In 1905 Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded "Wilsdorf and 
Davis" in London.[8] Their main business at the time was importing Hermann 
Aegler's Swiss movements to England and placing them in quality watch cases 
made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were sold to jewellers, 
who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from Wilsdorf and 
Davis were usually hallmarked "W&D" inside the caseback.
In 1908 Wilsdorf registered the trademark "Rolex" and opened an office in La 
Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.[8] The company name "Rolex" was registered on 15 
November 1915. The book The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches: An 
Unauthorized History by Jeffrey P. Hess and James Dowling says that the name 
was just made up.[9] One story, never confirmed by Wilsdorf, is that the name 
came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning "exquisite clockwork"
[10] or as a contraction of "horological excellence". Wilsdorf was said to want his 
watch brand's name to be easily pronounceable in any language.[7] He also 
thought that the name "Rolex" was onomatopoeic, sounding like a watch being 
wound. It is easily pronounceable in many languages and, as all letters have the 
same size, allows to be written symmetrically. It was also short enough to fit on 
the face of a watch.[7]
In 1914 Kew Observatory awarded a Rolex watch a Class A precision certificate, a 
distinction which was normally awarded exclusively to marine chronometers.[7]
In 1919 Wilsdorf left England due to wartime taxes levied on luxury imports as well 
as export duties on the silver and gold used for the watch cases driving costs too 
high[10] and moved the company to Geneva, Switzerland where it was established 
as the Rolex Watch Company. Its name was later changed to Montres Rolex, SA 
and finally Rolex, SA.[8] Upon the death of his wife in 1944, Wilsdorf established 
the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation in which he left all of his Rolex shares, making sure 
that some of the company's income would go to charity. The company is still 
owned by a private trust and shares are not traded on any stock exchange.[10]
In December 2008 the abrupt departure of Chief Executive Patrick Heiniger, for 
“personal reasons”, was followed by a denial by the company that it had lost 1 
billion Swiss francs (approx £574 million, $900 million) invested with Bernard 
Madoff, the American asset manager who pleaded guilty to an approximately £30 
billion worldwide Ponzi scheme fraud.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolex)