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Hans Wilsdorf
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hans Wilsdorf (March 22, 1881 - July 6, 1960) was a German watchmaker, and the founder of Rolex.
Born in Kulmbach, Bavaria and orphaned as a child, Wilsdorf worked for a Swiss watch manufacturer in La Chaux-de-Fonds and then later moved to London, where he worked for a watch importer. In 1905, he left to form his own business, wanting to provide quality timepieces at affordable prices. With his brother-in-law, Alfred Davis, he founded a watch importing firm called Wilsdorf & Davis, and he partnered with Hermann Aegler, a watch manufacturer in Bienne to import wristwatches.
In 1908, he created the Rolex brand to sell his watches under, and during World War I, he left England due to wartime tax increases levied on businesses for Switzerland. In 1920, he established Montres Rolex S.A. in Bienne. Upon the death of his wife in 1944, he established the Hans Wildorf Foundation in which he left all of his shares in Rolex, making sure that an amount of the company's income would go to charity. The company remains a foundation to the present day. Wildorf died in Geneva on July 6, 1960.