Manufacturer: Rolex Year: Circa 1984 Reference No: 19049, inside case back stamped 19000 Movement No: 0'079'191 Case No: 8'354'406 Model Name: Oyster Quartz Day-Date Material: 18k white gold and diamonds Calibre: Quartz, 5055, 11 jewels Bracelet/Strap: 18k white gold Rolex Oyster Quartz bracelet, 175 mm. maximum length Clasp/Buckle: 18k white gold Rolex concealed folding deployant clasp Dimensions: 37 mm. diameter Signed:Case, dial and movement signed Literature: For another example for a Oyster Quartz, however, reference 19028, please see Day-Date The Presidential Rolex by Pucci Papaleo, page 438.
Catalogue Essay
Throughout the 1970's and 1980's, Rolex channeled their resources in creating their very own in-house quartz movement, one of them being the calibre 5055. Also known as the Oyster Quartz, this calibre functioned as much the same as any other automatic Day-Date movement. The Oyster Quartz was a very important model for Rolex and is highly collectible today. The present watch is a very rare variant, as not only it is cased in white gold, the bezel is further enhanced with diamonds.
Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.