1905 - Hans Wildorf establishes a London firm specialising in the distribution of watches. 1908 - Wildorf coins a brand name in which to sign his creations: Rolex. 1910 - In Switzerland, Rolex obtains the first official chronometer certification ever awarded to a wristwatch. 1914 - The Kew Observatory in Great Britain awards the Rolex watch a CLASS A precision certificate. 1926 - Rolex develops and patents the first airtight, dustproof and waterproof watch - named the Oyster. 1927 - The Rolex Oyster crosses the English Channel unscathed. 1931 - Birth of the Perpetual Rotor, a self winding mechanism later found in every modern automatic watch. 1945 - The Oyster Datejust is invented. The first watch to display the date automatically. 1953 - Rolex has created the diving watch of reference - the Submariner 1954 - The Oyster Perpetual Ladydate is introduced. 1955 - The Oyster GMT Master is designed making it possible to read the time in any two time zones. 1956 - The Oyster Day-Date is created. 1960 - The so called Bathyscaphe is created and plunges 35,787 feet into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. 1967 - The Oyster Sea-Dweller is invented - waterproof to a depth of 610 m / 2001 ft. 1971 - The Oyster Explorer II is designed. 1978 - The Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller is tested waterproof to a depth of 1220 m / 4003 ft. 1988 - The first Cosmograph Daytona is fitted with a perpetual rotor. 1992 - A new model is added to the Professioanl range - the Yacht-Master. 2004 - Submariner celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Rolex celebrates with a special commemorative model with a green bezel and unique black dial.