Ocean travel

The Rolex Oyster watch of 1926 was the world's first totally waterproof watch. To substantiate the Rolex Oyster watch's waterproof abilities, it was worn by Mercedes Gleitze for her cross-Channel swim in 1927. The London stenographer emerged after 10 freezing hours in the water with her Oyster watch in perfect condition. What’s more, the brand has long been associated with diving, professional divers and the quest to go deeper and further. The popular Rolex divers watches, the Submariner and the Sea Dweller have travelled to the bottom of the ocean. The Submariner was launched in 1953, and it was the first divers’ watch waterproof to a depth of 100 metres. It had a rotatable bezel so that divers could easily read their dive time. Today the Rolex Submariner is water-resistant to 300 meters. The Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller was presented in 1967, waterproof to 610 metres, with helium escape valve for use during long decompression phases in hyperbaric chambers. Today the Rolex Sea Dweller can be even water resistant down to 3,900 meters.

Air travel

The 1950s, was the decade of intercontinental air travel and the importance of telling time in several time zones became important.In 1955, Rolex invented the first watch to keep time in two time zones – the Rolex GMT Master replica. Because of its rotating blue and red bezel, the watch is also known as the Pepsi watch. The Rolex GMT-Master watch was re-edited in 2014 in white gold, with a red and blue Cerachrom ceramic bezel(in 2005, Rolex invented and patented the cerachrom bezel which was conceived and invented for durable functionality and beauty). This superior material makes the ceramic bezel virtually scratchproof, resistant to salt water corrosion and even UV rays. With its unique appearance and very useful features, the Rolex GMT-Master becomes one of Rolex' most sought-after watches by collectors.