Luxury Items

Luxury Items are desired by everyone, but affordable to an exclusive few. Luxury Items have been symbols of wealth and status for millenniums, dating back to precious stones and crafts of ancient times. Today’s Spendthrifts enjoy buying and owning luxury items such as the latest designer clothes, jewelry, watches, and just about anything that comes with a hefty price tag than regular items.

In modern times, Rolex has become synonymous with luxury items. Rolex is one of the world’s biggest luxury watch brands. Since it carries a price premium, Rolex has become a status symbol for people. A Rolex watch on a man’s wrist goes along well with an expensive suit. And of course Rolex produces something for the ladies also, to along well with an elegant dress and dazzling jewelry. Rolex watches are the perfect luxury items that people seek out. Rolex is the largest single luxury watch brand by far, producing about 2,000 watches per day, with estimated revenues of around US$ 3 billion. BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex #71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands, highest among all watchmakers.

Rolex watches are on the international market in the world’s best shopping districts such as in New York City, London, Paris, Tokyo, Dubai and many other large cities. Shopping for luxury items is synonymous with seeking out Rolex watches in the world’s most upscale shopping areas. The luxurious sights of Rolex shopping outlets proudly stand out in places like Dubai’s Twin Towers of rapidly growing Dubai Creek and along world famous Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Prices for Rolex Watches range from a few thousand dollars to well over $20,000 and $30,000. This hefty price tag makes Rolex the ultimate luxury item.

If we follow its history, in 1905, German watchmaker Hans Wilsdorf and his brother in law, Alfred Davis started a watch making company named ‘Wilsdorf and Davis’ in London. Wilsdorf registered the company later as ‘Rolex’ in 1908. He named it so, as he wanted a brand name that can be easily pronounced in any language and appealing to international market. In 1919 Wilsdorf moved the company to Geneva, Switzerland where it was established as the Rolex Watch Company. Since then, Rolex has dominated luxury watch market big time. A typical quartz watch has 50-100 parts, but a typical Rolex has around 220 parts which takes about a year to manufacture.

Rolex is a pioneer in luxury items of wristwatches. The company's innovations include boasting the first waterproof watch case; the first wristwatch with a date on the dial; the first watch to show two time zones at once; and the first watchmakers to earn chronometer certification for a wristwatch. Today, Rolex still holds the record for the most certified chronometer movements in the category of wristwatches. A chronometer watch is a simply watch that has been tested and certified to meet specific precision standards.

Rolex played a key role in the development of the original quartz watch movements. Despite Rolex producing only a few quartz models for its Oyster line, the company's engineers were very involved in design and implementation of the technology during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In addition to being a luxury item, Rolex watches are suitable for rugged conditions such as deep-sea diving, aviation and mountain climbing. Rolex Watches are well known as both luxury watches and sports watches. The incredible design of the Rolex gives it the ability to dazzle people in a formal setting and impress others in tough outdoor conditions while offering durability and performance. In fact, Rolex watches have been specifically designed to accommodate professionals at work such as pilots, power plant workers, and deep diving and sea expeditions on boats. Workers at such jobs can only county on Rolex for the highest quality and standards during such demanding tasks. A person traveling through different time zones must keep up with the correct time zone, and Rolex offers such precision. Examples of Rolex watches designed for such professional uses include the Milgauss, Submariner, Sea Dweller, Sea Dweller DeepSea, Yacht Master, Yacht Master II.

Rolex produces three main watch lines: Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini. Rolex Watches come in a variety of material compositions including steel, god and platinum. In addition to the models mentioned above, a list of the Rolex models included part of the Oyster Perpetual include Air-King, Date, Datejust, Datejust Turn-O-Graph, Lady Datejust Pearlmaster, GMT Master II, Explorer, Explorer II, Rolex Daytona Paul Newman, Day-Date, Day-Date II, Masterpiece Oyster Perpetual. The Rolex models part of the Celini line include Quartz Ladies, Quartz Mens, Cellinium Cestello, Ladies Cestello, Mens Danaos, Mens Prince.

Let’s explore some of Rolex’s spectacular models. The Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II has a 24 hour hand and an independently calibrated 12 hour hand allowing you to check time in two different times zones. The Rolex GMT Master II is self winding and waterproof up to 100 meters/330 feet. Additional specifications for the GMT Master II include chronometer certification, 40 mm size, steel material, black ceramic rotatable bezel, black dial, oyster lock bracelet, sapphire crystal, with the model number 116710LN.

Rolex has appeared extensively in popular cultures, giving the brand further exposure and status as a popular luxury item. When we see popular athletes and celebrities with their Rolex watches, we want to pursue the same luxury items. Legendary Golf professionals Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer have all proudly worn Rolex models for over 40 years and represent Rolex as "The Big Three" of the golf world. Rolex is also a major sponsor acting as the official time keeper for Wimbledon and The Australian Open tennis grand slams tournaments. Rolex has further exposure in tennis as it is represented by men’s tennis legend Roger Federer and young champion Serbian Ana Ivanovic. Rolex endorses many more athletes of skiing, yachting, equestrian, and exploration. Rolex watches have made numerous appearances in James Bond films. Rolex watches are commonly depicted as the ultimate luxury item in many music rap and hip hop videos, where the artists show off their dazzling watches.