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Rolex has been a major partner of Monaco
Arnaud Boetsch Ocean Week as well as the Monaco Blue
Communication & Image Director, Rolex SA Initiative, a key conference dedicated to the
oceans, since 2011. What motivates Rolex to
help protect the oceans?
The oceans and what they represent are a force We support Monaco Ocean Week, and more speci-
which has inspired Rolex for around a century. fically the Monaco Blue Initiative, as we are confident
Could you go back to the beginning to explain that it is necessary to help implement solutions to
the ties between the brand and this field? protect the ocean. All actions to tackle the challen-
Our relationship with the ocean goes back to 1926, ges faced by the oceans, such as climate change
when Rolex created the Oyster, the world’s first wa- or noise pollution, must be based on an exchange
terproof wristwatch. Since this historic event, several between different stakeholders and a thorough un-
models - from the Submariner to the Sea-Dweller, or derstanding of the oceans.
the Rolex Deepsea - have facilitated and supported
the development of deep diving, strongly influencing Are you optimistic about the future of the
the watch industry. And in addition to using the world oceans?
as an open-air laboratory to test its watches, Rolex We still have a lot to do before marine ecosystems
also seeks to play a pioneering role not only in ocean recover, but we look to the future with optimism. Hu-
exploration, but also protecting and preserving them. manity means hope. With the Perpetual Planet ini-
tiative, we do everything possible to help those who
2021 marks the start of the United Nations help to protect the planet, and oceans in particular.
Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Like Sylvia Earle says: “No one can do everything,
Development. Does Rolex have a strategy to but we can all do something”. And Rolex plays its
support this international initiative? part.
Sustainability is very important for our business,
and it is a central aspect of our support for those
working to protect the planet. A commitment to the
environment might be something relatively new for THE PERPETUAL PLANET INITIATIVE
some companies, but not for Rolex. For more than
forty years, we have supported people who work to Rolex has supported pioneering explo-
save the oceans through the Rolex Awards for En- rers for nearly one hundred years. This
terprise, whether by protecting threatened marine partnership has evolved since the early
species like the seahorse or whale shark, or by stu- 21 century, with the thirst for discove-
st
dying coral resistance and sound pollution in marine ry accompanied by a desire to protect
environments. We have also been working with the the planet. With the Perpetual Planet
famous oceanographer Sylvia Earle since the 1970s. initiative, Rolex reasserts its long-term
Her Mission Blue programme is a key partner of our commitment to explorers and scientists
Perpetual Planet initiative, through which we support
people who offer solutions to tackle environmental who use science to understand environ-
challenges, with ocean protection one of the most mental challenges and find solutions. In
complex. addition to supporting the Prince Albert I
and II Foundations, this initiative also
supports the Rolex Awards for Enterprise
and partnerships with the National Geo-
graphic Society and Sylvia Earle’s Mission
Blue programme. And that’s just the be-
ginning.