The Rolex Oysterquartz was a range of quartz watches made by

Rolex Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...

History

At the end of the 1970s, the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

watch industry was affected by the

quartz crisis The quartz crisis (Swiss) or quartz revolution (America, Japan and other countries) was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches aroun ...

. Japanese watchmakers supplied the world market with large quantities of quartz watches. Rolex responded by introducing a new line of watches, producing the Datejust Oysterquartz. It faced the

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n markets seeking to keep alive interest in Swiss watchmaking, an industry that seemed dominated by the Japanese quartz watch. The Datejust Oysterquartz dates back to 1976. The design differs greatly from the classic Rolex line and carved characteristics of the period: a completely angular case, an integrated band with a polished finish, and

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

. The whole range consisted of three versions:

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

with white gold bezel, and steel and yellow gold.

Movement

Unlike most mass produced quartz watches, the Oysterquartz movement is notable for its use of an escape wheel and pallet fork (resembling a

lever escapement The lever escapement, invented by the English clockmaker Thomas Mudge in 1754 (albeit first used in 1769), is a type of escapement that is used in almost all mechanical watches, as well as small mechanical non-pendulum clocks, alarm clocks, a ...

), but having its impulse provided by a stepping motor mechanically similar to a d'Arsonval

galvanometer A galvanometer is an electromechanical measuring instrument for electric current. Early galvanometers were uncalibrated, but improved versions, called ammeters, were calibrated and could measure the flow of current more precisely. Galvanomet ...

Model numbers

Model numbers of the Rolex Oysterquartz include: *17000 Oysterquartz Datejust, stainless steel case and polished bezel, stainless steel integral Oyster bracelet. Price: $3,025 *17013 Oysterquartz Datejust, stainless steel case, 18K yellow gold fluted bezel, stainless steel/18K yellow gold integral Jubilee bracelet. Price: $5,050 *17014 Oysterquartz Datejust, stainless steel case, 18K white gold fluted bezel, stainless steel integral Jubilee bracelet. Price: $3,575 *19018 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K yellow gold case and fluted bezel, 18K yellow gold integral President bracelet with hidden clasp. Price: $16,500 *19019 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K white gold case and fluted bezel, 18K white gold integral President bracelet with hidden clasp. Price: $18,200 *19028 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K yellow gold case and Pyramid bezel, 18K yellow gold integral Pyramid bracelet with hidden clasp. Price: $18,500 *19038 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K yellow gold case and Pyramid bezel with 12 brilliants, 18K yellow gold integral Pyramid bracelet with hidden clasp. Price: $21,250 *19048 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K yellow gold case and bezel, with bezel set with 44 brilliants, dial set with 8 brilliants and 2 baguettes, 18K yellow gold integral President bracelet with hidden clasp. Price: $25,550 *19049 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K white gold case and bezel, with bezel set with 44 brilliants, dial set with 8 brilliants and 2 baguettes, 18K white gold integral President bracelet with hidden clasp. Price: $27,250 *19068 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K yellow gold case and bezel, with bezel set with 44 brilliants, dial set with 8 brilliants and 2 baguettes, 18K yellow gold integral Pyramid bracelet with hidden clasp. Price: $27,500 *19148 Oysterquartz Day-Date, 18K yellow gold case set with 8 brilliants, 18K yellow gold bezel set with 44 brilliants, dial set with 8 brilliants and 2 baguettes, 18K yellow gold integral Karat bracelet with hidden clasp set with 308 brilliants. Price: $60,000

References

{{Reflist Rolex watches Products and services discontinued in 2001