ROLEX | BETA-21, REFERENCE 5100, A HEAVY AND POSSIBLY UNIQUE WHITE GOLD AND DIAMOND-SET WRISTWATCH WITH DATE AND BRACELET, CIRCA 1970 | 勞力士 | "Beta-21 型號5100 獨特白金鑲鑽石鏈帶腕錶，備日期顯示，機芯編號7314，錶殼編號78，約1970年製"

A historical invention in 1969, the present example is incorporated with the beta-21 movement, one of the first produced Swiss electroquartz movements. Accurate to 5 seconds per month, it left a groundbreaking impact on watchmaking history, leading the market to a favour of quartz watches which eventually caused the quartz crisis. Experimenting on the Beta-21, the reference 5100 was released in 1970 as the first Rolex quartz watch. Offering a hefty white gold case, the present example retains the traditional look of a Rolex wristwatch, with never before seen grey dial enhanced with diamond-set indexes. Limited to a production time of two years however, the present reference is extremely sought after. No more than a handful of white gold examples have been seen on the market and this is the first time an example with diamond indexes and grey dial has been seen.