An experience in precision

You no longer head to Switzerland to catch Rolex’s latest – and much anticipated - exhibition of its watchmaking history. Today, the place to go is the Bund in Shanghai. Rolex’s growth in China is unstoppable and the brand’s head honchos want to make sure that when the country’s nouveau riche buy a timepiece, they also get a few lessons in Rolex’s watchmaking traditions, unrivalled technology and human accomplishments.
For watch aficionados, “The Rolex Experience” exhibition, currently underway at the Rolex store at Roosevelt House on the Bund in Shanghai, offers the opportunity to explore every facet of this Swiss watch brand. For the general public, the exhibition explains why Rolex has such a cult following worldwide, and especially in China where Rolex timepieces are as well received as Rolls Royce, Maserati and Ferrari.
The Rolex Experience tells you through three sections – “The Heart of Rolex”, “the Pulse of Rolex” and “The Gallery” – exactly what makes Rolex tick, especially in China.
The Heart of Rolex explores the brand’s universe: its century-long history, technological exploits and partnerships in sports, culture and philanthropy.  The Pulse of Rolex is devoted to the life of Rolex as seen through themes dear to the brand, testimonies from personalities and prestigious events. The last section illustrates Rolex’s passion for luxury, technology and refinement through a display of more than 200 Rolex models presented in their environment.
The store on the Bund also underscores Rolex’s close ties with China. The company, founded in 1905 in London with its headquarters in Switzerland, has maintained relations of confidence with China  for a century, with an affiliate in Hong Kong since 1967. The brand has over 230 points of sale in this country.
The exhibition is steeped with symbolism in the materials used and designs shown right from the moment you step through the first door.
At the entrance, the green Aqua glass partition features a motif of sea waves, signifying the aquatic universe of the Oyster watches, one of Rolex’s best known models. On entering the venue, everyone steps on the bronze line embedded on the floor, which is designed like the hairspring of a Rolex watch movement.  The round-shaped  entrance is modelled like a winding crown, echoing Chinese architecture.
Once through the entrance, you enter a high-tech experience. Rolex uses a lot of thin flat touch screens - including a giant curved horizontal screen in a 180-degree sweep and motion-detection screens that read commands from the movements of your hand – to illustrate a history that began with its German founder Hans Wilsdorf from Bavaria. Then pocket watches were all the rage, but Wilsdorf reckoned the next big thing would be the wristwatch.
“We want to be the first in this respect and the Rolex watch should be regarded as the one and only, the best !”,”he proclaimed in 1914.
Prior to that, he was busy coining the brand name, which he said, must be five letters long, easy to pronounce in every language and look good on the dial. That “click” moment came in 1908 as the founder was riding an omnibus in London.
The German wanted his first watches to be endowed with two qualities: chronometric precision and waterproofness. In 1926, he came up with the Oyster, the world’s first waterproof and dustproof case with a system featuring a screwed-down case back, bezel and winding crown. Five years later, Rolex invented and patented the world’s first self-winding free rotor mechanism designed for a wristwatch: the Perpetual rotor. This mechanism consists of a weight pivoting freely on the central axle of the movement, sensitive to the slightest wrist movements. This natural energy is transmitted to the main spring, maintaining it at a constant, equal tension, thus ensuring regular long-term operation.  
But Wildorfs was still unhappy with Rolex’s inventions. His goal was to put Rolex watches through their paces to gauge their precision, durability and efficiency. In 1927, Mercedes Gleitze, a young English woman, swam the English Channel equipped with an Oyster. The watch remained intact throughout the swim. In 1953, members of the Sir Edmund Hillary’s Everest expedition were equipped with Oyster Perpetual watches.
Rolex watches took a trip to the deep in 1960 when Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard’s bathyscaphe Trieste reached a record depth of 10,916 metres with the Rolex Deep Sea Special strapped to its hull. This watch is on display in the exhibition, with its thick sapphire dome over the dial.
The star of the exhibition is the Oyster, presented on the giant screen that bends 180 degrees horizontally. Now available in 170 models, the Oyster rests on four principles: precision, waterproofness, self-winding (Perpetual rotor) and robustness.
But the most exciting section is the 3-da animation that introduces the mechanical side of Rolex. Within a few minutes, you begin to grasp the basic ideas of the Perpetual rotor, the Parachrom hairspring, the Oyster and Jubilee bracelets, and the 904L steel and Rolesor.
Rolex’s international appeal is highlighted in the “Partnerships” section, which features the brand’s association with the world’s leading figures in sport arts and science. Our visit to Shanghai coincided with the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters that saw Andy Murray storm to victory over David Ferrer.  He took home the GMT-Master II in addition to his other prizes.
The journey through the Rolex Experience peaks with the presentation of the Rolex Institute, which supports those who make significant contributions in the arts, science, technology, education, conservation and exploration.
Before a tour of the Rolex Experience, you may think that anyone with cash to spare can own a Rolex timepiece. When you leave the exhibition, you realise you need to share Rolex’s values too.

TIME IS TICKING
“The Rolex Experience” is at 27, The House of Roosevelt  Shanghai on the Bund, Zhongshan Dong Yi Road. Group booking is recommended for the tour of the Rolex Experience and can be made through www.therolexexperience.com.