Live Auction 14212Rare Watches and a Rolex Afternoon
Rolex. An extremely rare and heavy 18K gold tonneau-shaped wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, date and bracelet
Lot 255 The following two lots present an almost unique opportunity to obtain both the yellow gold and white gold versions of the extremely rare Beta 21 quartz Rolex reference 5100. To find one such watch in this condition is a rare occurence, to find one in each colour of gold offered at the same time is exceptional.

Beta 21 Yellow

Rolex. An extremely rare and heavy 18K gold tonneau-shaped wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, date and bracelet

Signed Rolex, Quartz, Ref. 5100, case no. 025, circa 1971

Closed15 May 2017

Price Realised

CHF 17,500

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Rolex. An extremely rare and heavy 18K gold tonneau-shaped wristwatch with sweep centre seconds, date and bracelet
Signed Rolex, Quartz, Ref. 5100, case no. 025, circa 1971
Movement: quartz, cal. Beta quartz 21, 13 jewels, hacking seconds feature
Dial: satine silvered, gold baton numerals, sapphire crystal
Case: snap on back with securing bars, faceted bezel
Signed: case, dial and movement
Dimensions: 39 mm. wide. overall bracelet length approx.. 165 mm.
With: heavy 18K gold Rolex integrated link bracelet and deployant clasp, punched 3/71

Specialist note

The present watch is in excellent overall condition, a beautiful and rare vintage piece seldom found at auction. Furthermore it is number 025 and therefore extremely early in the series. The Quartz 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 production was completely sold out prior to delivery. Reference 5100 was the first Rolex to have a sapphire crystal and the quick date change mechanism. It was also 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. 025 which is very early in the series.