{"id":21149,"date":"2025-10-27T11:37:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T10:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i3-cnrs.fr\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=21149"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:14:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T09:14:33","slug":"presentation-summary-rolex-and-the-transformation-of-the-watch-into-a-status-symbol-by-p-y-donze-professor-of-business-history-at-osaka-university","status":"publish","type":"actualite","link":"https:\/\/i3-cnrs.fr\/en\/actualite\/presentation-summary-rolex-and-the-transformation-of-the-watch-into-a-status-symbol-by-p-y-donze-professor-of-business-history-at-osaka-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentation summary: \u201cRolex and the transformation of the watch into a status symbol\u201d by P.Y. Donz\u00e9, Professor of Business History at Osaka University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary of the presentation by Pierre-Yves Donz\u00e9, Professor of Business History at Osaka University<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Rolex and the transformation of the watch into a status symbol<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Innovation Management Seminar at the Paris School of Management led by Gilles Garel<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pierre-Yves Donz\u00e9 drew on Swiss, American, and British archives to write his book La Fabrique de l\u2019excellence \u2013 Histoire de Rolex <\/a>(The Making of Excellence: The History of Rolex), which he presented at the Innovation Management seminar at the \u00c9cole de Paris du Management on June 11, 2025, highlighting the exceptional conditions that have enabled the company to thrive.<\/h4>\n

Rolex has dominated the global watch market for over 50 years thanks to a unique strategy based on the concept of \u201ctriple exceptionality\u201d (an exceptional watch, designed by an exceptional man, for exceptional men) and its ability to capitalize on the rise of accessible luxury.<\/p>\n

Pierre-Yves Donz\u00e9’s presentation highlights the originality of the brand’s success, which combines several factors: Swiss industrial engineering with the mass production of high-quality watches, and marketing genius with the promotion of the excellence of personalities wearing Rolex watches. The watchmaking company, founded at the beginning of the century, adopted this strategy in the 1960s, focusing on social status rather than constant technical innovation.<\/p>\n

Rolex has undergone three phases of evolution since its creation: from its origins until 1945, the company emphasized precision, like many watch brands. During the second phase, which lasted until the 1960s, Rolex became a global brand with iconic collections such as Oyster Perpetual, Datejust, and Submariner. Since then, the company has positioned itself as a status symbol, abandoning constant innovation in favor of marketing its exceptional qualities.<\/p>\n

The brand experienced remarkable growth thanks to the efforts of Andr\u00e9 Heiniger, director of Rolex from 1964 to 1992, who is credited with creating the concept of triple exceptionality, and J. Walter Thompson, director of the advertising agency that focused on the personalities who wore the brand rather than on the technical characteristics of the watches.<\/p>\n

The triple exceptionality is structured as follows: exceptional watches (highlighting specific technical achievements such as the water resistance of the Oyster and the automatic winding of the Perpetual), designed by an exceptional man (Hans Wilsdorf, the founder presented as a visionary) for exceptional men (advertisements featuring famous personalities who are exceptionally successful).<\/p>\n

The factors behind the brand’s enduring success can be deduced from the above: choosing an unwavering strategy, systematically managing excellence, and letting the watches speak for themselves. Finally, this legendary company has successfully adapted to new generations. Rolex wearers are getting younger. Today, buyers of this watch are 25 years old, compared to 45 years old in the previous generation, and the brand is hugely popular in Asian and Gulf countries.<\/p>\n

Read the full minutes of the meeting <\/a><\/p>\n

Find out more about the next session of the Innovation Management Seminar on November 26 <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Innovation Management Seminar at the Paris School of Management<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21150,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"class_list":["post-21149","actualite","type-actualite","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i3-cnrs.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualite\/21149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i3-cnrs.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualite"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i3-cnrs.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/actualite"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i3-cnrs.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i3-cnrs.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}