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Lot Essay
The Rolex reference 5100, was introduced in 1970 using the famous Beta 21 quartz movement which was accurate to 5 seconds per month. It was immediately so successful that the initial pilot series (900 pieces in yellow gold and 100 pieces in white gold) production was completely sold out prior to delivery.
It was revolutionary for the new case design, much more angular in its shape than the Oyster case. Designed to be made in very limited quantities only, each Rolex Quartz is engraved with the limited edition number, in this instance No. 590.
Reference 5100
Rolex reference 5100 is a historic milestone in the development of the quartz watch. It was launched on 5th June 1970 but Rolex had underestimated demand, the initial pilot series production was completely sold out prior to delivery. Model 5100 was the first Rolex to have a sapphire crystal and a seconds hand being run by a pallet wheel to give a true 'sweep' centre seconds unlike modern quartz movements. It was also revolutionary for the new case design, much more angular in its shape than the Oyster case.
The Beta-21 is a 13 jewel, 8Khz quartz module first seen in prototype form in 1967. In 1968 it was agreed by 20 Swiss watch houses to produce 6,000 of these movements. In 1969, a few hundred of the Beta-21 watches were released at Basel World, setting a new record at the Fair. The Beta-21 movement was accurate to 5 seconds per month, which was far superior to any automatic and manualwinding watch at the time. The design for the Beta-21 watches was a triumph and also very characteristic of the era - they were generally thick, angular and even chunky (partly out of necessity as the first generation of quartz movements were comparatively large.) Rolex’s reference 5100 was essentially designed around the Beta-21 movement.
In 1972, Rolex left the CEH (Centre Electronique Horloger) to go on and develop their own in-house quartz movements, later named the 'Oysterquartz'.
It was revolutionary for the new case design, much more angular in its shape than the Oyster case. Designed to be made in very limited quantities only, each Rolex Quartz is engraved with the limited edition number, in this instance No. 590.
Reference 5100
Rolex reference 5100 is a historic milestone in the development of the quartz watch. It was launched on 5th June 1970 but Rolex had underestimated demand, the initial pilot series production was completely sold out prior to delivery. Model 5100 was the first Rolex to have a sapphire crystal and a seconds hand being run by a pallet wheel to give a true 'sweep' centre seconds unlike modern quartz movements. It was also revolutionary for the new case design, much more angular in its shape than the Oyster case.
The Beta-21 is a 13 jewel, 8Khz quartz module first seen in prototype form in 1967. In 1968 it was agreed by 20 Swiss watch houses to produce 6,000 of these movements. In 1969, a few hundred of the Beta-21 watches were released at Basel World, setting a new record at the Fair. The Beta-21 movement was accurate to 5 seconds per month, which was far superior to any automatic and manualwinding watch at the time. The design for the Beta-21 watches was a triumph and also very characteristic of the era - they were generally thick, angular and even chunky (partly out of necessity as the first generation of quartz movements were comparatively large.) Rolex’s reference 5100 was essentially designed around the Beta-21 movement.
In 1972, Rolex left the CEH (Centre Electronique Horloger) to go on and develop their own in-house quartz movements, later named the 'Oysterquartz'.