They say if you see a ticking Rolex is a fake Rolex..does it? Well, that’s only right for about 90%
Back in the 70s’ and 80s’ the trend in watchmaking is towards too less expensive and more precise quartz caliber. It was known as the “quartz crisis” era. Starting in 1972, Rolex took five years to design, develop, and test their in-house quartz movement. In 1977 the brand launched the 5035 quartz caliber for the Datejust and the 5055 quartz caliber for the Date-Date Oysterquartz models.
The case design also looks very not Rolex, that's why many enthusiasts love it, some might say it looks a bit like AP, and they would be right because many watch companies used this design in their line up, is a 70s thing.
If you know Rolex they never cut corners or used cheap material to make their watch, Rolex also jump in and develop the quartz caliber. They overbuild this Quartz cal.5055 movement with a beautiful decoration and a Swiss lever to tick with precision; this Quartz Caliber also designs to last a lifetime with adjustable modules to compensate the quartz crystal.
As you can see, this caliber didn’t look anything like a cheap quartz watch. Fewer than 25,000 Oysterquartz models are made. In the realm of Rolex manufacturing, that is a low number, and for over 25 years of production, so it is very rare considering Rolex made 1 million-plus watch per year.