The Vale is away Sunday, October 25 through Thursday, November 5. Orders placed during the trip ship as soon as we are back, by Friday, November 6. Our buyers, on the record: eBay 100% positive (132) · Whatnot ★ 5.0 (239 reviews · 2.4K sold) · as of October 28, 2026 eBay 100% positive · Whatnot ★ 5.0
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The Watches Atlas

Rolex

An independent reference. Verdant Vale is not affiliated with Rolex.

Founded
1905, in London
Home
Geneva, Switzerland
Standing
Owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation since 1960
On the Radar now
117 live finds

Rolex began in London in 1905, when Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis founded Wilsdorf and Davis to sell Swiss movements in English cases. Wilsdorf registered the name Rolex in 1908 and moved the firm to Geneva in 1919, then spent the following decades proving the wristwatch could be waterproof, self-winding, and exact. The company has been owned by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation since 1960.

The house's reputation rests on a run of firsts that became the template for the modern watch: the Oyster case of 1926, the first waterproof wristwatch, proven on Mercedes Gleitze's wrist during her 1927 English Channel swim, and the Perpetual rotor of 1931, the self-winding mechanism nearly every automatic watch since descends from. From there Rolex built one tool watch per extreme, for divers, pilots, mountaineers, and racing drivers, and gave each a silhouette the whole market now copies.

Signature families

  • Datejust

    1945

    The first self-winding chronometer wristwatch to show the date in a window on the dial, and the template for the everyday luxury watch.

  • Explorer

    1953

    The mountaineer's watch, launched in 1953, the year of the first Everest ascent, and built to be read at a glance in hard country.

  • Submariner

    1953

    The diver's watch, waterproof to 100 metres at its debut, and the shape every dive watch since has answered to.

  • GMT-Master II

    line from 1955

    The GMT-Master began in 1955 as a pilot's watch reading two time zones at once; the GMT-Master II carries that formula today.

  • Day-Date

    1956

    The first wristwatch to spell out the day of the week beside the date. Offered only in precious metals, it became known as the President.

  • Cosmograph Daytona

    1963

    A chronograph built for endurance racing drivers and named for the Florida circuit, now among the most wanted watches in the world.

  • Sea-Dweller

    1967

    The professional diver's watch, built with a helium escape valve for divers working at depth.

Rolex on the Radar

117 pieces from other eBay sellers stand on the Radar for this house, swept November 1, 2026. Every seller clears the Radar bar of 99.5% positive feedback with at least 1,000 feedback, US sellers and fixed prices only, and every find carries eBay's Authenticity Guarantee: the seller ships the watch to eBay's experts, who verify it before it is delivered to the buyer. No Guarantee, no find, at any price. Each card names its seller, and that seller is who you are buying from; the Vale earns a small commission through its eBay Partner Network links at no extra cost to you.

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The Watches Atlas is an independent reference published by Verdant Vale LLC. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, or Vacheron Constantin, and every brand and model name on these pages belongs to its owner. The watches shown here are other sellers' listings on eBay, gathered by the Vale Radar: those sellers set the prices and sell and ship the watches, and every find carries eBay's Authenticity Guarantee. Verdant Vale earns a commission through its eBay Partner Network links at no extra cost to the buyer. Prices are dated from the day the Radar read them; the listing on eBay is the offer that counts.