How Rolex Achieved Icon Status
The curious thing about many watches is that they only become “cool” after being seen on cool people. Take good old Rolex. Many people wonder how this tank of a watch … big, clunky, and to some eyes, not particularly attractive became not only desirable, but the template for much of the watch world. Nearly every major brand has paid homage to the GMT-Master and the Submariner, and for years there were scores, if not hundreds, of companies copying the familiar look of grandpa’s two-tone.
I was recently asked to comment on Rolex for an article in GQ magazine, where I noted, “It’s a watch that serves a function. It needed to survive water, dust, altitude, cold, heat. It needed to take abuse.” Later in the piece, I added, “A Rolex will continue to run for centuries with proper watchmaking.” And that, really, is the point. Rolex didn’t set out to be stylish—it set out to be useful.
The oft-repeated story of Rolex’s rise is tied to the advertising genius of Hans Wilsdorf, but also to something more organic. Rolex was carried from about 1920 in post-colonial Calcutta, to serve the English gentry and later Abercrombie & Fitch (once the outfitter for adventurers, hunters and safari enthusiasts carried Rolex alongside pith helmets and rugged field gear. It was simply another tool, built to withstand the dust, dirt and rigors of real exploration. When the average fellow saw the mavens, the masters, the well-heeled wearing these purposeful “monstrosities,” they wanted one too. And so the fad began.
Function came first. Style followed. And somewhere along the way, the tool became an icon.
