The Rolex trademark was officially registered in 1908. Hans Wilsdorf registered the name while the company was still operating as Wilsdorf and Davis in London, several years before the business formally adopted Rolex as its corporate name.
The choice of “Rolex” helped solve an early branding problem. In the early twentieth century, many watches were sold with the retailer’s name on the dial rather than the manufacturer’s. Wilsdorf wanted a short name that could be pronounced in many languages and fit neatly on a watch face. The company became Rolex Watch Co. Ltd. in 1915, which is a common source of confusion: 1915 marks a corporate name change, not the trademark registration.
Rolex later moved its base to Geneva after the First World War, and the legal company name eventually became Rolex SA. The brand’s early identity therefore predates both the 1915 corporate change and the famous Oyster watch, introduced in 1926. The name was already established when Rolex began promoting its technical innovations.