Two Houses, One Standard

Every watch we carry stands on a century of decisions made by two very different houses. Here's where each one started.

The House of Rolex

Rolex began in London in 1905, when a young Hans Wilsdorf set out to make the wristwatch as precise and dependable as a pocket watch — an unusual ambition at a time when pocket watches were still the standard. The company moved to Geneva in 1919, and within a decade had solved the problem that would define it ever since: keeping a watch running perfectly no matter what its wearer put it through.

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Three models, one idea — a watch should survive whatever life demands of it.

The House of Cartier

Cartier's story starts a world away from watchmaking — in 1847, when Louis-François Cartier took over a small Parisian jewelry workshop. It would be another half-century before the house turned that eye for form toward the wrist, but when it did, in 1904, it changed what a watch was allowed to look like.

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Three models, one idea — a watch can be sculpture that happens to tell time.

Continue the Story

See where these icons stand today, in the pieces currently in our showroom.