As we all know, Rolex now have got high reputation in the world. The company stands in front of the watch field all the time. so it naturally that people want to know its original and its developing course. In 1905, Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded "Wilsdorf and Davis" in London planed to develop their own business. However, at that time, their main business were just help Hermann Aegler's Swiss import movements to England and place them with the guarantee of the quality. The first series of wristwatches were sold to the jewelers who would then crave their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from Wilsdorf and Davis were usually hallmarked "W&D" inside the case-back. In 1908 Wilsdorf want to change another mode to distinguish their products, so he registered the trademark "Rolex" and opened an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. On 15 November 1915, the company name "Rolex" was registered. Since then, they began their great watch business road.
The word was made up, and its origin is obscure. Wilsdorf was said to want his watch brand's name to be easily pronounceable in any language. One story, never confirmed by Wilsdorf, is that the name came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning "exquisite clockwork". Another story claims that "rolex" was meant to evoke the sound of a watch being wound. The book The Best of Time: Rolex Wrist Watches by J.Hess and J. Dowling says that the name was just made up. The Book A Movement in Time with Breitling & Rolex by Mark A Cooper states that the name came from the partner Alfred Davis and not Wilsdorf. Alfred Davis was a Rolls Royce driver and loved the quality of the car, somthing he wanted with Rolex. He used the name Rol and then added the popular watch name at the time 'TIMEX' to make the word Rolex Yacht-Master IIn 1919 Wilsdorf 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. The company moved out of the United Kingdom because taxes and export duties on the case metals (silver and gold) were driving costs up.     Wilsdorf died in 1944, upon the death of his wife, he left all of his Rolex shares in the Hans Wildorf Foundation. The purpose of his action is to make sure that part of the company's income would go to charity. Nowadays the company is still owned by a private trust, and shares are not traded on any stock exchange.