During the 1970s, quartz movements in watches became increasingly popular. Though Rolex is famous for their intricate and advanced mechanical movements, the company began researching and developing quartz movements as early as the 1950s. Rolex officially released its first quartz models with the Oysterquartz in 1977. During its production run from 1977 to 2001, close to 25,000 Oysterquartz watches were produced by Rolex.