ALLEGIANCE TO THE CROWN ROLEX AND REVOLUTIONARY CUBA
Since the 1959 Revolution and the US sanctions that followed, Cuba has become a living, breathing time capsule. The famed American cars that were once the image of the Caribbean nation’s growing prosperity are now kept on the road as a necessity. The vehicles were abandoned and then taken by, or given over to, the Cuban people. But devoid of the manufacturers’ own parts for repair, the cars have been serviced through ingenuity by cajoling them to keep running or cannibalizing other vehicles — all proving the Cuban instinct for invention.
But Rolex, one of the acknowledged Top 100 luxury brands — and undoubtably the most recognized watch brand in the world — has retained a presence on the island since 1948. It is no secret that Cuba’s prime minister and president, Fidel Castro, wore Rolex; there are plenty of photographs bearing witness to that. But the existence of an authorized service center, and one that is not listed on the official Rolex website, is something different: it indicates that there was sufficient business to justify it being there.
