Yes, Yes, even Rolex joined the quartz movement Rolex may be known for their precise and reliable mechanical movements, yet there was a time when the Swiss watchmaking company got on board with the quartz craze during what is now referred to as the “quartz crisis” era. In the early 1970s and 1980s, the trend in the watchmaking business was towards less expensive and more precise quartz calibers rather than more intricate mechanical movements. It was referred to as a crisis because it almost toppled the entire Swiss watchmaking industry with the majority of quartz watches coming out of Japan and the United States. Although there was widespread hesitation to join the quartz bandwagon among Swiss watch manufactures at the time, there were a few top watch brands, including Rolex that introduced their own quartz watches. Here we take a closer look at the development and evolution of the Rolex Oysterquartz.