In 1905 Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded "Wilsdorf and Davis" in London. 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. The company name "Rolex" was registered on 15 November 1915. The word was made up, but its origin is obscure. Wilsdorf was said to want his watch brand's name to be easily pronounceable in any language. He also thought that the name "Rolex" was onomatopoeic, sounding like a watch being wound. It was also short enough to fit on the face of a watch.
Among the company's innovations are:
* The first wristwatch with an automatically changing date on the dial (Rolex Datejust, 1945)
* The first wristwatch with an automatically changing day and date on the dial (Rolex Day-Date)
* The first wristwatch case waterproof to 100m (330ft) (Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, 1953)
* The first wristwatch to show two time zones at once (Rolex GMT Master, 1954)
* The first watchmaker to earn chronometer certification for a wristwatch

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