The sound of time
By Straight-Six, published on 13 July 2009
It used to be that spotting a fake luxury timepiece was a doddle.
Apart from the dodgy finish, the quartz movement on supposedly mechanical watches was the first place to look. This was especially true of fake Rolexes which have been a pox on the market since God knows when.
It was simple, really: Rolex didn’t make quartz watches. Never had and never would. And that’s how you could tell a fake Rolex from a real one.
Yes, we clearly had much to learn.
Enter the Rolex Oysterquartz line-up, blessed not only with one of the finest quartz movements available at its launch in 1977 – and accuracy to drop-kick its mechanical cousins into time-keeping irrelevance – but a gorgeous case design with integrated bracelet and Rolex’s first solid center links.
For those who would point to the resemblance with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak launched in ’73, you should know that Rolex had experimented with such a case design many decades earlier with its Imperial Oyster and Viceroy models (thanks to www.oysterquartz.net).
And that’s just beginning, folks: with a mere 25,000 Oysterquartz units produced from its launch in ’77 to the last off the line in 2001, this is one of the rarest models produced by Rolex, heightening its collectibility further.
All of the above combined to form an irresistible pull that we no longer resisted when an immaculate 1985 Model 17000 Rolex OysterQuartz Datejust came up for sale on eBay. Unbelievably, it came with its original boxes, papers, hang-tags, booklets and manuals (a rarity amongst Oysterquartz models, for some unknown reason), having been sold by its meticulous original owner to an online dealer (www.elitetime.com).
For now, we’ve only gazed upon our latest purchase thanks to the pics posted here. But we’ll be posting more and sharing our first-hand observations once the unique tick-tock of our Oysterquartz in October joins what had up until now been an exclusively mechanical collection.
No gatecrasher was ever more welcome…
And in early September, we finally obtained some pics of the actual piece acquired! All featured below for your viewing pleasure…
The sound of time
It used to be that spotting a fake luxury timepiece was a doddle. Apart from the dodgy finish, the quartz movement on supposedly mechanical watches was the first place to look. This was especially true of fake Rolexes which have been a pox on the market since God knows when. It was simple, really: Rolex [...]
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4 Responses to “The sound of time”
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EDreams
21 July 2009
Delighted to have tickled your appreciation, if not quite ignited a flame of fancy.
I adore the AP 15300 too, and have it on my to-buy list once I can put together the required – and significant – funds for one.
But I do believe the only thing the AP and Oysterquartz share is the case with integrated bracelet design. Whereas the Oysterquartz is unusual, rare and well on its way to becoming a collectable vintage piece, the AP is a simply superb updating of what was already a classic piece of design.
One or the other? Nah, just give me both…
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But that’s the problem isn’t it? Life is all about choices, and the more Oysterquartz you buy, the further away you are from affording the AP…
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EDreams
21 July 2009
Choices? Indeed.
I choose to acquire the Oysterquartz on my way to an AP, old chum. Nothing will prevent that, you hear, nothing!
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The Prodigal Fool
21 July 2009
Nice post EDreams.
As you know, I am allergic to quartz-powered timepieces, but I must admit that you’ve at least caught my attention with this Oysterquartz.
Of course, it’s very telling that the most compelling thing you say – to me at least – is that it looks like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak!
Might make more sense to pick up an AP instead…