Sitting under a gold crown, the capitalized Rolex name eventually became the company’s emblem, and besides several changes in the font and crown, it has remained largely the same over the past ninety years. Today, the logo is found on various parts of replica Rolex watches – but it wasn’t always this way. Join us as we dig into the details and uncover the history of the Rolex logo.
Even though the Rolex trademark was registered in 1908, the name did not quickly appear on the watches, as retailers often liked to put their own names on the watches they sold. Wilsdorf started cautiously, “At first I took the risk of engraving “Rolex” on every sixth watch, hoping that the watch would pass and be sold.” Eventually, he put the Rolex name on more and more watches, and by the time the legendary waterproof Oyster made its debut in 1926, Wilsdorf decided that all his watches should proudly bear Rolex on the dial, case, and movement.
The Rolex crown, now the popular brand logo, was registered in 1931 and Rolex started using the crown logo on watch dials in the 1930s. If you look at the earliest Rolex Oyster and the first Oyster Perpetual watches from the 1920s, you will notice that there is no pentagonal crown symbol on the dial, only the Rolex replica. However, by the time the Datejust was released in 1945, the crown was definitely on the dial, just above the Rolex name.
All theories aside, the crown perfectly encapsulates Rolex’s core values of excellence and exclusivity, while its five dots reflect the five letters of the company’s name that often appear beneath it. In addition, the shape of the crown itself carries connotations of honor and prestige, while complementing one of the company’s slogans, “A crown for every achievement”.
However, the crown, which is rounded at the top of the five o’clock, has always retained the core element that makes it immediately recognizable as the Rolex logo. In terms of widespread international recognition, the fake Rolex crown ranks alongside the logos of Apple, General Electric, and Mercedes-Benz as some of the most iconic symbols of all time.
Similar to the name, many theories exist about the origin of the Rolex crown and the secret meaning behind it. Some believe that the five dots represent the five fingers of a person; others believe that the crown was intended to stand for five branches with pearls on them. However, Rolex does not mention these theories at all, and they may all be mere speculation.