Wilsdorf's fate was placed in the hands of his uncles who sold the prosperous family iron tools business which had belonged to his grandfather, and later to his father.

Wilsdorf published his autobiography in 1946 as part of a four-volume set of books named Rolex Jubilee Vade Mecum.

At the time, Cuno Korten exported around one million francs’ worth of pocket watches annually.

On Rolex's 50th anniversary, in 1958, Wilsdorf shared the story of how he originally conceived the 'Rolex' name in 1908: "I tried combining the letters of the alphabet in every possible way.

It was one morning when I was sitting on the upper level of a double-decker powered at that time by horses, driving along Cheapside in London, that a good genie whispered in my ear: "Rolex."

A few days after this fruitful journey, the Rolex brand was filed, and then officially registered in Switzerland by Wilsdorf & Davis."

Hans Wilsdorf was an early believer in the potential of the wrist watch, and made it his mission in life to popularize them.

In 1915 the British government implemented a 33% customs duty that prompted Rolex to move its international headquarters from London to Bienne, Switzerland.

Wilsdorf realized the advent of the Rolex Oyster was a major potential of growing income, and invested heavily in advertising.

[7] After Mercedes Gleitze, Wilsdorf turned to land speed king Sir Malcolm Campbell to represent Rolex as a brand ambassador.

The Rolex Perpetual automatically wound itself by harnessing energy captured from the rotation of an internal bi-directional rotor as the wearer moved around.

When Wilsdorf heard of this, he offered to replace all watches that had been confiscated and not require payment until the end of the war, if the officers would write to Rolex and explain the circumstances of their loss and where they were being held.

He had been a POW in Stalag Luft III and had taken Rolex up on the offer to order a replacement for the watch confiscated by the Germans.

The Hans Wilsdorf Foundation still owns and controls Rolex, and donates much of its income to charity and social causes in Geneva.

There is no requirement to disclose financial or charitable donations under law, and the company pays no corporate taxes as a result of being owned by the Foundation.