Rolex Oysterquartz Day-Date 19028 Yellow Gold 36 mm 1988

For the little story

As many brands struggled to survive the quartz crisis in the 1970s, several leading Swiss companies introduced their own version of quartz watches to remain competitive in this new era of watchmaking against the Japanese giants. Rolex launched its first quartz watch in 1970, a limited edition 18K gold model. This Date reference 5100 was powered by the Beta-21 movement. This caliber was developed thanks to the Centre Electronique Horloger, a group of twenty Swiss brands that joined together to develop the movement. However, due to the Beta-21's large and awkward size, Rolex could not use its famous Oyster case, and then thought that it was not desirable to have watches equipped with the same movement as other brands. The brand therefore decided to leave the CEH in order to develop its own quartz movement.

To do this, Rolex recruited René Le Coultre who was technical director of the Fédération Horlogère. His mission was to set up a top-level electronics laboratory composed of 13 people, with the objective of developing a quartz movement with superior precision to other contemporary quartz movements and almost infinite durability. Development began in 1972.

Five years later, Rolex introduced the quartz caliber 5035 for the Datejust and the 5055 for the Day-Date models. Unlike other quartz movements of the time, the 5035 had eleven jewels and looked more like a traditional watch movement. Eighteen months after their release, the 5035 and 5055 were certified by the COSC.

The Rolex Oysterquartz was produced for 25 years and saw a resurgence of interest after it was discontinued in 2001. It is estimated that only 25,000 timepieces were made for the market, making this model uncommon to find.

Un design funky

This reference 19028 presents a 100% vintage look, 100% eighties and design only seen in the Oysterquartz line! We find the angular case with a barrel shape of 36 mm diameter in yellow gold, with prominent edges and the famous break at the handles. While the other Day-Date reference 19018 has polished center links with a president bracelet, the 19028 has a pyramid finish with eight pyramids per link. This unique bracelet is perfectly integrated with the case and fits the wrist ideally, with the famous invisible clasp.

The classic champagne dial has a nice patina, and the hands keep a uniform cream color on the whole surface, matching with the Tritium lume plot. A nice detail, the day disk is in French, a rare thing for a Day-Date!

An exceptional calibre

The 5055 caliber that powers this Oysterquartz was way ahead of its time, as it is a quartz movement inspired by mechanical calibers. Indeed, it has an anchor wheel like on a mechanical movement, all powered by a classic quartz caliber construction. This movement offers exceptional precision, as it has a 32 KHz oscillator and a thermo-compensation to keep the quartz crystal at a constant temperature. Its accuracy was about 1 minute per year, which in 1975 was a record.

Moreover, this caliber 5055 is finished as a mechanical movement, with Côtes de Genève, circular graining and even bevelling of the bridges! It is without a doubt one of the best calibers developed by Rolex!

The package

This Rolex Day-Date Oysterquartz reference 19028 is in superb condition and will be delivered with its original warranty card, which dates back to 1988. It has been authenticated by our authorized Rolex watchmaker and benefits from a one year Lepage Vintage warranty. You can benefit from a free engraving on the case back upon request.

Technical data

• Reference : 19028
• Serial number: 915XXXX
• Year : 1988
• Bracelet: Pyramid
• Movement: 5055
• Excellent condition