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Rolex Submariner (no date)

Reference 5513. A sheet to take with you: the numbers to check the watch against, what to look at, and what to ask. It does not authenticate anything and it does not tell you whether to buy.

Check the numbers

Measure or ask. A watch that does not match these is not necessarily wrong, but it is a question worth the answer.

Anything above marked not recorded is a gap in this catalog, not a property of the watch. Do not read a blank as a zero.

Before anything else

The 5513 ran for nearly thirty years across four dial generations, so most authentication work here is about matching the dial, hands and insert to the case date rather than deciding whether the watch is a Rolex.

What to look at

1. dial Dial generation against the case date
   Correct A glossy gilt dial on early examples, a matte dial with white printing from the mid-1960s, and later a dial with white gold surrounds on the plots, each consistent with the case serial
   Red flag A dial generation that cannot be reconciled with the case serial or the inside caseback date code
2. dial Absence of a date aperture
   Correct A clean dial with no date window and no cyclops on the crystal, since the 5513 is the no-date reference
   Red flag A date window, a cyclops, or a dial with a filled or repainted three-o-clock position
3. movement Caliber 1520
   Correct A 26-jewel Rolex cal. 1520 automatic with no calendar work
   Red flag A date-equipped Rolex caliber such as the 1575, which belongs to the 1680 rather than the 5513
4. hands Handset and lume tone
   Correct Mercedes hands whose lume has aged to the same tone as the dial plots
   Red flag Hands whose lume is brighter, whiter or a different colour from the dial, which points to a relume or a later handset
5. case Lug holes and case profile
   Correct Drilled lug holes and a flat tonneau flank with a defined chamfer running to the lug tip
   Red flag Rounded lugs and a softened chamfer, both signs of repeated polishing
6. bracelet Oyster bracelet and clasp codes
   Correct A folded or early solid Oyster bracelet with a clasp date code that sits at or after the case date
   Red flag A clasp code earlier than the case, which cannot be original to the watch

Known issues on this reference

• Dial generations are frequently mixed. A gilt dial in a late case, or a feet-first dial in a mid-1960s case, is a common assembly and is priced very differently from a matched example.
• Service dials and service hands supplied by Rolex over the decades are genuine parts but are not original, and relumed dials are widespread.
• Over-polished cases lose the flat tonneau flank and the crispness of the lug chamfers, which is the main thing that separates a strong example from an average one.

Parts that are commonly replaced

• Bezel inserts, crystals and gaskets are consumables and are replaced at every service.
• Rolex service dials and service handsets were fitted freely during the reference’s long life and are the single most common originality question on a 5513.

Ask the seller, whatever the watch

• When was it last serviced, by whom, and is there paperwork?
• Has the case ever been polished?
• Which parts are not original to it?
• Do you have the box, papers and the original bracelet or strap?
• Why are you selling it?
• Can I see it in daylight, and can I take a photo of the caseback?

What this sheet is standing on

The specifications above are sourced to sothebys.com, bonhams.com. What else the catalog does not know.

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