Original vintage 1980s Rolex advertisement for the company's Oysterquartz watch, set at Mt. Everest - "The Inexhaustible Challenge of Everest."
 
Dimensions: Roughly 6.50 inches wide by 11 inches high.
 
The Rolex Oysterquartz
 
At the end of the 1970s, the Swiss watch industry was affected by the Quartz Crisis, brought on by Seiko's revolutionary Astron wristwatch - thereafter, Japanese watchmakers supplied the world market with large quantities of quartz watches.  Under pressure, Rolex responded by introducing a new line of watches, producing the Datejust Oysterquartz.  
 
The Rolex Oysterquartz is a fascinating watch – not only does it destroy the myth, “Rolex watches don’t tick,” but it also serves as a throw-back to an era when Rolex really pushed the envelope.
 
While some may assume the Oysterquartz was Rolex’s first quartz watch, it actually didn’t debut until 1977.  A whole seven years earlier, however, Rolex released the aptly named Rolex Quartz, reference 5100.  It was nicknamed “The Texan” for its opulent solid gold construction and 40mm diameter.  Large for the time, it weighed in at nearly 200g of yellow or white gold and was huge for over five decades ago.  Given it was a quartz movement and an experiment for the brand, Rolex produced this Quartz on pre-order only, and in a run of supposedly just 1,000 pieces.  
 
Per Fratello, some people claim that, “Gérald Genta designed The Texan and the subsequent Oysterquartz case.  As far as all my scholarly digging suggests, there is no evidence at all to back up that claim. In an interview with Constantin Stikas in 2009, Gérald Genta himself said, ‘Personally, I have only designed one Rolex, which still exists today and forms part of the Cellini collection.’ The Texan and the Oysterquartz were never Cellini models, and by 2009, both were discontinued anyway.  Thus, Genta’s own words clearly contradict those ‘origin stories.’”
 
But the influence is quite clearly there – from the slope of the lugs to the case and bracelet bevels, the Oysterquartz borrows rather liberally from the Royal Oak form.  The cushion-shaped case middle is also strikingly similar, though admittedly, the Oysterquartz looks a bit wider in the hips.
 
The case and bracelet of the Oysterquartz debuted in 1975 on the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date ref. 1530.  Most Rolex scholars believe the case and bracelet were designed with the Oysterquartz as the goal, but Rolex finished producing those parts before the quartz movement was ready.  So the brand released a “trial run” in 1975, powered by its automatic caliber 1570.
 
At the same time, Rolex also released reference 1630, a Datejust model with the exact same case, but with a gold fluted bezel and a Jubilee-esque two-tone bracelet. Made in small numbers, once the Oysterquartz calibers were ready, these two “trial” models were ignominiously phased out.
 
Rolex watches have taken part in some of humanity’s greatest adventures – to include the 1953 expedition to Everest, led by Sir John Hunt, on which Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa become the first to summit the world’s highest mountain. Feedback was used to develop what became known as the Professional category – watches that serve as tools, namely, the Explorer, Explorer II, and more.
 
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level.  It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its summit. Its height was most recently measured in 2020 by Chinese and Nepali authorities as 8,848.86 m (29,031 ft 8+1⁄2 in).
 
Mount Everest attracts many climbers, including highly experienced mountaineers.  There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet.  
 
While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness, weather, and wind, as well as hazards from avalanches and the Khumbu Icefall.  As of May 2024, 340 people have died on Everest - over 200 bodies remain on the mountain and have not been removed due to the dangerous conditions.
 
The first recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers.  As Nepal did not allow foreigners to enter the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the North Ridge route from the Tibetan side.  
 
After the first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7,000 m (22,966 ft) on the North Col, the 1922 expedition on its first summit attempt marked the first time a human had climbed above 8,000 m (26,247 ft) and it also pushed the North Ridge route up to 8,321 m (27,300 ft).  
 
On the 1924 expedition, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on 8 June but never returned, sparking debate as to whether they were the first to reach the top. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first documented ascent of Everest in 1953, using the Southeast Ridge route; Norgay had reached 8,595 m (28,199 ft) the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition.  The Chinese mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo, and Qu Yinhua made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960.