Rolex has no ownership of anything as you said correctly, furthermore Omega has a way longer and significant history and inventions UNTIL the Swatch group took over ownership and in my opinion stopped the brand from being a leader and turned it to a fashion follower…
The Omega Marin, the true first waterproof watch, the first Tourbillon in a wrist watch, just to name a few all Revolutionary, let alone the chronometer competitions that Omega won, but in recent times…???
When one holds a modern and a vintage Omega in their hand, you can see the difference in the quality between the two, the winner being the vintage, vs. the Rolex where the vintage is relatively speaking a fragile paper compared to the tanks of today.
And THAT hurts…
But I hope one day the wheels will turn and they’ll wake up, so I can be proud of them again…