For much of its history, Rolex was focused on making timepieces that could survive anything.
Precision and quality are now higher than ever, but that's not why fans pay a premium for the brand.
Here's how Rolex transformed from a tool watch for professionals into the symbol of luxury.
Rolex reportedly makes close to a million watches per year, and advertisements for the brand are almost everywhere, but actually finding one to buy can prove to be an exercise in futility.
With their precision manufacturing, specially sourced materials, and exceptional craftsmanship, Rolex watches have never come cheap, but neither were they out of financial reach for 1960s working professionals in search of perfect timekeeping and technical innovation.
In other words, a midcentury Rolex was more like an Apple Watch than the highly prized collectible it is today, where even the lowest-priced Datejust would set you back $5,000.
The scarcity and pricing today are a far cry from the 70s and 80s, when distributors had plenty of inventory to sell at more negotiable prices, according to Jeffrey Hess, a Rolex collector and the co-author of "Rolex Wristwatches: An Unauthorized History."
"Back then, anybody could afford a Rolex," Hess told Insider. "I drove around buying [Daytonas] for $3,000. Today, it's a $50,000 item on the secondary market."
As secondary market prices begin to tick back up from a year-long slide, it's worth taking a look back at how the company evolved from a tool watch manufacturer into the icon of luxury it is now. In short, a combination of savvy marketing and collector interest helped propel demand to wildly outstrip the supply of new watches.
said the 1980's marked a turning point in the company's public image, during which the brand went from being an essential precision tool for professionals and adventurers to become the icon of luxury it is today.
"This watch was never meant to be a fashion watch," he said. "It was meant to be a roughneck's watch. It was meant to be a watch for swimmers, submariners, explorers."
Rolex did not respond to Insider's request for comment on this story.
In the early days, the brand emphasized utility, not luxury
Indeed, for much of the 20th century, Rolex, under its founder Hans Wilsdorf, was at the cutting edge of horological innovation. From plunging into the English Channel, to summiting Mount Everest, to setting land speed records, the brand sought to establish itself as the most useful and reliable timekeeper for the world's adventurers.
When Wilsdorf died in 1960, he was succeeded by Rolex's marketing director, André Heiniger, who spearheaded the decades-long effort to make the brand synonymous with luxury.
"Rolex," Heiniger reportedly said, "is not in the watch business. We are in the luxury business."
Product placements in the 1970s help the brand create an air of exclusivity
to form, the brand boosted its visibility with placements in Hollywood films, sporting event sponsorships, and philanthropic awards. It also instituted a tighter grip on its supply chain and distribution network, enabling it to increase quality controls and maintain an allure of exclusivity.
By the 1970s, these efforts to project an image of reliability and stability put Rolex in prime position to be a safe store of value during economic uncertainty: The US abandoned the gold standard for the dollar in 1971, in 1972 Italy tightened its control of the Lira, and in 1973 an oil crisis sent the market reeling.
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