Rolex ‘Pepsi’ GMT-Master II
A suggested topic from one of our Facebook readers, today we discuss the Heiniger’s of Rolex! Traditionally, watchmaking is still a skill/business passed down from generation to generation. More recently, even at the corporate level. Accordingly, the founding families of many watch brands eventually become prominent figures in society. However, of the companies founded before the 20th century (and even after, for that matter), few are still in the hands of the original owners. Like in the case of the Brown family of Breguet, when the founding family moves on, someone’s got to take over. In Rolex’s case it was the Heinigers.
André Heiniger first came to the helm of Rolex in 1963, 3 years after the death of the brands founder, Hans Wildorf. André was born in La-Chaux-de-Fonds in 1921, he initially started working with Ebel but soon moved to Rolex where he directed operations in Argentina until 1952. This is also where his son and successor, Patrick, was born in 1950. When the family moved back to Switzerland in the early 1960s, Heiniger became a staunch defender of traditional technology, reluctantly developing the Oysterquartz at the height of the Quartz Attack. He famously steered Rolex to safety, helping the brand survive the onslaught, which was not the case for so many other companies. André’s son, Patrick, became Commercial Director of Rolex in 1986 after a short-lived law career. After his father’s death in 1992, he took over as Managing Director and eventually became Chief Executive Officer in 1997. He was only the third Managing Director in Rolex’s history, following his father and Hans Wildorf, the company founder. Patrick led Rolex through a period of growth, focusing on vertical integration and international expansion. He built and acquired new Rolex production facilities and suppliers, all while retaining the firm’s independence; making it one of the few, true independent brands today. Unfortunately, Patrick Heiniger retired in 2008 and passed away 5 years later, at the age of 62 in Monaco. He was succeeded by Bruno Meier, a former banker, in 2009.