Rolex Submariner 5513 Stainless Steel

Vintage Watch Condition Examination:

This 5513 is in overall great attractive, vintage condition. The case is in good condition with normal signs of wear. The “Long 5” bezel insert is in great condition with normal signs of wear. The pip is a later replacement and has developed patina. The dial is in overall good, honest condition with some patina and darker patina around the edges. The lume plots on the dial are all full and have aged to a pale yellow and some have developed darker patina in the center of the plots. The hands have developed patina and aged to a darker sand color; when looking closely some of the lume in the hour hand shows some wear/cracking. The rivet Oyster bracelet is in excellent condition with normal wear and some stretch between the links which is not uncommon. 

Description: Vintage Rolex Submariner 5513

Pre-owned Rolex Submariner 5513 (1967) introduced around 1962 and it was in production until 1989. It was one of the longest continually produced references from the brand. Rolex initially used glossy dials in this model and swapped to matte around 1966, like this example. When Rolex went to the matte dial they also 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.