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espite a persistent reputation, in some quarters at least, as a “macho” brand, a look in the window at any Rolex retailer will confirm the company makes watches for women and men. Its well-publicised partnerships with women athletes and artists are, the brand insists, the continuation of a long history of catering to a female clientele.
Has the company always been this attentive to women watch wearers? A forthcoming book on the history of Rolex*, based on original archive documents, including from the Europa Star archives, is an opportunity to look back at the brand’s relationship with women.
Anyone familiar with the brand will know that the Rolex Oyster, released in 1926, was the subject of an advertisement featuring the British swimmer Mercedes Gleitze whose 1927 Channel swim was presented as proof of the Oyster’s capacity to withstand the most hostile environments. Rolex turned to a woman to demonstrate the technical qualities of a watch that was aimed above all at a male audience.
Up to the Second World War, Rolex produced a large variety of models, both pocket watches and wristwatches, for men and for women. Like the majority of manufacturers at that time, it was a generalist brand addressing a wide public.
The first signs of change came mid-century, when the company decided to concentrate on the Oyster and a handful of other iconic models. Henceforth, communication focused on resistance and performance (of the watches but also those who wore them) which, in this latter half of the twentieth century, were still considered to be masculine traits. Soon the brand was using testimony from its male customers as proof of the Oyster’s durability.
Not long after, in the late 1950s, a Rolex watch became a symbol of power. J. Walter Thompson, the agency which had been creating the brand’s advertising campaigns since 1947, came up with a slogan and images that made a Rolex a status symbol, not just a precision instrument: “Men who guide the destinies of the world wear Rolex watches”.
This male-oriented image was key to a message about remarkable destinies and individual success which, in these post-war years, were associated with men.
Conscious, nonetheless, of the limits this positioning implied, in 1953 J. Walter Thompson wrote to Montres Rolex SA, suggesting the brand address women who shared “similar values” to men, such as “women in business” and “women with an interest in sport”. Rolex responded with the launch in 1957 of a Datejust for women.
J. Walter Thompson would mastermind several campaigns aimed specifically at women, including the famous “black cat” series from the early 1960s. The introduction of the Cellini that same decade gave Rolex further opportunity to develop women’s watches, in particular gem-set versions.
Advertising continued to portray gender stereotypes until the 1970s when, on its advertising agency’s advice, the “men and power” angle was dropped. This was the start of the modern era of messages that focus on outstanding personalities in sport, the arts and business.
While the brand remained a bastion of male power for some time, as the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 1990 Selection Committee shows, there was now less gender distinction in its products and communication.
*“La Fabrique de l’Excellence: Histoire de Rolex”, to be published by Les Editions Alphil in spring 2024.
