Rolex Submariner 5512 Stainless Steel

Vintage Watch Condition Examination:

This watch is in great, overall attractive vintage condition. The case is strong with normal signs of wear; it appears to have been polished. Between the lugs show some wear. The inside caseback is stamped “5513” which is common for these 5512s. Rolex would often times use 5512 and 5513 caseback interchangeably and we have seen this many times before. The bezel ring has remained sharp and the “Long 5” bezel insert is in good condition with some wear. The pip at 12 is a later replacement. The bezel has faded from black to a beautiful dark grey color that has a bluish hue. This watch has retained it’s correct non-triplock crown; the crown shows some wear. The dial is in great condition with light patina and has darker patina around the edge. The hands have developed patina; the lume in the hands has been color corrected/ relumed to match the color of the lume on the dial. The rivet Oyster bracelet is in great condition with normal signs of wear and a bit of stretch between the links which is not uncommon.

Description: Rolex Submariner 5512

The Rolex 5512 (1968) is an important reference in Submariner history; It was the first Submariner to feature crown guards, a detail that all Subs would have going forward and still do today. Throughout the production of the 5512 Rolex made many different variations, from glossy dials to matte dials with many slight updates and changes. The 5512 may look nearly identical to the 5513 (that came out in 1962, three years later) but the main difference would be that the 5512 has the chronometer certified movement (COSC). Since the 5512 had a COSC movement, they were more expensive than the 5513 and were not as popular, we see less of them in general. The 5512s would typically have four lines of text at the bottom of the dial and the 5513 always has two; that is one good way of telling apart the references at a glance Its not always that simple, early examples of the 5512 also have two lines of text, but still have the COSC movement. 

This example is on the earlier side of the matte dial production and features the sought after “meters first” dial. When Rolex switched to the matte dial they put the depth rating as “200m = 660ft” and these are known as “meters first” in the collecting community. Eventually Rolex would swap the depth rating to feet first around the early 1970s and have continued this trend to the modern offerings. One theory on this change is that Rolex wanted to boost sales in the United States, but to our knowledge Rolex has not made any definitive statements on this shift. Overall the 5512 is a cult favorite and we see many collectors gravitate towards these especially after they have gone down the rabbit hole.