the wristwatch for the first time. By 1926, Rolex had invented the world’s first waterproof wristwatch, the Oyster, and, in 1931, the first wristwatch self-winding system with a free rotor, called the Perpetual. These patented innovations and landmarks in watchmaking formed the foundations for today’s Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master and Yacht-Master II. Rolex used the world as a real-life proving ground for the Oyster, demonstrating time and again its reliability in the most extreme conditions, at sea, in the depths of the ocean, on land, in the air and on the tallest peaks. By being associated with so many achievements, Rolex watches established themselves as a trusted reference. Waterproof, robust and accurate, Rolex Oyster Perpetual chronometers are uniquely suited to life at the helm.