Lifestyle The Story Behind the Dominos Rolex

We recently stumbled across a highly unusual timepiece in a corner of the Internet: the Dominos Rolex. Needless to say, our interest was piqued. How did this marriage of high and low culture come to be? We decided to get to the bottom of it.

We spoke with Paul Altieri, Rolex Expert and CEO of Bob's Watches, who has a prime example for sale, to get the story. Apparently since at least as far back as the early 1980s, Dominos has been rewarding its employees with Rolex watches through a program called the "Rolex Challenge." If a franchise nails a certain sales quota for a four week period, they get a Rolex Air-King as a ticking trophy. "Dominos deserves credit," says Altieri. "They could have gone for more paid vacation or a cash bonus. Good for Dominos! What better way to commemorate a major achievement?" Indeed.

According to Altieri, the fact that Rolex actually allowed a brand like Dominos to put their logo on the dial is extraordinary. "A company like Mercedes could have done this, but it was Dominos of all places." Occasionally you'll find Tiffany & Co. branded Rolexes, but that's not exactly the same as Rolex co-branding with a company that has so little in common, save for a preoccupation with time (30 mins or less). And unlike Tiffany's simply printing their logo on those dials, the Dominos Rolex is actually produced by Rolex.

Sometimes you'll find a gold Coca-Cola Rolex pop up, with "25 years of service" printed on its dial. But unique as the Coca-Cola co-branding is, the luxury pieces given to Coke loyal executives aren't like the Dominos Air-King, which — while fancy — is more of a people's watch. "It's a very solid model," says Altieri, "a durable watch you can wear while working."