Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

Polex Crown Reference Charts


vaccum

Recommended Posts

Wow, thank you Avitt and Vacuum!

Once again, this thread reminds me of what a classy place RWG (II) is. No wonder I've been a member for a few years now - it is because of the great people, the vast plethora of knowledge and wonderful friends that I have made along the way.

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

eumonians,

got a 5513 to add to my 5512 today. cant wait for it to arrive however FYI it still has the original crown and tube fitted. its a 1 mill serial from the first year of production however like my other watch with the now upgraded triplock, the old crown has the dots under the logo and is early triplock without the external rubber seal.

this means that ive no idea what is on your watch as both these originals, and many more ive seen have all been without the external seal but had the dotted crown. while it doesnt rule out some form of intermediary service upgrade on these watches pre modern triplock providing a stage that yours has yet to make, it will be harder to get an earlier 5513 to reference against.

perhaps this discrepancy is where your issue is arising ref fitting the new triplock to yours? theres not something odd going on with a GMT part on yours or something is there? yours is dot free is it not? i wonder if you have some overlap from the 5508 sub run and thats whats given you issues so badly. it had a twinlock crown but im not sure if there was a line underneath or not.

heck,. im confused

Edited by thewightstuff
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, congrats on the 5513! Great investment!

The crown is the original 1st incarnate of crowns used on 5512 and 5513. Rolex used caches of parts as they saw fit, thus certain discrepancies are bound to arise. For example, my 1675 is from '67 but it has a small GMT hand. How is this possible? Well, for one, I am the 2nd owner. The first owner was my grandpa. He bought it from Rolex Tokyo new in box. The watch was never serviced until I got it. And Rolex BH verified that mine came with the small GMT hand (rare on this late of a 1675, but true). The small hand used on mine is a perfect example of ROlex using up freshly discovered caches of parts. The same can be said about certain dial repalcements during service.

Anyhow, the issue of my 5513 crown is somewhat of a mystery. There are plenty of collectors on TZ who have the same crown on their 5512/3's. I am not alone. I would like to solve this mystery though (at least, I'd like to get the parts numbers for both the crown and the tube). I just wish that I was not dumb enough to have thrown out the parts number for the NOS crown when I bought it. ARRRRGH!!!

There were many variations of crown markings as you know. This adds somewhat to the confusion. My 1675 Twinlock crown has a line under it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thats some great history you have with the watches. mine have none of that sadly. i think it makes much more of them if you know where theyve been etc.

what you say about the crown was sort of what i was getting it. given this 5513 is from the year 1 of production it would seem that it would rule out your crown being an early 5513 version, unless there was a service upgrade added to this prior to the 7030 tubes invention, but some sort of even earlier incarnation hence my wondering if it was left over from the 5508 which was similar to the original james bond but with CGs.

you are right about rolex using up all manner of parts as they saw fit. you see watches with all manner of bits installed from new, early serials with papers showing they were sold much much later, models with much later dials installed, dial variations that are all over the place regarding font etc etc.

given the assumed quality of rolex, they really do seem to have had a somewhat hap-hazzard approach to assembly.

a GMT with a small hand. thats great. i love the look of that watch. its much more aesthetically balanced than the larger handed version imho.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

loving the small hand, no wonder you want to defend it.

i always thought the crown looks undersized on these, i guess its just conditioning from the subs.

ill def post some pics of them together. i already posted up the 5512 on a nato but its nicer now so ill get both domes together.

this week ive gone from deciding a wanted a daily wearer to protect my 5512, to looking at a military issue CWC divers, to looking at a military square hands tudor to buying a 5513.

i hope it dont end up regretting passing on the tudor. it had character by miles but i thought id just end up regretting it not being a full rolex. atleast the CWC was different though i think the square hands tudors are going to be a good investment. they are creeping up steadily and you dont see so many about. they seem to be hanging onto the ends of the 5513 increase though who can say where it will end up.

5513 looks nice though. original tritium dial and hands, domed crystal and original crown and tube. 1st issue 5513 with cal 1520.

let me know how you get on with your crown quest. id be interested to find out what it was.

Edited by thewightstuff
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up