The Tool Desk
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What changed at Rolex after the Second World War?
The postwar years were not defined by one signature watch. Rolex expanded in several directions at once: calendar watches for everyday and formal use, instruments for diving and travel, and watches intended to cope with unusual conditions. The launches and developments in this period helped establish product families that remain familiar, although the details here concern particular early references, not every later version bearing the same name.
1945: Datejust, chronograph, and a chronometer milestone
For Rolex’s 40th anniversary, the company introduced the Datejust. Fratello describes it as the first automatic wristwatch with a date window and as the debut platform for the Jubilee bracelet. In the same year, the Oyster chronograph reference 4500 offered a different kind of function: its 36 mm case housed a Valjoux 23 movement, with tachymeter and telemeter scales and a 30-minute counter.
Fratello also reports that Rolex produced its 50,000th certified Swiss chronometer in 1945 and presented it to Swiss general Henri Guisan. The count marks a production milestone in the article’s account; it does not by itself establish a modern certification standard or a comparable present-day production measure.
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1946–1947: Tudor and more calendar complications
Hans Wilsdorf registered Montres Tudor SA in 1946. In a statement dated March 6, 1946, reproduced by Fratello, he explained the aim as offering a less expensive watch while retaining the dependability associated with Rolex:
“For some years now I have been considering the idea of making a watch that our agents could sell at more modest prices than our Rolex watches, and yet one that could attain the standards of dependability for which Rolex is famous. I decided to form a separate company, with the object of making and marketing this new watch. It is called the Tudor Watch Company.”
Fratello identifies Tudor’s Oyster reference 4463, introduced in 1947, as the brand’s first water-resistant model. That same year, the account records Rolex’s 100,000th chronometer and a Datejust given by Wilsdorf to Winston Churchill. Rolex also brought out the Dato-Compax reference 4767, a chronograph with a Valjoux caliber 72C and a 12-hour totalizer. The source says Chuck Yeager wore his own Rolex Oyster during the Bell X-1 flight on October 14, 1947, when he broke the sound barrier; it does not identify the watch’s reference.
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1950–1951: Triple calendar, moonphase, and notable recipients
The Oyster reference 6062 combined an automatic movement with a triple calendar and moonphase display in a water-resistant case. Fratello gives its movement as caliber 655 and reports that the example known as “Bao Dai” sold at auction in 2017 for $5,060,427. That sale figure is reported by the secondary account; it is not independently verified here against the auction house’s original lot record.
In 1951, according to Fratello, Rolex produced its 150,000th certified chronometer. A Datejust reference 6305 was presented to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The account describes it as a 36 mm, 18-karat yellow-gold watch engraved with his initials and military insignia.
How did Rolex’s tool watches take shape?
1953–1954: Submariner and Deep Sea Special
Fratello dates completion of the Submariner reference 6204 to 1953. The following year, the reference 6200 became, in the article’s account, the first Submariner reference rated to 200 metres. It had a 37 mm case and an oversized crown. These are early-reference details, not specifications for the whole Submariner line.
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Rolex also explored the limits of underwater pressure with the Deep Sea Special. Fratello reports that the first example descended to 3,150 metres attached to the bathyscaphe Trieste in 1953. The article reproduces a telegram attributed to Jacques Piccard after the descent: “Watch Performed Perfectly Depth 3150 Metres Piccard.” Both the depth and the telegram are reported by Fratello; the account is not a primary record.
What can—and cannot—be said about Rolex and Everest?
Fratello says members of the 1953 Everest expedition were equipped with Oyster Perpetuals, quoting Rolex’s wording that they were “equipped with Oyster Perpetuals.” That establishes expedition equipment in the source’s account, not which watch was worn at the summit. Edmund Hillary wrote that he wore a Smiths De Luxe at the top; the evidence about Tenzing Norgay’s summit watch remains unsettled in the Fratello article. It is therefore not accurate to treat a Rolex summit watch as established fact on the basis of expedition equipment alone.
1955: GMT-Master for a second time zone
Rolex identifies 1955 as the launch year for the GMT-Master reference 6542, while Fratello notes that some accounts give 1954. The watch was developed at Pan Am’s request for travel across time zones. Its 24-hour hand could be read against a bidirectional red-and-blue bezel to indicate a second time zone. Early examples used a Bakelite bezel insert, later replaced with aluminum, according to the article.
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1956: Day-Date and Milgauss
The Day-Date arrived in 1956. Fratello describes it as the first wristwatch to display the weekday spelled out in full. Early references 6510 and 6511 were made in precious metals. In the same year, Rolex introduced the Milgauss reference 6541 for environments with strong magnetic fields. Fratello reports a capability of 1,000 gauss for the model; the account does not establish the test method or basis for that figure.
1957–1959: Date mechanisms and a more robust Submariner case
In 1957, Rolex introduced caliber 1500, which Fratello identifies as its first rapid-change date movement, and the Lady-Datejust. The date mechanism should not be confused with the origin of the Datejust name: the model name predates this movement, so the popular explanation that it was coined because the date changes precisely at midnight does not fit the chronology in the article.
For 1959, Fratello lists Day-Date references 1802 and 1803, powered by caliber 1555. The Submariner reference 5512 brought a 40 mm case and crown guards, changes the account links to protecting the crown against impacts.
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How did the Deep Sea Special reach Challenger Deep?
In 1960, Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh descended in the Trieste to Challenger Deep with Deep Sea Special No. 3 attached to the outside of the bathyscaphe. Fratello reports a depth of 10,916 metres and says the pair remained on the seafloor for 20 minutes. This was an engineering demonstration at extreme depth, distinct from the Submariner’s role as a diver’s watch.
What happened to Rolex after Hans Wilsdorf died?
Hans Wilsdorf died on July 6, 1960, aged 79, according to Fratello. The article says ownership passed to the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation. His death closed this chapter, but by then Rolex had established a broad range of watch types: calendar and chronograph models, watches for diving and international travel, and designs intended for magnetic environments or pressure experiments.
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