Even people who know nothing about Porsche know about the 911, but even most current Porsche owners will probably not have heard of the Porsche 912. Whilst most Rolex owners will know about the Rolex Oysterquartz, few will have ever heard of its predecessor, the Rolex Quartz reference 5100, when it was launched in 1970, the white gold version had a list price of 18,300 Swiss Francs – before tax. And this price was pretty close to that of the Porsche 912; but there was a difference, the 912 was the entry-level Porsche, its six-cylinder engine replaced by the four-cylinder one from the discontinued 365; whilst the 5100 (or to give it its Italian nickname “the Texano”, was – by a considerable margin – the most expensive watch in the Rolex catalogue. It was priced at 2.5 times the price of a Rolex Day-Date on a President bracelet.
Both the 912 and the 5100 disappeared from their respective manufacturer’s catalogues by the end of 1970, and they slowly faded from the memories of those who loved the respective brands, they became almost disposable, and many 912s were turned into race and rally cars, due to their light weight whilst many Texanos were thrown into the smelter’s crucible during the 1980s ‘Gold Rush’ as there was over 300g of 18k gold in each watch.
But sometime in the mid 2000s something changed and both the watch and car began to attract admirers, and for both of them, it was because the wheel of fashion had made a complete revolution. The current Porsche 911 became bigger, heavier and more luxurious; whilst the 912 was the smallest, lightest, most austere version of the body shape ever, and so appealed to enthusiasts who wanted to experience the involvement that the original cars provided. Meanwhile, Rolex, true to their policy of gradual evolution, whilst every other brand was following Panerai with larger cases, Rolex stuck to their tried and true 36mm size case, first introduced in 1945. But the Texano wasn’t like the rest of the Rolex family, it had been oversized in 1970, now it was a fashionable 40mm, and its chunky case and bracelet bore more than a passing resemblance to the Royal Oak Offshore. And it had the great advantage, for a quartz watch, of not having a stepping seconds hand, it glides around the dial more smoothly than most mechanical watches.
Since then, both of them have established a firm, if small collector base and a nice Texano in white gold will cost you about $100,000 nowadays – making it the most expensive time only Rolex without diamonds that you can buy. And $100,000 is, incidentally, also the market price for a nicely restored Porsche 912.
