single red seadweller... Options

[Thor]

What do you guys think of this?

Franken?

Historical anomoly?

Single red seadweller

Very unique. Definately looks real to me.

A bit suspect to me. Should have the following lines:

SEA-DWELLER

SUBMARINER 500M - 1650 FT

SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER

OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED

The Single-Red Sea-Dweller was made prior to the 2000ft dials (it is speculated that most of the 1665 500M Single Red dials were replaced with the Double Red 2000FT dials). So, any single red with a 2000FT/610M dial would be questionable to me.

and after all, it is on ebay which always make me take things with a grain of salt

:happy:

Well, there is definitely some truth to that, though I have seen some legitimate unique and rare pieces sold on eBay (and I have also seen several questionable, and sometimes blatently fake items sold at prestigious auction houses as well). I would suspect that a piece of this kind of rarity would not surface to the public for consumer sale, but would rather be sold privately and behind the scenes by hardcore vintage collectors.

It's not every day that a single red pops up for sale.

Well, the watch looks to have a very nice patina that I would like to replicate. I like the looks of it...but the price needs to be lots lower for my budget :happy:

Thanks for the input guys!

For the current auction price ($1704.00 US as of 12/20/05), you can find a 5513 in similar condition.

Yeah, I would love a gen 5513....but my wife wouldn't :sad:

But I am really happy with TWG 5513 that I got in October....it never leaves my wrist!

I had a real heartbreak about 15 yrs. ago involving a gen 5513....I was a struggling University student with no money. I hung out with a group of older watch guys...one had a gen Cartier tank watch, another with a G-P. and one guy had a gen 5513....the crystal was right f*cked up and the bracelet was really loosey-goosey. He told me I could have it for $600 ... but I had $0! I tried to persuade my uncle to buy it, he has a couple of gen. Rollies (one from his uncle), but he wouldn't...not flashy enough for him! So here I am, looking at my rep 5513...oh well. Eventually I will have to get one.

This SD came as a surprise to me as the seller was in fact a prominent and reputable reseller in Singapore ( My favourite store actually ) They used to carry many rare rollies and snapped up even before its arrivals to the store :furious: I am surprised/really surprised why sells it on the ebay? IMO the high probablity of being bastardized :thumbsdownsmileyanim: I am actually on their list for 1665 watchcase :smile:

Link- I agree. MT is usually a great source for parts and watches. So, it's strange to me that they would even consider selling such a questionable piece. Very odd, indeed.

Miquel- Best of luck in your hunt for a 5513 :happy:

Ever consider a WM 1680? With some genuine parts fitted to it, it's the next best thing!

If this single red submariner SD is real, then I have a good reason to put the red sub dial on vintage SD case

You could do a COMEX 5513 dial in a thin SD case like Paul's (this would make it a 5514). That would historically be correct. But there are no 1665's out there signed with a single red 'SUBMARINER' with those depth ratings.

I also know MT and this piece is out of character, very strange...

Definitely a frankenwatch and its value is simply a sum of it's bastardized parts. The dial I'm sure is a redial (red sub font looks very poor indeed IMO), and what's with a mismatched 1665 case and 5513 back? As for it being 'easy to source' the correct caseback, I think that'ssomewhat overoptimistic at best and misleading at worst.

For the real deal see www.redwatches.com or Saabin posted a truly jaw-dropping SRSD project a little while back that just blows this out of the water.

Not the first time I've seen this - posted a dodgy 1665 Comex a couple of weeks ago - listed by a very reputable Italian seller (I know people who've dealt with him) - so I contacted him and politely informed him of my concerns, and received a big fat silence in reply, maybe out of embarrassment but a week later he relisted it (no bids) which is disgraceful. Reminds me what my father used to say...good reputations can take years to forge but seconds to lose

Wow...this has been very informative! I appreciate all of your insights! Thanks!

@ Ubi ... I have been thinking about a WM 1680 for some time now, I just have to pull the trigger....

@ doc ... I agree, Saabin's SRSD was absolutely stunning. Now THAT is what I am talking about!

These subtle differences between the subs and seadwellers really makes one pay attention. Sometimes I curse these forums for giving me so much info on what to look for...before I joined, I thought my Mexican sub was as close to accurate as I could get.....boy was I wrong!

See middle rear one for perfection

That's what the rest of experienced bidders are thinking by swapping the parts here and there to have a DRSD converted but the bidding price should not go high though

looks like a red sub with the wrong crystal and wrong depth numbers on it to me , should have the tropic 127 on it and then u have a almost great red sub , just my two cents worth or it could be a sea dweller with wrong red spelling , lol its probably not a original if so the guy selling it if he has been in the business as long as he says would have done alot of research for its rarity and not sell it so cheap

Not quite.

1) Wrong case ref (1665)

2) Incorrect depth ratings on the dial.

lol ubi u must be invisible i was editing while u where typing a disagreement with me , now go read what i had to say lol merry christmas

Heehee- Sneaky! Ninja style!!

:ninja:

P.S. Merry Christmas!!

peek a boo i see u lmao

I agree with Docblackrock, the lettering on "Submariner" sucks. And a real double red says Sea-Dweller, Submariner 2000. So they didn't just remove the top line (Sea-Dweller). I would agree that it is a redial. Maybe that's why it was stuck back in the drawer of the old watchmakers desk. You could run it past Rolex for confirmation, if they would even give you an answer, but you know the caseback is wrong and odds are the dial is too. At $3300, it's way too expensive for a Frankenwatch.

But I do like the open 6 in the 610m! Come to think of it, were the early dials 2000ft-600m?

There are both- 600m and 610m. The 600m's were more common on the early COMEX 1665's.

1665's in general started with the lower rating of 500m/1650ft as I mentioned before.