BigCrown

filled the indeces with wet plaster of paris...painted while still wet...worked in some extra plaster dust while wet...the result really looks like tritium under a loop. Cool huh? I LOVE the eddie lee cases and casebacks...can't tell it is not genuine with my eyes closed or open.

That's me. 'Quick-flip'.... perhaps. I must constantly remind myself, that I am a dealer first and collector second. Anyway, the new owner will be very happy with this one.

Well, I am a bit too thrifty to buy it like this. I had to take my time and buy the NOS dial first, then hunt for the watch -- which ended up saving me a ton of money in the long run. Funny thing though: the original owner of the 2B once had a T dial in the watch, and sold the dial when times got tough. So I simply restored the watch back to its original configuration. It was originally born with a T dial.

Yes, it's real. Real Tritium , real watch, etc. I think it was already explained but Panerai stopped using tritium in the hand-wind Luminors after A and early B series).

Got it yesterday and can't stop staring at the dial! The JV Strap brings out that patina nicely.

I am in love with it! More than nice!! Huuuuge congrats.

Thanks By-Tor. The crown guards look good because it is a genuine 5513 with omega hands and an aftermarket insert.

There is something I have always loved about the 5513/5517 Military Submariner. Especially when the luminous is that lovely orange patina. I picked up this 5513 with the most lovely dial, and then I started digging for those old Omega Tritium hands with orange luminous I have been saving. After a quick modification for the Omega hands to fit the Rolex movement, they were ready for installation. Then a nice 60 minute military bezel; and now my humble 5513 has the appearance of the famous and rare (approximately 1250 pieces ever delivered) double reference, full-spec, military submariner.

Thanks SpineDoc. (finally) someone has the same experience as I do with tritium. Whether it is Night sights for your pistol, a vintage Rolex, a vintage compass or a Panerai with a "T" dial, I have never heard of tritium glowing after being charged or exposed to light like the photos above. The supposed 'proto' dial looks like hell in person. The luminova has been vintagized and has dirt/crap/smegma smeared on it (hands too) and is really not pleasing when held in your hand. Oops, I said I would not crap on this watch publicly.

That is a nice vintage effect. If you want to restore you can remove the indecies by using pins pressing them through from the back side...then you can spray the dial will clear gloss lacquer to restore the clear coat. then re-apply the markers....if you live dangerously! "yes, I too like to live dangerously.."

Great idea. Would you use wax? ...or what would you suggest?

I had fun with this one.... - polished the case (will brush it tomorrow) -polished the tropic -replaced the dial (thank you Mr. McSherry) -changed the luminous in the hands and under the dial plate -replaced the crystal gasket -replaced the screws and wings that hold the movement in place If you like this post, please click the (+) Below ...thanks in advance!

You are welcome Sgt. Looks perfect!!!

If it were Tritium, the dial would glow the same amount constantly. I have had the pleasure/displeasure of holding this watch. The printing quality on the dial is poor. The hands are DEFINITELY luminova and probably not OEM. Big-E, I think you should remove the dial and show the thickness and the back of the dial.

WYF?!? Eddie Lee is just a guy from Singapore who lives in Canada selling medical equipment and reps top us on the side! All of the Eddie Lee watches were from one fo two places Guangzou and Hong Kong -- he had NOTHING to do with the quality, he was just the salesman. ...and IMHO he sucked as a salesman. He sent me many dead watches and was a [censored] about it. Those factories still make watches. IF you want one of those 1:1 cased reps, we can get them to make them. Minimum order 500 pieces.

Watch looks 100% to me. Guys there are two generations of the MM20. Here is my Gen: They look identical to me...or am I missing something?!?

Awesome 16800 JoJo! You just can't beat the unique patina. On the topic of the catalogs, when I say 'tinted yellow', I mean more of an off-white. The light yellow color I am referring to can be seen in the instruction booklets for the last 5513's. The plots are shown egg-shell color.

Today I got a true 'safe-queen'. This 16800 has been in a dry, dark safe for most of its life. I am amazed with the stability and color of the luminous. Luminous decay / patina has to deal with the phosphorous present in the Tritium mix. UV light bleaches the red phosphorous and leaves the luminous white. Based on the Rolex catalog photos I have seen, the original watches in the 1960s and 1970s left the Rolex factory with slightly tinted yellow markers. They darken or lighten over time based on the conditions in which they are stored. With so many variations of luminous applied to vintage watch dials, and multitude of conditions that the watches are exposed to, give us a vast array of results. Perhaps this is what draws us into the vintage realm. I prefer dark luminous, but some people strive for 'snow white' luminous. This is achieved by the watches being worn and exposed to sunlight. Here is a random assortment of watches and dials that I have owned in the past couple years...note: no two are alike!

Well, I am the proud owner of two Gilt 5513 (all genuine, original/correct). Gotta love 'em. For reference, the Pointed Crown Guard models started with the beginning of the first 5512/5513 around 1960. They changed to the current crown guards around 1964-ish. A tidbit that few are aware of: the pointed crown guard submariners (including Tudors) used a larger, 27mm dial. Therefore, most existing PCG watches show a gap between the dial and the case rehaut.

Service dial + aluminum insert = $6,000 watch (

I think I can add in here. On the forum, there is a lot of emphasis on 'glowing like a torch' luminous. The concentration of luminous material is not used in genuine watches because it makes the markers appear to be the wrong color in normal light. The Rolex Submariner markers should look white in daylight and glow green (or blue if it is a Deep Sea or 2010 submariner model) in the dark. In the natural light of your home or office, they are not designed to make the markers appear green.

Will do. Thank you Tanya!

Any recommendations on someone to Relume my PAM027A? I am in the US. I have never been successful with getting in touch with The Zigmeister. Your help is greatly appreciated.

This dial I got from my new friend Oliver over in Austria. I believe this to be a 'one-off' or extremely small production fake double-red (close to a MKIII). Oliver bought it at a show for big bucks. I would say it is worth the money. The font serifs are very close in the texts. The SCOC text is off a tad but not nearly as bad as the dials seen coming out of Vietnam these days. I do miss my genuine DRSD, but if you compare the scans, you can understand my opinion to have the cash in hand and have such a unique refinished dial. Gen Dial in the same watch (tough to compare...the dial above is a MKIII and below is a MKIV, so coronet, spacing and text will appear very different):