Introduction by Rolex CEO Patrick Heiniger

The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative reflects the values of a company which, for 100 years, has been dedicated to excellence. The highest standards of craftsmanship in watchmaking, a commitment to perfection and durability, and great care and attention to detail are all principles that we cherish.

In keeping with this philosophy, Rolex has long been associated with exceptional individuals across many domains. Be they explorers, sportsmen or artists, these outstanding men and women all set personal achievement as the highest goal. From the middle of the last century, we began to test the reliability of our watches by asking leaders in sports and exploration to wear them under the most extreme conditions. Whether a Rolex watch was worn on the summit of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary, or carried on the exterior of Jacques Piccard’s bathyscaphe to a depth of 10,916 metres underwater, we wanted to know that it could meet the demands of people facing the limits of human endurance.

We at Rolex apply the same standards to our non-commercial activities as we do to watchmaking. These activities, which further underscore our long-held belief in accomplishment through bold determination, include our arts and sports sponsorships as well as our philanthropic endeavours.

Through the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, we started in the 1970s to give tangible encouragement to inspired individuals in science, exploration and the environment. Since then, we have invested across the world in people dedicated to advancing education, conservation, medicine, technology and discovery. To complement this international philanthropic programme, in 2002, with the help of a specialised team within the company, we launched the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Our research with arts experts showed that systematic corporate support of individual artists across a variety of disciplines was lacking, and the Arts Initiative was created to fill this void in arts philanthropy around the globe.

Just as it takes a year to construct a Rolex timepiece to our exacting standards, it takes a year to set up a relationship between a mentor and a protégé, who then spend another year developing a fruitful collaboration. The resulting benefits to the young protégés will ripple out into their own work and to the artistic community at large with the passage of time.

I am proud of the programme’s achievement and profoundly grateful to all of the participants – advisors, nominators, mentors and protégés – who have contributed to our efforts to support the arts worldwide.