Rolex explorer diver vi tagr9/28/2023 ![]() Yet, while it clocked up a number of firsts – other than the bezel, it can claim to be the brand’s first sanctioned military watch, their first real tool watch and the first to be released in a Rolesor combination of gold and steel – the Turn-O-Graph struggled to find an audience and lagged way behind others in the collection. Known as the Thunderbirds, the group adopted the Turn-O-Graph as their official timepiece, and Rolex renamed the watch after them for the North American market. The movable surround offered a simple way to measure and record time, which soon brought it to the attention of the U.S. However, the debut reference bore a striking resemblance to a certain dive watch about to hit the stands, complete with the first rotating bezel Rolex ever put into serial production. The Datejust was the first self-winding, waterproof wristwatch in the world to display the date through a window on the dial.īy 1953, Rolex had introduced another piece that would eventually go on to join the Datejust family, known as the Turn-O-Graph. ![]() When reviewing the Rolex Air-King you will notice that this was the only one still being made by 1945, and it has remained in production (bar a couple of years off starting in 2014) through to the modern-day.ġ945 was also the year Rolex marked its 40th anniversary, and to celebrate they launched an all-new and revolutionary model. Simple, three-handed, manually-wound pieces, they were given names like Air-Tiger, Air Lion, Air-Giant and, one still familiar today, the Air-King. in the Battle of Britain in 1940, Wilsdorf commissioned a series of ‘Air’ models specifically for the airmen. Following their valiant defense of the U.K. The pilots had already started buying Oyster models out of their own pockets before the outbreak of the war, preferring their larger size and greater legibility. Prized especially for its accuracy, it became instrumental during the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III in 1944, the subject of the classic movie The Great Escape.īut it was aerial warfare that really came of age in WWII, and the new breed of military aviators – particularly of the British RAF – adopted Rolex as their timepiece of choice. 3525, an early attempt at a chronograph, featuring a Valjoux movement and one-piece construction that earned it the nickname the ‘Monoblocco’. One particular favorite of these models was the ref. Wilsdorf even sent watches to captured soldiers in POW camps to replace the ones that their guards had confiscated, with instructions that the officers were not to ‘even think about payment’ until they were safely home. ![]() Their watches had accompanied the Houston Expedition – the first-ever flight over Mount Everest in 1933, as well as being worn by Sir Malcolm Campbell on his bone-jarring land speed record attempts in, among other places, Daytona Beach, Florida. With Switzerland guaranteed neutrality by the Treaty of Paris in 1815, members of the Swiss watchmaking industry were happy to supply both sides of the conflict – that is, all except one.Īlthough Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf was German by birth, his condemnation of Hitler’s fascist government was unwavering, and he threw his company’s full support behind the allied forces. A huge success, the two collaborated on delivering the watches to the Italian military until 1956.īy the time the war broke out in Europe, Rolex had already established itself as the maker of highly durable and reliable timepieces. 618), were assembled by Rolex, and had the brand’s Oyster case to thank for its water resistance. The watches may have said Panerai on the dial, but they carried a Rolex movement (the Cal.
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