Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Monaco, Jul 21, 2021
LOT 356
Rolex
Ref. 19019 / 19000, quartz, centre-seconds, date, day; “Oysterquartz” “day-date”; 18K white gold
Ref. 19019 / 19000, quartz, centre-seconds, date, day; “Oysterquartz” “day-date”; 18K white gold
EUR 9,000 - 12,000
USD 10,700 - 14,300 / HKD 83,000 - 112,000
Sold: EUR 14,300
18K white gold, quartz, tonneau-shaped, gentleman’s wristwatch, water-resistant with screwed case-back, silver colour dial with centre-seconds and two horological complications:
• Date of the month (aperture at 3 o’clock, under Cyclops lens)
• Day of the week (aperture at 12 o’clock; indications given in English)
• Date of the month (aperture at 3 o’clock, under Cyclops lens)
• Day of the week (aperture at 12 o’clock; indications given in English)
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3-8 |
Good Slightly scratched |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Brand Rolex, Geneva
Model “Oysterquartz” “Day-Date” “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified”
Reference 19019 / 19000
Year circa 1982
Movement No. 0 110 261
Case No. 7 148 177 (by Genex S.A., Chêne-Bourg, Geneva)
Bracelet 18K white gold Rolex bracelet with deployant clasp
Length 165 mm. (approx.)
Caliber 5055, quartz standardization, adjusted to temperature
Dimensions 42.3 x 35.5 mm
Signature dial, case and movement
Provenance
This wristwatch is one of the so-called “Youngtimers”, vintage watches that were relatively commercially successful at the time, but are so appreciated for their degree of ‘coolness’ today. One of these watches is undoubtedly the “Queen of Cool”, the Rolex “Oysterquartz” “Day-Date”.
At the end of the 1960s, as electronic technology moved forward, Rolex began research into producing its own quartz watches, along with a new case design. The Geneva-based company even joined forces with the Hoffman-La Roche group (now Roche) to research technologies for digital displays.
The early 1950s saw the development (notably at LIP and Hamilton) of watches with electromechanical movements. Rolex was already interested in this technology and filed its first patent in 1952. Between the end of the 1960s and the end of the 1980s, the company filed a series of patents relating to electric and electronic watches.
In terms of the physical production of watches, everything began in 1970 with the Beta 21 calibre. This was one of the world’s first quartz wristwatches developed by the Centre Electronique Horloger in Neuchâtel. The Swiss response in “Research and Development” to this new Asiatic trend. The CEH comprised sixteen Swiss horological companies (including Rolex, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Omega, Enicar, etc.). With this movement, Rolex commercialised in 1972 its first quartz watch, the “Quartz Date”, fitted with the calibre 5100; an impressive gold watch whose production was limited to 1 000 examples.
Rolex then develops and manufactures its own quartz movements, the calibres 5035 and 5055, with a 32 KHz oscillator and a thermo-compensated quartz that ensures extreme precision to the watch. These calibres will be used in the “Datejust” and “Day-Date” versions.
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*a 20% import VAT is due on the hammer price with buyer's premium, plus 150€ for termination of temporary export, at buyer's expense, only if it is delivered within the EU