Rolex book: Impossible collection

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Rolex book: Impossible collection of Assouline

Description

“The most complete and deepest history of the luxury watch brand ever written” - InsideHook.com

For over a century, Rolex has stood out as the world's most coveted and legendary watch brand. A Rolex implies many things: the epitome of a luxury watch, a tool of power for influential people, the symbol of coming of age. New labels appear, styles come and go, but the brand at the top never changes. Never the record-breaker - the Daytona that had belonged to Paul Newman was sold at auction by Phillips in New York in October 2017 for $17.8 million - it's no surprise that Rolex is the most collected watch brand in the world .

The history of Rolex is rooted in the visionary spirit of its founder, Hans Wilsdorf. In 1905, the young Wilsdorf founded a watch distribution company in London, but his real dream was to produce wristwatches - in their infancy at the time, and not very precise - which were technically durable and reliable, and 'supreme elegance. The company initially focused on producing movements of the highest quality, and this quest for precision quickly led to the world's first wristwatch to receive the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision, issued by the Center watch rating official from Biel in 1910. Four years later, The Kew Observatory in Britain awarded a Rolex watch a Class A certificate, a distinction that had previously been reserved exclusively for marine chronometers.

Since then, the Rolex wristwatch has been synonymous with precision. Over the past 100 years, Rolex milestones include: the first waterproof watch, the first self-winding mechanism, the first wristwatch to fly over Mount Everest, the first diver's watch waterproof to 100 meters, the first to withstand magnetic fields of 1,000 gauss, the first to descend the Mariana Trench.

Selected by specialist Fabienne Reybaud, each of the exceptional Rolex watch models in this magnificent, handmade Ultimate Collection volume features the most valuable and technically innovative models the luxury watchmaker has produced, including timepieces never seen before. From the first wristwatch dating from the early 1900s and the first Oyster Perpetual from 1931, to an Explorer worn during Sir Edmund Hillary's expedition to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953 and the Submariner worn by actor George Lazenby in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, these models are sure to amaze collectors around the world.

Exclusive white gloves and canvas tote bag are included with every purchase of an Ultimate Collection book.

Details

About the Author

Since 1993, Fabienne Reybaud has been editor-in-chief of watches and jewelry at the French daily Le Figaro. Specializing in the field of luxury, she is the author of several works, including 100 Montres de Légende, with Frédéric Ramade (Solar, 1999); Watches: the ultimate guide (Assouline, 2006, 2010); The nature of Chaumet (Assouline, 2016); and Casa Lopez: An Art of Living, with Pierre Sauvage (Flammarion, 2018). In addition, Fabienne Reybaud has worked as an independent journalist for the most prestigious names in the French press.

Craftsmanship

Assouline's ultimate collection is a tribute to the art of luxury bookmaking. Hand-bound using traditional techniques, with hand-stamped color plates on artist-quality paper, each page of this limited edition series bears the unique imprint of the artisan. Covering a range of subjects from jewelry and fashion, to fine art and “impossible collections,” the ultimate collection curates culture from around the world and across the ages. Nestled in linen clamshell boxes, these books attract collectors, lovers of the printed page, and those who devour the culture of our time. Signifying a new level of sophistication for true connoisseurs, these unique books are works of art in their own right.