Hans Wilsdorf

1881 - 1960  (79 years)

• Name	Hans Wilsdorf  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
  Birth	22 Mar 1881	Kulmbach, Bavaria, Germany   [1, 3, 6, 7, 8]
  Gender	Male
  Also Known As	Hans Eberhard Wilhelm Wilsdorf  [3, 7]
  Occupation	1900  [1]
  	clerk and correspondent for the watchmaking firm Messrs. Cuno Korten
  Residence	1900-1903	La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, Switzerland   [1]
  Residence	1903	London, England, UK   [1]
  Occupation	1905  [1]
  	founder of Wilsdorf & Davis watchmakers
  Census	2 Apr 1911	Chislehurst, Bromley, Kent, England, UK   [3]
  Occupation	2 Apr 1911  [3]
  	watch merchant
  Residence	2 Apr 1911	Chislehurst, Bromley, Kent, England, UK   [3]
  	Bickley Hotel, Chislehurst Road
  Occupation	15 Nov 1911  [7]
  	importer of watches
  Residence	15 Nov 1911	Sundridge Park, Kent, England, UK   [7]
  	The Mansion
  Naturalization	20 Nov 1911	UK   [7]
  Occupation	author of the Rolex Jubilee Vade Mecum  [1]
  Occupation	entrepreneur  [1]
  Occupation	founder of Rolex watchmakers  [1]
  Occupation	founder of Tudor watchmakers  [1]
  Residence	1913	Upper Norwood, Surrey, England, UK   [4]
  	Auckland Road
  Occupation	1914  [1]
  	owner of The Rolex Watch Company Ltd.
  Occupation	6 Nov 1947  [8]
  	manufacturer
  Residence	6 Nov 1947	Geneva, Switzerland   [8]
  Residence	6 Jul 1960	La Belotte, Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland   [5]
  	Villa L'Escale
  Death	6 Jul 1960	Cologny, Geneva, Switzerland   [1, 5, 6]
  Probate	19 Oct 1961	London, England, UK   [5]
  Burial	Cimetière de Plainpalais, Geneva, Switzerland   [1, 6]
  Person ID	I1	Wilsdorf Genealogy
  Last Modified	6 Jan 2025

  
  

  Father	Johan Daniel Ferdinand Wilsdorf
  Mother	Anna Maisel,   b. Abt. 1850, Germany
  Family ID	F3	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Florence Frances May Crotty,   b. 3 May 1879, Wellington, Shropshire, England, UK d. 26 Apr 1944, Geneva, Switzerland (Age 64 years)
  Marriage	13 Apr 1911	Croydon, Surrey, England, UK   [1]
  Family ID	F1	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	6 Jan 2025

  
  

  Family 2	Bertha Mettler,   b. 1902   d. 26 Nov 1989 (Age 87 years)
  Family ID	F2	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	6 Dec 2024

  
  

• Notes

  In 1958, during Rolex's 50th anniversary, Hans Wilsdorf was asked about the origins of his company's name: "I tried combining the letters of the alphabet in every possible way. This gave some hundred names, but none of them felt quite right. It was one morning when I was sitting on the upper level of a double-decker powered at that time by horses, driving along Cheapside in London, that a good genie whispered in my ear: "Rolex." A few days after this fruitful journey, the Rolex brand was filed, and then officially registered in Switzerland by Wilsdorf & Davis."

  
  

• Sources

  [S1] "Hans Wilsdorf," Wikipedia, last modified 5 Nov 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Wilsdorf. [S2] FreeBMD, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line], (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006). [S3] The National Archives of the UK, 1911 England Census, Chislehurst, Bromley Civil Parish, Kent, England, UK; 1911 England Census [database on-line], (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011). [S5] London Metropolitan Archives, London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 [database on-line], (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010). [S6] Ancestry.com, England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line], (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010). [S7] Find a Grave, Global, Find a Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line], (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012). [S8] The National Archives of the UK, UK, Naturalisation Certificates and Declarations, 1870-1916 [database on-line], (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014). [S9] National Archives and Records Administration, New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line], (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010).