The Most Unique beautiful Sportive Rolex Day date OysterQuartz

OysterQuartz was made since 1977 till 2004 for 25 years, Rolex produced 1,000 pieces per year, so total unit of 25,000 was made, I estimate that 60% is SS version, 30% is TT version and 10% is Solid Yellow Gold version,  I have never heard of any Pink Gold version has been made!
Amongst these 2500 pieces of Solid Gold version, there is about 500 pieces using special Stone Dial like the one I have…Assuming that 100 pieces are badly worn off, and 100 pieces were gone or damaged, or could not resists the temptation to turn it into cash by selling the heavy gold cases to goldsmith, I believe that the watch I current have has less than 300 similar pieces in the World…It is rare! And the Gold Strap is sleek, beautiful, somewhat look like the Nautilus watch strap design, even we look it it today, it is updated! The watch is heavy, it is about 3.05 tael in weight.
In 1977, the Oysterquartz was introduced the quartz crystal used in the oscillator circuit was changed to a tuning fork shape. The earlier movements were known internally at Rolex as Mark I movements, while the later ones with the new shape quartz crystal were known as Mark II movements. The Mark I 5035 Datejust movements were never submitted to the COSC for chronometer certification, which accounts for the absence of "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified" on the dials of the very early Oysterquartz Datejust models.


Everything about the design and construction of the 5035/5055 module shows that Rolex intended to build this movement to be a "Life-Time" movement, designed to be serviceable and serviced just like their mechanical movements.


In fact, apart from the electronics and the pulse motor, the "mechanics" of the 5035 are the same as the 3035 automatic movement that was also introduced in 1977 and used in the Submariner and other Date/Datejust models for over a decade.


The driving mechanism for the 5035/5055 is very similar to the design of a traditional mechanical watch escapement. The pulse motor drives a pallet fork which in turn moves a pallet wheel. This wheel drives the second hand at a 1:1 ratio with one tick per second. The hour and minute hands are driven off this pallet wheel. The loud "Tick" you hear every second are the pallets engaging the pallet wheel. That is why the tick of the 5035/5055 has such a unique sound and is very much like the tick of a mechanical watch, though at one tick per second rather than the eight ticks per second of a 28,800 bph Rolex Perpetual movement. This drive mechanism also ensures the second hand steps around the dial smartly with zero backlash since the hand is effectively locked in place by the pallet fork in between each beat. There is a temperature sensing thermister that can be adjusted for Temperature compensation. As well, There is free battery cell changing each time at Rolex service Centre!


Even though the technology of quartz wristwatch timekeeping has moved beyond that found in the 5035/5055, this movement still remains one of the most "over-engineered" quartz movements ever produced and clearly carries on the Rolex tradition of solid engineering, superb finishing, and understated beauty. Advancements in technology have yielded quartz modules with superior accuracy, but when it debuted, the 5035/5055 only had one true rival from a technological standpoint: the 2.4Mhz Omega 1516 movement used in their famous Marine Chronometer wristwatches of the mid 70s. But from the standpoint of "build quality" and finish (anglage, perlage, and Geneva stripes), the 5035/5055 still reigns supreme, something that is not likely to change in the foreseeable future.


So in short this is a rare beautiful, sportive, gold Rolex OysterQuartz… A Collector’s item.


5035 Specifications:

32,768Hz VCTCXO Quartz Module

Integrated circuit: CMOS

Temperature compensation: Yes

Rate trimmer: Yes

Power source: UCAR 357 silveroxide battery, 1.55v

Width: 29.75mm

Height: 6.5mm

11 jewels

Antimagnetic: Yes, to 1000 Oersted

Hacking: Yes

Quick set date: Yes

Reference: OysterQuartz.net and OysterQuartz blog
HK Snob