Friday, July 22, 2016

History of the Rolex Air King

The Rolex Air King has quite the interesting backstory. Similarly to most luxury watches, the Air King is a symbol but not one of status. Rather, this watch represents honor, bravery and valor. The Air King's symbolism is a consequence of the fact that Oyster Perpetual watches were favored by Royal Air-force pilots.

During the 1930's, many pilots abandoned their standard issue watch for their preferred Rolex watches, a practice that would lead well into WWII. These Pilots would go on to run many missions wearing their watch, serving their country. News of this practice would eventually reach the ears of  Hans Wilsdorf, a founder of Rolex

Promptly after the founder of Rolex discovered that pilots used Rolex watches rather than their own, Rolex began to manufacture a line of "Air" watches. Watches such as the Air Lion, Air Giant, Air Tiger and Air King flew off of the production lines. The simple watch was meant to be resiliant and able to withstand the many missions these pilots would endure. Nevertheless, the Air King was the only watch from the "Air" line to be widely used by the public. Therefore, in 1945, the first modern Air King was born and acted as a conglomeration of all the Air line watches.

As a result of this, the other Air models were lost and the Air King rose in popularity and had continued sucess well into the 1960s. The watch is still made today, making it one of the oldest, continously made watch models made by Rolex. Nevertheless, the watch is still as battle-ready, simplistic, and tough as it was the day it was conceived. Paired with the cheap price, these attributes make the Air King a fitting memorial to the men who served so valiantly, all while boasting a Rolex.

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