Rolex Datejust Oysterquartz ‘Transarabia Dallah Avco’ in Gold/Steel – 17013

In the dial bottom centre of this Rolex Oysterquartz Datejust ref. 17013 lies its most captivating feature — a rare Dallas Avco / Transarabia signed dial, a discreet emblem of the Dallah Avco Trans Arabia Company founded in 1975 to serve Saudi Arabia’s growing aviation industry. Such corporate-signed dials were never part of Rolex’s public catalogue and were typically commissioned in small numbers, often as presentation pieces for executives or valued partners.
Produced in 1979, this two-tone example in steel and yellow gold embodies the sharp, architectural elegance of the Oysterquartz line—Rolex’s refined answer to the quartz revolution. The COSC-certified Calibre 5035 movement inside represents a high point of the brand’s technical precision, while the integrated case and bracelet design anchor it firmly in its era.
Few Oysterquartz models feature bespoke corporate dials, making this example both historically and aesthetically distinctive as the vast majority of these Dallas Avco dials never mention the ‘Transarabia’ writing. It stands as a subtle intersection of Swiss craftsmanship, 1970s design, and Middle Eastern aviation history—quietly rare, and all the more compelling for it.