Reference:19018: Difference between revisions
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<small>[[Reference:day-date|Day-Date]] | <small>[[Reference:day-date|Day-Date]] -> '''19018'''</small> | ||
The 19018 is the quartz Day-Date. In 1977, after five years of in-house development, Rolex answered the Beta 21 consortium quartz it had used at the start of the decade with a movement of its own and an entirely new case to hold it. The Oysterquartz put the caliber 5055, a thermocompensated quartz good to about ±0.7 seconds a day, inside an angular, beveled case with an integrated bracelet, while keeping the round fluted bezel and the 36mm footprint of the Oyster. The 19018 is the yellow-gold Day-Date version. It is the most accurate Day-Date Rolex ever built and one of the rarest, gold-only and made in small numbers across a 25-year run. | The 19018 is the quartz Day-Date. In 1977, after five years of in-house development, Rolex answered the Beta 21 consortium quartz it had used at the start of the decade with a movement of its own and an entirely new case to hold it. The Oysterquartz put the caliber 5055, a thermocompensated quartz good to about ±0.7 seconds a day, inside an angular, beveled case with an integrated bracelet, while keeping the round fluted bezel and the 36mm footprint of the Oyster. The 19018 is the yellow-gold Day-Date version. It is the most accurate Day-Date Rolex ever built and one of the rarest, gold-only and made in small numbers across a 25-year run. | ||
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==Where it sits in the line== | ==Where it sits in the line== | ||
The 19018 sits to one side of the main Day-Date story. The mechanical Presidents (1803, 18038, 18238) run on the round Oyster case and the President bracelet. The Oysterquartz is a different object: a quartz movement, an angular case in the 1970s integrated-bracelet idiom, and a bracelet built into the watch rather than hung from it. It shares only the Day-Date complication and the fluted bezel with its mechanical cousins. | The 19018 sits to one side of the main Day-Date story. The mechanical Presidents (1803, 18038, 18238) run on the round Oyster case and the President bracelet. The Oysterquartz is a different object: a quartz movement, an angular case in the 1970s integrated-bracelet idiom, and a bracelet built into the watch rather than hung from it. It shares only the Day-Date complication and the fluted bezel with its mechanical cousins. Within the [[Reference:day-date|Day-Date line]] it is the quartz outlier. | ||
The Day-Date Oysterquartz came in two metals, the yellow-gold 19018 and the white-gold 19019, and those two are the pair that turns up. The pyramid-bezel 19028, diamond-bezel 19038 and 19048, and pavé variants exist in much smaller numbers; the 19028, with matching pyramid center links, is the most sought of the group. The steel and two-tone Oysterquartz watches are Datejusts (17000, 17013, 17014), not Day-Dates; the Day-Date Oysterquartz was gold only. | |||
==Production outline== | ==Production outline== | ||
Rolex launched the Oysterquartz in 1977 and built fewer than 25,000 across the whole line, Datejust and Day-Date together, over roughly 25 years. That makes any Oysterquartz scarce, and the gold Day-Date references the scarcest end of it. COSC certification of the calibers ended in 2001, and the last Oysterquartz watches left the catalogue around 2003. Within that run the 19018 changed | Rolex launched the Oysterquartz in 1977 and built fewer than 25,000 across the whole line, Datejust and Day-Date together, over roughly 25 years. That makes any Oysterquartz scarce, and the gold Day-Date references the scarcest end of it. COSC certification of the calibers ended in 2001, and the last Oysterquartz watches left the catalogue around 2003. Within that run the 19018 barely changed, holding one specification from launch to the end. | ||
==Movement notes== | ==Movement notes== | ||
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[[File:Ref 19018 detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 19018 dial close-up reading Oysterquartz Day-Date|The dial signature reads "Oysterquartz Day-Date"; fluted bezel and "T SWISS MADE T" tritium, Italian day disc. Photo: Watch Collecting Lifestyle]] | [[File:Ref 19018 detail.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 19018 dial close-up reading Oysterquartz Day-Date|The dial signature reads "Oysterquartz Day-Date"; fluted bezel and "T SWISS MADE T" tritium, Italian day disc. Photo: Watch Collecting Lifestyle]] | ||
The 19018 carried the standard Day-Date dial range adapted to the quartz movement. Champagne and silver with applied gold markers are the common pair, with Roman-numeral, diamond-hour-marker and occasional special-order dials behind them. The day disc follows Day-Date practice and was supplied in a range of languages to order, so the spelled-out day at twelve varies with the market an example was sold into. Because the reference is gold-only and was made in small numbers, the surviving dial range is narrower than the mechanical 1803 or 18038. The [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry carries the deep President dial taxonomy. | |||
The 19018 | |||
==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown== | ==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown== | ||
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==Bracelets, end links, and clasps== | ==Bracelets, end links, and clasps== | ||
The Oysterquartz bracelet is integrated, built as part of the case rather than fitted with end-links to a separate head. It carries semi-circular center links that nod to the President but sits flat and angular to match the case, and it cannot be swapped for a standard President. | The Oysterquartz bracelet is integrated, built as part of the case rather than fitted with end-links to a separate head. It carries semi-circular center links that nod to the President but sits flat and angular to match the case, and it cannot be swapped for a standard President. Fixed that way, the watch wears nothing like a round 36mm President even though the dial side is familiar. The cross-family bracelet detail sits on [[Reference:Bracelets]]. | ||
==Auction record== | ==Auction record== | ||
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| est. GBP 10,000–15,000; result not published | | est. GBP 10,000–15,000; result not published | ||
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== Related references == | == Related references == | ||