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Wilsdorf & Davis: Founding the Business and Meeting Aegler
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Hans moves to London at 22, works briefly at an unnamed British watch firm, then in 1905 teams up with investor Alfred Davis (who would later marry his sister Anna) to found Wilsdorf & Davis Limited. Rather than importing finished watches, Wilsdorf leverages his Kuno Korten connections to assemble watches himself — importing Aegler's miniature movements and combining them with best-in-class cases. Jean Aegler, a generational talent in the Swiss mountains making tiny precision movements before there was a market for them, becomes Rolex's foundational movement supplier on a simple handshake deal. This informal but binding partnership would run unbroken for 99 years until Rolex formally acquired Aegler in 2004.
Rolex's foundational movement supply relationship with Aegler in Bienne ran on an informal handshake deal from 1905 until Rolex finally acquired Aegler in 2004.
