At the beginning of the twentieth century, when pocket watches became popular, Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf successfully realized his dream and created watches that combined precision, reliability and elegance. Since then, Rolex, the Swiss watchmaker’s leading brand, has encouraged individuals to achieve excellence. Over the years, Rolex brands and products have continued to develop and strive for perfection. Because Rolex watches are made only of superior materials and are designed by the best in the industry, they have become a symbol of elegance and dignity and excellence.
Upholding the brand tradition and promoting brand values, Rolex actively assists artists to achieve excellence by supporting a group of carefully selected artists and artistic activities.
Rolex seeks partners, and is as passionate as it is to strive for precision and excellence. Therefore, the association between Rolex and the art world is logical. Rolex’s collaboration with the art world dates back to the 1970s. At the time, New Zealand soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa started a long-term collaboration between Rolex and the art world.
Over the years, Rolex’s support for art has expanded to many outstanding artists in various fields. In the field of vocal music, Rolex’s spokespersons include the famous Spanish tenor singer Plácido Domingo who has worked with the brand for more than 30 years, and the Italian baritone singer Cecilia Bartoli ( Cecilia Bartoli), German tenor singer Jonas Kaufmann, Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez, and British tenor singer Brian Bryn Terfel.
Outstanding classical musicians working with Rolex are talented young Chinese pianist Yuja Wang. In addition, Rolex has established a close working relationship with Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel. As the world’s first-class orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Dudamel as its music director is also sponsored by Rolex.
In the field of modern music, Rolex has collaborated with many well-known pop artists, including Grammy Award winners, Canadian jazz singers Diana Krall and Michael Bublé, and Indian sitar Performer and composer Anoushka Shankar, and the famous French ballet queen actor Sylvie Guillem.
In addition to supporting artists, Rolex also understands the importance of working with prestigious art groups such as the fascinating Teatro alla Scala, the historic Royal Opera House, In September 2014, it supported the prestigious National Opera of Paris (Opéra National de Paris), as well as the prestigious Metropolitan Opera of New York. At the same time, Rolex fully supports the popular Salzburg Festival and the famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Rolex’s support for art has now extended to Asia and has become a dedicated timepiece for the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
At the same time, Rolex also helps young artists realize their artistic potential through a number of sponsored projects, such as the annual international opera vocal contest Operalia, founded by Mr. Placido Domingo, and the Rolex Mentor and Sponsorship Program Protégé Arts Initiative), a program designed to discover talented young artists around the world for a one-year creative collaboration with art masters and receive one-to-one careful guidance during this period.
Recently, Rolex partnered with Medici.tv, an online video site for classical music. With this unique platform, music lovers can experience the lively charm of well-known concerts at any time. Similarly, Rolex has partnered with Euronews’ music program, Musica, which brings audiences to the world of music and dance. Rolex partners also include Operaonline, a comprehensive online opera library open to all opera fans. These are all Rolex-backed art projects designed to expose the public to outstanding classical concerts, festivals, operas and musicians, and promote and popularize music around the world.
Upholding the spirit of the founder, Mr. Wilsdorf, Rolex is becoming increasingly active in the art world and spares no effort to support outstanding talents and institutions in the art world. They all share the same as the brand, and they are relentless in pursuit of perfection and striving for excellence. This support will help continue the artistic tradition and make a lasting contribution to cultures around the world in a unique way.