Rare Rolex Submariner 5513 Gilt Dial Meters First (gen inside)

[Rolexaddict]

Last month I had again the chance to work for a great Rolex vintage collector who is a member here, using discretion.

 

He bought a gen classic 5513, regular feet first dial, classic Rolex 26jewels 1520 movement. On an other hand he has the opportunity to buy a gilt dial meters first. This dial was in good conditions, needed just to be cleaned and relumed.

He has also projected to replace the plexi.For this we tested two Tropic 19 plexies, from Clark and Jules Borel, both were not enough rounded and not enough high, -at our own taste- so we decided to keep the original which was a service cristal with a good rounded top.

 

I decided to brake the angular look by grinding and repolishing to give the top rounded T19 design but a bit higher. I would say, the idea was to get a mini-dome

When you discuss with many collectors you notice many of them don't care about original exactitude and parts and academic design. They want more to get something cosmetic and different. For exemple I have seen a few days ago a 1675 with a silver date disc like on 1665 or 1680, it was the wish of the owner.      

 

Why not ?

 

The watch is from the seventies with the former twinlock crown which give an incredible look to this beauty. These 7mm crowns are shorter and don't have the 3 dots under the coronet logo

 

This is for the story.

 

Let show you pics of the complete job which has been done,

 

First, the watch as it was at the purchase : classic matt dial feet first, look at the CG shapping details and the twinlock crown. This gave me inspiration and an idea for reps, I will tell more later in another article very soon.

 

 

 

 

These crowns were made of brass and wrapped with a stainless thin leaf with a coronet stamped.You can see the crown is dammaged, there are 2 holes in the steel leaf

 

 

Look the details of the CGs bottom, left is not like the right side, most of the time revisited reps look better than gens,

 

 

Details of the movement, I admit here than gen movements looks better than  $30.00 Chinese DG....

 

 

 

The 45 years old lady after disassembling : a half century old mixture of dry grease, corrosion spots etc. was cleaned and the steel was fine repolished

 

 

 

 

 

The service plexi as it was, next photo, after it has been rounded by grinding the plastic then repolished

Also observe how thin is the case, rep case are too thick, I told this already for 1655/1675 cases,

 

 

 

The gilt dial originally before cleaning and reluming. This dial was bought by the watch owner more than 1.000 euros...

 

 

The watch is rebuilt with the new dial. Again, look on the CG  and crown design : thinness of the crown anf length of the CGs

You will understand what I mean in the next topic

 

 

The look is incredible with the gilt dial and the silver hands. The lume is a mixture of white phosphor, ivory pigments powder and an acrylic medium. In the real day light it doesnt look so yellow, this is due to the photo. The pearl lume is a little bit darker, as it supposes to have been contamined by salt water.

The reshaped plexi restores the same visual effect of markers distorsion,

 

 

The evolution of this classic seventies 5513 into a gilt dial meters first model increases the value, such watches are sold in a range of 9 to 11K euros here in Paris

 

 

Hope you liked,

[cc33]

Wow, that's a very nice job you've done. Congrats to the owner, I would be very proud to own this beautiful piece

[Original Scope]

Looks incredible!Thanks for sharing.

[danielv2000]

Well, done RA. That's a beautiful classic.

[candide2424]

Outstanding jod. I am looking forward to seeing your next article!

Kudos to you.

[Ephry73]

One of my favorite watches for sure! Wow! Thanks for sharing RA! Both dials are pretty decent(pre comex candidate on the feet first?) but the gilt just takes up, way up. E

[gavidoc]

Nice work but to relume an original gilt dial?!?! Yikes. And 1675's originally had silver datewheels.

[msp]

One word.. Incredible

 

Thanks for sharing, RA.

[cousin_hub]

Great job JJ 

[automatico]

Fine looking watch!

 

"Also observe how thin is the case, rep case are too thick..."

 

I have noticed this too.

I measured a couple DW cases, a 5513 is about 5.25mm thick at the center of the case on crown and 9 o'clock sides (mid case only, no back).

DW 1680 is 5.6mm thick at the crown and 9 o'clock side (mid case only, no back).

MBK 5513/1680 (same case) is 5.15mm thick at the center of the case on the crown side and 4.95mm on the 9 o'clock side (mid case only, no back).

Older 'Paul/Abay/WoMart' 5514 and 1665 cases are 5.65mm on both sides (same basic cases with hev, both had Eta 2836).

All cases are same as new and unworn.

 

Do not have a genuine case to measure.

[eunomians]

Lovely!!  I've still got my original Twinlock on my 5513 and I have a NOS tube + twinlock crown in storage for one day...

 

Cheers

 

PS. A true Superdome really changes the look of the watch.  Still have my original T19 on mine, too.