This Father’s Day, learn a little more about your dad’s favorite watch. There are favorites for a reason and these three companies have plenty of reasons and history for your father’s admiration.
Rolex:
If your dad is obsessed with precision, functionality and being the best, then it probably makes sense that Rolex is his favorite watch company.
Hans Wildorf was only 24 when he opened his first store. This store was originally located in London, where he established himself in the watch industry. In 1908, the store formally became Rolex as Wildorf finally found the exact word he was looking for — a word that was short, easy and memorable in any language. By 1910, Rolex became the first watch company to earn the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision. Then, in 1919 the company moved to Geneva, Switzerland.
Rolex was the first of many more, including the first waterproof watch, the first self-winding mechanism, the first watch to fly over Mt. Everest, the first to climb to the peak of Mt. Everest, the first to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and the list goes on.
Omega:
Not many watch companies have as many “official” responsibilities quite like Omega. We will just list a few. Omega is the official timekeeper for combat units the British Royal Flying Corps and American army. Omega has also been the official timekeeper of the Olympics since 1932.
The watch company is also responsible for a lot of amazing watch firsts. The Omega Speedmaster was the first watch in space and the preferred watch of NASA. The Speedmaster is also the only watch certified for use in space outside of an aircraft. Finally, it was the first watch on the moon, worn by Buzz Aldrin. Omega is also the first watch to the North and South Pole.
Breitling:
Breitling is a company that built its success on the ties between father and son. The Swiss watch company was founded by Leon Breitling who passed the business to his son, Gaston, who, in turn, past the company on to his son Willy. Together, the family created a company longstanding and impressively innovative.
Founded in 1884, Breitling has been focused on chronographs for science and industrial use. Gaston followed in the inventive footsteps of his father and created the first chronograph wristwatch.
From the beginning, the company intended to aid the advancement of science and industry, and it has successfully done so ever since. Breitling supplies watches to the Royal Air Force, the American military and pilots across the world.
Photo Credit: nbcnews.com