Rolex Oyster Perpetual from 1953



Advertising Message


Rolex Submariner from 1953


Rolex Explorer from 1953




Rolex GMT-Master from 1955


Rolex Milgauss from 1956

After releasing models for scientific exploration and deep diving, Rolex decided to expand its focus on timepieces for pilots as well as physicists. Aviation professionals have been lucky enough to enjoy the attention of watchmakers since almost the beginning of flight in the early 20th century. Rolex was comparatively late to the game with their first aviation-themed watches coming in 1955 with the original GMT-Master. Watch lovers know the story of the GMT-Master well as Rolex worked closely with the commercial airline Pan Am (Pan American World Airways) to create what their pilots needed. In many ways Rolex worked off of a successful formula. In fact, if you’ve ever wondered why so many Rolex Oyster Professional watches look similar, it is because Rolex did not try to reinvent the wheel with each new timepiece, but rather add additional or different features to their previous generation wheel.

Advertising Message

For that reason, the GMT-Master from 1955 was very similar to the Submariner, which itself quickly adopted the hands from the Explorer. What made the GMT-Master different was the 24 hour GMT hand, and 24 hour scale bezel. The GMT master was also unique (and later iconic) because of its two-tone blue and red bezel that was meant to be a sort of AM/PM indicator. This would later be known as the “Pepsi bezel” due to its similarity with the color tones of the soft drink. In many ways it was similar to the Submariner, but with some important but visually minor changes.

The situation was similar with the 1956 Rolex Milgauss– a timepiece they produced in collaboration with the CERN laboratory in Switzerland. The physicists there wanted a magnetically shielded watch that was not susceptible to the magnetic fields created around their particle accelerators. So Rolex created a timepiece for scientists with the Milgauss that was resistant to 1,000 Gauss because of a soft iron core that shielded the movement. For this watch, Rolex wanted something a bit more genteel, yet still a professional watch. The Milgauss more or less had the existing Oyster case, but the dial was inspired by the original Rolex Oyster Perpetual models with a lightning bolt seconds hand.


Rolex Cosmograph Daytona from 1965

It was in 1963 that Rolex launched the Oyster Cosmograph that would soon become the Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona. Rolex had been producing chronograph models for at least 30 years at that point but this was their first real racing world-inspired chronograph watch. No one really knows where the term “Cosmograph” came from, though it is Rolex-speak for chronograph. I’ve actually asked Rolex this question myself and they more or less said that a Rolex chronograph watch should measure more than just the time so they needed a cool name to indicate such. I do admit that Cosmograph does have a pleasant sense of mystery to it.

Daytona was added as Rolex began to have a more serious involvement with the world of racing and named the watch family after the now famous race track in Florida. Unlike the other models in the now Rolex Oyster Professional collection, the Daytona would eventually adopt a slightly different case design due to the existence of the chronograph pushers. The original Daytona models did not include screw-down pushers, but the collection would later be known for this feature as Rolex added them to increase durability and water and dust resistance.


Rolex Sea-Dweller from 1967

Stepping back a few years for a moment to 1960, Rolex released the Deep Sea Special that was a non-commercial concept watch meant for extreme diving. It featured an extremely thick steel case and almost comical bulbous crystal given that it was going down near the bottom of the Mariana trench strapped to the Trieste bathyscaphe submersible. The production of the Deep Sea Special gave Rolex valuable knowledge about extreme water resistance and the watch successfully descended to 37,800 feet.

The development of the Deep Sea Special allowed Rolex to produce an even more durable version of the Submariner that they called the Sea-Dweller, which was originally released in 1967. It was water resistant to 630 meters, though later that number increased. In many ways the Sea-Dweller helped Rolex lead up to the modern Submariner and DeepSea timepieces of today.

Advertising Message

Subscribe to our Newsletter