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Next Project: 5513 or 5514


Eton

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Hey guys,

I was hoping with the vast amount of knowledge and expertise in this forum, whose members I trust greatly, you could help me decide on my next endeavor! Amongst the other pieces already on the go and most of which have cut substantial holes in my pockets, I want to make sure this is relatively attainable and somewhat affordable. Hmm, affordable Franken seems like an oxymoron, and I doubt it will be cheap regardless of the choice, so who am I kidding?!? :g:

The sub that initially stole my heart was the Franken Tudor 79090 (sig) which I purchased from my dear friend Ubi, thanks bud! Here’s the Tudor: After receiving the Tudor, I purchased a brand new Genuine 25-19 crystal as a backup, but its fine as is…hence I’m starting my next project with only a crystal. :D

Basically I’m looking for a mate to my Tudor, in the form of either a 5513 or Comex 5514. Everyone knows Ubi’s amazing 5514, which is literally to die for, but for those who haven’t read his post, here it is:

The 5513 is in essence the same as the Tudor, which is fine with me but since I can’t do both, your thoughts are greatly appreciated!!!

Cheers

:drinks:

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I think the 5514 is an odd and unusual piece that blends the best attributes of a 1665 SD and a 5513 :)

-Aesthetically symmetric layout of a 5513 no date dial

-Case has a nice profile and is very comfortable to wear

-Helium escape valve

-Classic Submariner looks

And yeah... I'm a little biased ;)

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then yea, my vote for the 5514, with a correctly engraved caseback, it's going to look awesome. There's lots of history behind the 5514 being in use by professionals rather than the 5513 being used by James bond.

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then yea, my vote for the 5514, with a correctly engraved caseback, it's going to look awesome. There's lots of history behind the 5514 being in use by professionals rather than the 5513 being used by James bond.

Good point! Thanks for your input :good:

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  • 7 months later...

5514 is my grail too. If I could only have one watch..that be it.

Ubi of course has the the best I've ever seen. I might start one when I get done with the few I have left to finish.

The thinner low profile case with HE valve is the biggest hurdle to overcome. :( The caseback wouldn't be that hard to get engraved.

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  • 7 months later...
why did the 5514 need an HEvalve and the 5513 not?

The 5514 (made/offered only to Comex & never offered to the public &/or for retail sale) was designed for saturation divers, who required a valve in their watch to allow trapped helium to escape while in decompression chambers.

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What he said. :tu:

A commercial diver has limited "bottom time", meaning he can only work for fixed periods when tethered to the surface. Because decompression takes longer the deeper/longer you're down, a commercial diver would find his whole day taken up by going to the bottom, a little work, and a long decomp period going back to the surface.

The answer is chambers where divers can stay on the bottom for extended periods working shifts, and resting in the dry chamber. When the job is over the chamber is raised pressurized, and the divers spend a looooooong time in there outgassing as the pressure is bled off.

All this time in the dry high pressure heliox environment gives the gasses lots of time to seep into your watch. Then as you decompress the pressure outside your watch drops but the pressure inside stays high.

If you don't have an escape valve, eventually the pressure difference gets so high it literally blows the crystal off the front.

The only people you'll see that "need" this feature are special gas divers that use chambers for extended bottom time ... like COMEX. Or like my buddy Larry.

dr_wabi.jpg

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