We had an event tonight to celebrate the Rolex Mentor and Protégé programme which has been running since 2002, whereby extremely well-known figures in the arts world (this year including Philip Glass and David Chipperfield) take on a young and rising star in their field as a protégé. It sounds as if it could be a corporate gimmick, but they have been doing it over a long period of time and have invested not just large sums of money, but long-term moral and organisational support. What I found particularly interesting is that Rolex is run not as a profit-making corporation, but as a private trust (it was originally established in London in 1905), investing its profits in community good. We don’t hear enough about these different corporate models and how they operate.
Wish I could afford one of their watches! Good to hear about this.