Around 1932, Rudolf Wäckerlin, a Swiss-born rum merchant living in Jamaica, travelled regularly by train through Switzerland trying to sell rum for his company, Rum Basel - more popularly known under the name Coruba. On one of these many train trips through Switzerland, Mr. Wäckerlin happened to be seated across a business man named Hans Wilsdorf, who was also travelling through Switzerland trying to sell Rolex watches. Hans Wilsdorf was able to convince Rudolf Wäckerlin to take a couple of his Rolex watches back to Jamaica and try to sell them there.
By 1957 Swiss Stores had established itself as the finest jewellery and watch store in Jamaica, which at that time, and until its independence in 1962, was still part of the British Empire. In 1958 Swiss Stores opened Jamaica's first fully air-conditioned store, in the face of strong criticism that a store with a closed storefront would never work.
Swiss Stores is still under Swiss Management and is still the only Rolex retailer in Jamaica. With the new state-of-the-art workshop Swiss Stores is able to continue its long standing tradition of being the only authorized service centre for Rolex, Omega and all other watch brands sold.