For nearly a century, Rolex has been an active supporter of pioneering explorers who pushed boundaries and helped shed light on our beautiful natural world. The brand has even been linked with some of the greatest feats of exploration of the past century, including the 1933 British Everest Expedition and the 1953 Sir John Hunt’s historic expedition, when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to climb the Mount Everest.
Rolex has since moved on from championing exploration for the sake of discovery, to protecting the planet and its ecosystems. This commitment was further reinforced with the launch of the Perpetual Planet initiative in 2019, which supports individuals and organisations using science to understand the world’s environmental challenges while devising solutions to restore a balance in our ecosystems.
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As part of its Perpetual Planet initiative, Rolex released a documentary called Perpetual Planet: Heroes of the Oceans on 8th June, on its web platform www.rolex.org. The documentary brought together legendary oceanographer and Rolex Testimonee Sylvia Earle— founder of Mission Blue— a partner in Perpetual Planet, accompanied by a cast of pioneering marine scientists, to tell the story of work being undertaken across the planet to protect the oceans’ fragile ecosystems.
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The documentary is narrated by Sylvia Earle and features six marine scientists, five of whom are Rolex Award Laureates.
The Rolex Awards were set up in 1976 to support the exceptional individuals whose innovative projects have improved our knowledge of the world while helping to preserve our environment, habitats and species, as well as to improve human well-being.
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The documentary features the works of Rolex Award Laureates Emma Camp, Michel André, Kerstin Forsberg, Brad Norman and Vreni Häussermann, and Angélique Pouponneau, who is a Mission Blue champion for the Seychelles; as well as Ghislain Bardout, co-founder and Director of the Under The Pole expeditions.
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The hour-long documentary takes its viewers on a spectacular voyage of the underwater world while showing how almost a third of ocean life has been destroyed due to climate change and human activity.
Talking about hope for change, Sylvia Earle says “Each of us can make a difference in inspiring others. With passion, curiosity and hope, anyone can change everything. We can create a Perpetual Planet for generations to come.”
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With a long-term commitment to support explorers in their quest to protect the planet, Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative, for now, focuses on three key areas— supporting individuals who contribute to a better world through the Rolex Awards for Enterprise; preserving the oceans, notably through the company’s association with Mission Blue; and understanding climate change through data as part of its enhanced association with National Geographic.
