Rolling bearing and method of manufacturing the same

A rolling bearing comprising:

• an inner ring including an inner-ring raceway surface around an outer circumference;
• an outer ring including an outer-ring raceway surface around an inner circumference;
• a plurality of rolling elements which roll between the inner-ring raceway surface and the outer-ring raceway surface;
• and
• a hard film formed on a surface of at least one selected from the group consisting of the inner ring, the outer ring, and the rolling elements,
• the inner ring, the outer ring, and the plurality of rolling elements being composed of an iron-based material,
• the hard film including
• an underlying layer directly formed on the surface and mainly composed of chromium,
• a mixed layer formed on the underlying layer and mainly composed of tungsten carbide and diamond like carbon, and
• a surface layer formed on the mixed layer and mainly composed of diamond like carbon,
• the mixed layer being such a layer that a content of the tungsten carbide in the mixed layer decreases and a content of the diamond like carbon in the mixed layer increases continuously or stepwise from a side of the underlying layer toward the surface layer.