A comeback of the OQ, unthinkable ? Would it interest you ?

[Blackdog]

Sorry for the long post, bear with me on this little brainstorming excercise…

Web browsing I stumbled upon some of the Seiko Kinetic divers. I find the Kinetic thing a very clever idea, after all the need for frequent battery changes have always been the achilles heel of water resistant quartz watches. I thought that, for the price, it would probably be fun to get one as a beater and eventually take it underwater.

But then I thought about the kind of watches I own and like to wear (Speedies, Reversos, and specifically for diving a trusty 16610, a BlackBay and a recently acquired 16600 SD) and realized that most likely I would never wear the Seiko.

That got me thinking, what if a company like Rolex did something like that. What if they were to rethink the quartz movement and make something like an evolution of the Oysterquartz.

[brainstorm]
A concept along the lines of the Kinetic is a must, with the self-winding rotor gears moving a generator charging a battery, but they could also go a bit further: Why not a sweeping seconds hand quartz movement. Let's say they keep the top quality watch movement concept and just design a quartz-driven escapement. No more hairspring, quartz accuracy and virtually impervious to magnetic fields. The Electro-Perpetual, Hybrid movement.

Throw an Oyster case and a Triplock crown in the mix and that would be a much more interesting upgrade to a Sub than just a bigger case and a ceramic insert. I would likely buy and wear a watch like that.
Such a movement could be their "3135" for the 21st century.

The beauty of a quartz escapement is that you could also use it in other platforms, a traditional chronograph would also be possible. Hybrid Daytona anyone ?
[/brainstorm]

I know it's almost science fiction to even imagine that Rolex would spend a single Swiss-franc in that kind of R&D when they can sell us the 3135 packaged in different precious metals for enourmoulsy big $, over and over again for years to come… But if they did, would such a watch be interesting to you ?