Pre-owned Rolex Datejust 36 OysterQuartz ref 17014 (1990) hails from a rather interesting chapter in Rolex history, one when the Crown was briefly branching away from its steadfast self-winding Perpetual movement to add quartz offerings to its lineup. It was the Quartz Crisis, an era when cheaper, more convenient watches were taking the market by storm. To keep up, many of the top names in Swiss watchmaking were rolling out their own quartz-powered watches, including Omega, Patek Philippe, and, of course, Rolex. Ref. 17014 is a result of that era. While the brand initially used an outsourced Beta 21 movement that sadly didn’t fit in the staple Rolex Oyster case, Rolex eventually developed its own in-house quartz movement. It took 5 years to perfect and even fit inside the Oyster case, which gave the model its name “OysterQuartz.” In addition to the movement, the case has a slightly more angular profile and an integrated bracelet, which sets it apart from the rest of the Datejust lineup, which uses a mechanical movement instead of quartz. Ref. 17014 is a steel model with a white gold fluted bezel and a sharp black dial. Many collectors are after this Rolex because it flies a bit more under the radar than yellow gold and has a unique history. Shop Rolex Datejust 36 Collection