Rectangular & Important: ESAQuartz Beta21
ESA ESAQuartz Ebauches SA Beta21, Important ZeroSeries
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The oversized (42 * 17 * 36mm without lugs / 46mm lug-to-lug) and heavy (>110g) case is all original and appears sharp and unpolished. The edges are sharp and it seems like ESA had searched for a pragmatic approach to case several examples of the 1st Swiss quartz-movement (Beta21) for demonstration purposes on the Basle Fair (Mustermesse Basel, "muba") in April 1970. On this important fair the manufacturers and participants of the C.E.H.-joint venture presented the result of their research-efforts: the 1st working and marketed Swiss quartz-movement encased in the highlights and most expensive top-models of the manufacturers for 1970 and the following years: Patek "Cercle d’Or" ref3587, Rolex "Texano" ref5100, Omega "ElectroQuartz" ref196.005, IWC "Quartz-Electronic" ref3001 etc.
All these mentioned watches were first presented by the brands on the Basle-fair and many manufacturers (we know from Patek, Rolex and Piaget for sure) were selling-out their limited editions right on this fair. The ESAQuartz was never meant for sale, as ESA / ETA is a movement-manufacturer. This specific example was given as a present to one of the most important persons of that presentation: the director of the Mustermesse Basel (short "muba") received it directly from ESA as a gift.