The Explorer

THE WORD “PERPETUAL” HAS LONG BEEN USED IN ASSOCIATION WITH ONE OF ROLEX’S MOST FAMOUS LINES, BUT NOW IT TAKES ON A NEW MEANING FOR THE WATCHMAKER.

THE WORD “PERPETUAL” HAS LONG BEEN USED IN ASSOCIATION WITH ONE OF ROLEX’S MOST FAMOUS LINES, BUT NOW IT TAKES ON A NEW MEANING FOR THE WATCHMAKER. ENTER PERPETUAL PLANET, ITS MULTI-PRONG APPROACH TO FIGHTING THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS. UNDER IT, THERE ARE PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY AND OCEANOGRAPHER SYLVIA EARLE’S MISSION BLUE INITIATIVE TO STUDY THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND SAFEGUARD THE OCEANS RESPECTIVELY. THEN THERE’S ALSO THE ONGOING ROLEX AWARDS FOR ENTERPRISE, WHICH RECOGNISES THOSE WORKING ON PROJECTS THAT ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE AND PROTECT HUMANITY AND THE EARTH IT INHABITS. PERPETUAL PLANET WAS INTRODUCED THIS YEAR, BUT AT THE HEART OF EVERY ARM IS SOMETHING THAT THE COMPANY’S BEEN COMMITTED TO SINCE THE ’30S: EXPLORATION FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE WORLD. HERE, EXAMPLES OF THE EXPEDITION AND CONSERVATION EFFORTS THAT IT HAS BACKED AND BEEN A PART OF.

Sir Edmund Hillary (behind) and Tenzing Norgay were equipped with specially designed Rolex Oysters when they successfully scaled Mount Everest in 1953.

Jose Marcio Ayres, a 2002 Rolex Award Laureate, was behind the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve set up in Amazonas, Brazil (above).

Mission Blue, started by oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle (captured here by fellow Rolex testimonee/underwater photographer David Doubilet), rallies for the protection of what it calls Hope Spots – places critical to the health of the ocean – through expeditions, campaigns to build awareness and partnerships with the likes of Rolex.

In 1960, an experimental Rolex Oyster watch was fixed to the exterior of the bathyscape Trieste that was sent to explore the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the oceans.