With their precision manufacturing, specially sourced materials, and exceptional craftsmanship, Rolex watches have never come cheap, but neither were they out of financial reach for 1960s working professionals in search of perfect timekeeping and technical innovation. "Back then, anybody could afford a Rolex," Hess told Insider. Dealers would buy luxury watches in Switzerland to carry across the border and sell in Italy. That reputation has helped Rolex crush the competition with a quarter of the luxury watch market — more than double that of runner-up Omega. "They all buy the little wannabe Rolex brands in the beginning and finally, when they achieve success, they buy that Rolex."

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