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[Music]
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rolex is one of the most luxury brands
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in the world valued today at around 8
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billion dollars its history dates back a
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century ago and began with an orphan
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teenager whose inheritance was stolen
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away from him
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with nothing other than his
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determination to overcome his challenges
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he ran away from his hometown and moved
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to another country
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after a few years working his way out he
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decided to follow his passion and opened
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a watchmaking business
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little did he know that this business
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venture would lead him to pioneer modern
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wristwatches changing its whole industry
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and creating a billion dollar empire
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hans wilsdorf was born in kumbak germany
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on march 22 1881 by parents anna and
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johan daniel wilsdorf he was the second
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son of three children his family ran a
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fairly successful business that was
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passed down from his grandfather selling
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iron goods classifying them in the
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middle range class
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unfortunately his mother got ill during
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the next few years and died in 1892 to
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make it worse a year later his dad would
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pass away too leaving hans an orphan at
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the age of 12.
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now under the custody of his mother's
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brothers his uncle immediately decided
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to sell his family's business and used
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some of the money for their education
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putting all three of them in a nice
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prestigious boarding school called
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ernestonem coburg in bavaria germany
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hans hated this decision early on and
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became depressed while living in the new
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town hans was seen as an outsider and
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was often teased by other boys because
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of his religion
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to get through his difficult childhood
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he decided to put his focus on school
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as he got older he understood that even
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though he didn't like the decision of
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his uncles it became an important factor
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for his success
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our uncles were not indifferent to our
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fate nevertheless the way in which they
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made me become self-reliant very early
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in life made me acquire the habit of
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looking after my possessions and looking
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back i believe that it is to this that
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much of my success is due
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hans enjoyed reading books and became
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quite the bright student in school the
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subjects he most notably excelled in
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were mathematics and languages where he
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learned french and english he was always
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curious about travel and knew that
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languages would be very useful which
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would eventually play a big role in his
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career
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during school he became friends with the
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swiss boy who would tell him stories of
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his birthplace in le cho de fun a city
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located in switzerland that was well
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known for its long history in the
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watchmaking industry and hans became
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very intrigued about the place
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one day hans had enough of the way of
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his life and left the boarding school in
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germany to move to geneva switzerland at
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the age of 19 he got himself a job as an
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apprentice for an international pearl
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exporting company this company was
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buying pearls from various markets and
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would sort grade and package them for
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sale to jewelers he noticed the company
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wasn't really creating anything but was
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still making great profits
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there he immersed himself to learn their
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business tactics and was making good
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money for his age
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one day hans received a letter from his
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friend who offered him a job for a
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company called kuno kortan
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kuno korten was one of the biggest
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high-quality watchmaking businesses at
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the time and was exporting about a
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million swiss francs worth of pocket
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watches each year
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they also produced some of their own
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watches from scratch
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this well-known company was based in la
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show de foam the place he always wanted
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to go
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even though the company he was already
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working at was more beneficial for him
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his curiosity for the place and the
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business around watches were stronger
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therefore in 1900 he moved to lesho de
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fun to work for this company
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he was hired as an english correspondent
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and clerk thanks to his ability to write
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and read english that he learned back in
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school and was getting paid with a
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monthly salary of 80 swiss francs
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he was also responsible for winding
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hundreds of pocket watches every day and
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verifying they were accurate he picked
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up tremendous insight into watchmaking
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and obtained a big deal of knowledge
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about how all types of watches were
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produced
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however his time there was cut short he
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had to go back to germany and serve in
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the army after only two years at kuno
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korten
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after his service at 22 years old he
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moved to london england to work for
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another company of high quality watches
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there he was responsible for a bigger
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role and was now in charge of increasing
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their sales during the two years he
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stayed there he successfully managed to
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find more clients for the company and
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grew their sales over time
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by then he was already thinking about
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building his own business of watches and
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was learning everything he could to
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further his knowledge into his future
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business
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during those years he also met his
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future wife florence francis may crotty
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and would get married shortly after
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one day hans was sitting outside with
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his much older brother-in-law alfred
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james davis and talked about life and
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plans for their future
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hans told him he felt he was confident
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enough to open his own business of
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watches but he just needed some capital
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alfred did have the money and knew how
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passionate hans was about watches
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despite being very young he took a
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chance on the german and told him he was
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going to help him on his business
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venture and was ready to invest his
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money they shook hands together and in
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1905 they founded the wilsdorf and davis
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limited which would eventually become
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rolex a few years later
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they partnered up with a swiss watch
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company called hermon egler which was
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based in switzerland and started
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importing movements from the swiss
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country to england placing them in watch
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cases
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they also opened an office in bien
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switzerland to favor his partnership
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there
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soon after they were specializing in the
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distribution of timepieces at affordable
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rates even though hans was a lover of
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watches there was one major thing he
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found unfavorable about the watch
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industry
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pocket watches
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at the time wristwatches were mostly
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worn by women as jewelry and were looked
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down upon by some the reason being for
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not being well precise on the time
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these watches were much smaller than
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pocket watches and consisted of smaller
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movements which would regularly make the
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clock either go faster or slower due to
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small details in the movements this was
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the main reason why pocket watches were
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more popular at the time and was
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considered masculine for its bulky size
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but for hans he mostly found it
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inconvenient to use
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it was a little hassle for him every
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time he had to reach his hand in the
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pocket in order to see the time
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especially when his hands were busy
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until then it was thought to be almost
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impossible to create the perfect
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wristwatch that could consistently show
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the exact time and be in everyday use
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my personal opinion is that pocket
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watches will almost completely disappear
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and that wrist watches will replace them
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definitively hans wilsdorf 1914
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hans predicted that sooner or later
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wrist watches were going to be the new
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norm for everybody and was fully
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committed to finding a way to create the
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perfect wristwatch for it he spent the
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next several years traveling to many
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countries all around europe and met
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countless watchmakers to discuss about
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the small details of watches during
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those years he started to release his
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own wristwatches beginning the same year
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he founded his company one watch after
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another he was crafting down on creating
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a better high quality and reliable
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wristwatch for men and women applying
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what he learned from other watchmakers
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from his journey soon after his company
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began to get some traction and by 1908
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it was one of the top firms in the
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watchmaking industry in england
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by now hans wanted to change the name of
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his company to something high class
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catchy and easy to say no matter the
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language it also needed to be short so
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the name could fit easily in the dial of
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the watch
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he spent a big deal of time combining
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five letters from the alphabet to come
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up with something until finally rolex
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was born
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he immediately knew it was the perfect
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one and a few days later he registered
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the rolex name as a trademark for
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wilsdorf and davis limited in 1908
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during the next few years rolex was
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becoming known for its high quality
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wrist watches and many rich people were
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already starting to use it but it didn't
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take long after when the first world war
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broke out and many businesses including
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watch firms were struggling to stay in
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business and even had to shut down in
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some cases but not rolex
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this tragic event only made han's
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company more famous because of its
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already reliable wrist watches
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many soldiers were given rolex watches
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instead of pocket watches because it was
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much easier and safer to use
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it also helped them to better coordinate
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their attacks because of its precision
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on time
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by then the company had grown to such
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extent that they were employing 60
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people in 1914 and had big open office
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spaces in london
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to further their credibility rolex had
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already won the first ever wristwatch
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chronometer rating from switzerland
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followed by a class a certificate of
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precision from london's q observatory
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this made the brand more trustworthy for
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people to buy
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but not everything was sunshine and
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rainbows for hans in 1914 the british
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applied 33 tax for all companies
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registered in great britain that were
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exporting goods across international
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borders
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it became a big concern for hans so he
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moved his company's headquarters from
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london to bien switzerland in order to
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avoid these taxes
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another reason for his move was because
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of the world war people from britain
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began to dislike the germans
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since the name hans wilsdorf was clearly
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german and even though he registered
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rolex before he was still using the
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wilsdorf and davis name in england which
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was getting looked down upon
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this also led him to completely switch
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his company name from wilsdorf and davis
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limited to the rolex watch corporation
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limited in 1915
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years later hans would also register
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rolex's famous trademark logo of the
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five-star crown which became implemented
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from then on on the dial of their
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watches
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in 1919 the rolex watch corporation
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moved its main office from bien to
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geneva where it still stands today
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from now on the company focused on
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manufacturing the watch movements in
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bien and would transport them to geneva
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where they carefully verify the
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movements were accurate finishing them
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with their high class design and
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launching their products
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it's here in geneva where hans would go
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all in with his team to improve the
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technical innovation of the wristwatch
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we must succeed in making the watch case
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so tight that our movements will be
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permanently guaranteed against damage
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caused by dust perspiration water heat
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and cold
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only then will the perfect accuracy of
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the rolex watch be secured
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thanks to his patience and determination
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it eventually paid off and paid off big
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time
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in 1926 rolex released their new model
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that would forever change the watch
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industry the rolex oyster the first ever
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waterproof wristwatch in history
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this new model was sealed with a very
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tight case that provided an optimal
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protection for the small watch movements
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inside leading it to be waterproof
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hans knew this was revolutionary and
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people would certainly be interested in
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it but he decided to wait for the
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perfect opportunity to present it to the
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world in a very creative way
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in 1927 hans heard about a woman from
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london named mercedes glycza who claimed
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to be capable of swimming across the
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english channel a 20.5 mile body of
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water that separated england and france
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people didn't believe her so she was set
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to do it again in front of thousands of
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people even though the water temperature
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was much colder
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hans saw the opportunity and encouraged
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her to wear a rolex oyster watch around
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her neck after swimming for over 10
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hours she was pulled out from the water
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after almost freezing to death and made
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it about four-fifths of the way across
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the channel the task was not a complete
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success but the rolex oyster came out of
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the water in perfect condition
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people went crazy for the watch and hans
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followed the publicity by putting an ad
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in front of the london daily mail
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newspaper related to the event this is
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the point where rolex rose to
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international fame as a revolutionary
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watch
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to further the hype hans also marketed
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his rolex oyster inside of fishbowls
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with real fishes in it on the sail
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display of every rolex dealership for
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people to see when they walked by
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this genius strategy worked amazingly
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and people became hooked on the products
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by now hans decided to advertise heavily
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on rolex so in 1928 he worked with the
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top british model at the time evelyn
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lane to promote his watches and of
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course there were pictures of her
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wearing her wristwatch inside a fishbowl
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the publicity didn't stop there in 1933
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rolex oysters were seen in the newspaper
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again related to a flight over mount
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everest in which the crew members who
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were wearing their rolexes were very
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satisfied to see that after the flight
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their watches were still 100
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functional
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another example was when the famous
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driver malcolm campbell set a speed
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record for driving around 300 miles per
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hour wearing his rolex in 1935.
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hans asked his permission to publicize
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it and malcolm accepted it refusing to
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get paid at this point people began to
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perceive rolex not only as a high
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quality designed watch but also as a
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trustworthy reliable and technical
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wristwatch that anyone can wear for
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everyday use
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only great marketing is needed to make a
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company successful
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during these times rolex continued to
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fascinate people when they introduced
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their updated model the rolex oyster
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perpetual in 1931 which was the first
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ever waterproof and self-winding
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wristwatch its previous model of the
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rolex oyster was a great achievement but
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the challenge was that you still had to
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often manually wind the watch which made
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it more difficult because of its tight
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case
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you had to unscrew the oyster crown
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first wind it then re-screw it again
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creating this self-winding watch was a
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dream that for centuries people tried to
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perfect but none were successful from
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1934 to 1940 hans also produced some
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high quality watches outside of the
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rolex firm and trademarked it under his
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own name but it was discontinued due to
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the hatred that french british and u.s
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markets had for germany
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even with all his achievements hans
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would sometimes struggle to make his way
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in the market and had to put double the
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effort to make a successful company due
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to his german name
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when world war ii broke out rolex took a
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hard hit
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it became difficult and expensive to
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export products outside of switzerland
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to some other big markets in europe hans
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was frustrated with the situation and to
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add to his bad luck another tragedy
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followed his wife passed away in 1944
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to commemorate his wife he established
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the wilsdorf foundation a charity
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organization for social causes
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something to mention shortly before
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han's death he transferred 100 ownership
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of rolex to the will's door foundation
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which still owns and controls rolex to
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this day
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therefore rolex will never go public or
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be sold nor will they ever pay any taxes
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because it's essentially a charity
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as soon as world war ii finished rolex
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started to take off and tremendously to
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give you an idea in 1946 rolex had sold
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its 50 000 certified rolex chronometer
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which they started certifying 20 years
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ago
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by the next year in 1947 their sales
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reached their 100 000 certified rolex
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chronometer doubling their sales from
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the past two decades in a single year
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its success was backed up from his new
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model that was released in 1945 the
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rolex datejust
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the first waterproof self-winding
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wristwatch to indicate the date of the
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month on the dial
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this was followed by another
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revolutionary model nearly 10 years
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later the rolex day-date the first
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waterproof and self-winding wristwatch
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to not only include the date of the
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month but also the day of the week
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these types of watches are still seen to
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this day which is often the standard for
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normal use of wrist watches
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during the 50s rolex kept releasing a
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series of innovative watches the most
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legendary one was the rolex submariner
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introduced in 1953 it was the first deep
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diving waterproof wristwatch that could
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reach 100 meters deep in the ocean
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without getting dysfunctional
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hans wilsdorf died in the year 1960
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following his death rolex started to
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approach itself as the luxury brand it
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is today the company focused their
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marketing more toward being an exclusive
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watch collection for people of high
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society which worked another factor to
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consider is that in 1985 rolex started
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to manufacture their watches with 904l a
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very endurable and expensive steel
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becoming the first watch to ever do so
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which is one of the reasons for their
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expensive prices today rolex remains as
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the most recognizable watch brand in the
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world
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from an orphan boy who started with
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nothing hans wilsdorf went for his own
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path and is responsible for changing the
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watch industry to what we know today
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his passion for design and technical
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innovation has placed him on the list of
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one of the most influential men in the
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industry and his legacy can be seen
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today in every person wearing a rolex
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thank you all for watching make sure to
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subscribe and until the next one
00:18:43
you
